History

• The first longboats were created around 6000 B.C. at the end of the last ice age. These boats were rudimentary in design and similar to the canoe of the American Indians, though longer and slightly wider. Depictions of these boats are found in rock art of the period and show they were designed for river navigation. Using the same design, the forebears of the Vikings enlarged the vessel, using wooden planks fastened with iron rivets or nails for the hull instead of animal skins fastened with boiled tree sap.
  Over time, designs increased the size of the ship to carry more troops, adding plank benches for oarsmen, a mast and sail, even area for cargo, though relatively small. While these changes were being adapted into the traditional design, these new longships kept the shallow draft (how much the boat bottom sinks below the surface of the water) and relative narrow width for speed and maneuverability.
  
  

Function

• Popularized as pirates and raiders, the Viking culture was predominantly based on trade, farming and fishing. However, with the advantage these vessels gave them, Vikings were not above raiding.
  Replicas of longships have reached up to 14 knots (16 mph), an incredible speed for that time. Vikings would use their speed advantage to launch lightning quick raids on seaside villages and monasteries and then sail away before a defense or pursuit could be mounted.
  
  

Geography

• Viking clans existed throughout Sweden, Norway and Denmark. However, a key distinction between Swedish Vikings and Danish/Norwegian Vikings seems to be in the regions in which they chose to trade and plunder. Danish and Norwegian Vikings went westward, with a focus on England and Western Europe, while the Swedish went primarily to the east into modern-day Russia. None of these regions would have been as accessible without the longship.
  
  

Significance

• The tribal clans that composed what we call Viking culture were most prominent in influence between 800 and 1100 A.D. During that time, Viking interaction with other cultures, whether by trading or pillaging, was at its height. Without the substantial reach that the longship provided, the Vikings would not have such a firm place in world history or had such an effect on the development of other cultures.
  
  

Considerations

• Late into the 12th century, there was a dramatic reduction in the frequency of Viking raids and an increase in events of trade and cultural integration. Historians speculate that other cultures were refining the designs of sea vessels and the fortifications of their villages and monasteries in response to the Viking threat. Instead of continuing to evolve the longship to engage in sea battles, Vikings seemed to opt for more civilized cultural interaction, putting an end to the era known as the Viking Age.