Viking Longship

by DURHAM, KEITHNOON, STEVE

• ISBN13: 9781841763491
• ISBN10: 1841763497
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2002-02-25
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Summary

Viking longships evolved from one-man canoes of the Scandinavian Stone Age, through wood-built-ships of c. 200 BC into the recognisable longboats of the 4th century AD. From this point, the Viking Longship developed into the pre-eminent raider and trader in the North Sea and Baltic, venturing as far afield as the Mediterranean, North Atlantic and modern-day Russia. Keith Durham uses reconstructions, original sources, translations and archaeological evidence to render a vivid picture of the vessels that dominated the seaways of Scandinavia, founded colonies on Iceland, Greenland and the New World and terrorised the coastlines of northern Europe. Also covered are Norman vessels, including the invasion fleet of William the Conqueror.

Author Biography

Keith Durham is the author of Men-at-Arms 279: ‘The Border Reivers’. He is also a skilled and respected figure sculptor who has produced models for a number of companies including Border Miniatures.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(2)
The Revolution of the Viking Ship	5	(1)
Early Skin and Log Boats	5	(5)
The Hjortspring Boat
The Nydam Ship
The Kvalsund Ship
The Sail
The Viking Age	10	(1)
Shipwrights and Shipbuilding	11	(4)
Karvi	15	(19)
The Oseberg Ship
The Gokstad Ship
Shipbuilding in the 11th Century	34	(11)
The Longships
The Ladby Ship
The Skuldelev Warships
The Knarr
Conclusion	45	(1)
Glossary	45	(1)
Colour Plate Commentary	46	(2)
Index	48