longships, The Northmen ultimate weapon

The Longship is one of the symbols of the Vikings, and unlike the horn helmet this one is 100% historically accurate. This marvel of engineering is what enabled the time period known as the Viking Era to happen in the first place. It was on one of those vessels that Leif Erikson became the first European to travel to the New World 500 years before Christopher Columbus. But, why were those ships so widespread among the Scandinavians?

It took long to perfect it

First thing first, the longship wasn’t exactly invented overnight. Just like Rome wasn’t built overnight, the longship is the result of centuries of ship construction being refined and improved. The earliest design, being nothing more than skin canoe used by Inuit, is over 2,500 years old. That’s a lot of time for improvement. This resulted in the longship having numerous advantages that allowed it to dominate the seas during its time.

It’s conception was light

It’s built alone was quite ingenious. Being known as the Clinker Built, the name has nothing to do with the prime component of cement. The planks that formed the outer shell overlapped each other and the spaces between them were sealed by a mixture wood and animal air. This design, despite its lack of durability, and being limited in size, offered excellent speed and maneuverability. This allowed the Vikings to travel long distances and invade their enemies easily.

This small size and weight also meant that it could navigate in the shallow water of rivers, where other larger warships of the time couldn’t follow them. This is why Viking raid parties could strike deep into the land of Europe and even reach the Caspian Sea. Just to put it in perspective, the Caspian Sea is located at the junction of the Middle East and Russia, sitting right behind the Black Sea and above Iran. This is one of the last places you expect a raiding party coming straight from Scandinavia to crash in.

It was fast

Also, thanks to the Clinker design, the Longship was fast – like crazy fast. Around their time period, vessels could hardly go above a pace of 8 knots, which is equivalent to 14 km/h; but that was under perfect sailing conditions, a strong wind in the right direction and optimal hull built. This means that the average was most likely much slower. Longships on the other hand enjoyed an average speed of 8 knots. Yes, a speed that any other vessels could barely achieve, the longship could reach it without any problems. Even more so, the maximum pace that a longship can potentially achieve is 17 knots, which is over 30 km per hour. Keep in mind that Longship is only propelled by wind and muscle-force .

Now, it is easier to understand how the Vikings were able to achieve lightning-fast raids and even full-scale invasions without anyone being able to see them coming.

Longships for success

Longship were definitely the key-components of Viking fame and successes, regarding invasions in Europe, or there discoveries of new territories long before Colonial times.