Traditional boats: longships. How many Vikings could fit in a longship, a knorr? "Dragons" from the Norwegian fjords

Norway is famous for its fjords and great Viking heritage, so when visiting the capital of this amazing country, we made Viking ship museum.

Although, to be completely honest, I insisted on this point, and my wife resisted as much as she could, but ultimately gave in. She probably just realized that a person who was once an active biker, but then was forced to give up his favorite hobby, doesn’t just want to admire the ships of the mighty Scandinavian warriors, who also look a little like bikers. Just as hairy, proud and freedom-loving :).

In general, Oslo is an amazing city; there are so many sights and interesting places collected here that you are simply amazed. Starting from a huge variety of museums, parks and ending with the famous Glass Opera and Akerhus Fortress. And all this wealth with a population of only 600 thousand people! I don’t know how it is for anyone, but I had an involuntary desire to move here to live).

Well, now about my most desired museum of Viking ships. Three of the best preserved examples are on display here.

The first exhibit found at the beginning of the 20th century. The studies carried out allowed scientists to establish the time of use of the vessel - 820–834.

After which, it was used as a funeral ship. The remains of two women were found on board, and so far it has only been possible to find out that they belonged to the nobility, without any names or clarifications.

The shape of the ship is slightly flattened and widened in the center, probably for greater stability and spaciousness.

Some design elements are decorated original carving. Very beautiful. My companion, as I expected, did not share my delight, now and then reminding me of the “incredible beauty and sophistication” of the Vasa museum ship. By the way, I also recommend visiting the latter, but still the local longships look somehow more courageous, which is what won me over.

This beauty reaches almost 22 meters in length, and its width is 5 meters. The team to operate such a vessel could consist of up to 32 people.

Many gifts for the afterlife were found on board, including unusual sleighs, carved animal heads, beds, a carriage and horse skeletons.

With the same width, its length is slightly larger - 23 meters. 32 shields, painted yellow and black, were attached to the sides. Although there was evidence of the looting of this burial place by looters, the researchers still managed to discover several surviving gifts.

Next exhibit - ship from Tune. This is the first of the longships found. No restoration work was carried out, so it is exhibited as it was found.

The approximate date of construction dates back to the 9th century. When the ship was discovered, chain mail, a number of weapons, parts of skis, dice and some other items were found on board.

Almost everything found on board ships can be viewed in a separate room.

The exhibition captivated me. But still, paying tribute to my wife’s comments, I note that even though there are few visitors here, and the premises are spacious, you won’t stay here for long. Therefore, I advise all lovers of maritime affairs to complement their impressions with a trip to another two museums: Kon-Tiki and Fram. In the first you can see and learn a lot about the expeditions of Thor Heyerdahl, and in the second the wooden ship on which the South Pole was conquered is exhibited. Also very interesting museums.

Characteristic

Image of warriors in a longship on the Stura Hammar stone I

The sizes of longships varied from ten to 19 meters, and later, with the development of shipbuilding, they began to reach up to 30 meters. Drakkars were used both for everyday tasks, such as trade, and for military purposes (most often for the latter), as well as for long sea voyages, which became possible due to the special design of the ship. On longships, the Vikings first sailed to the shores of Iceland, England, Greenland and North America.

Carved dragon heads mounted on the bow often made it clear what the social and financial status of the ship's owner was. Because Due to their status and capabilities, dragon heads were decorated in different ways. The dragon's head on the bow of the ship was also used to intimidate enemies. This was especially true when raiding new lands. For example, when the Vikings first set out for the Western Lands, they sailed to the shores of an as yet unknown country - it was Northumbria.

When the Viking ship sailed to the shore, the monks noticed it and were frightened by the mere sight of the ship with a dragon on its bow. They then believed that it was the devils who came down to earth to punish Christians for their sins. When soldiers saw such ships, they often abandoned their posts and fled.

Safety and success in navigation largely depended on the design and properties of the ships that the Vikings used - their strength and stability, seaworthiness, and carrying capacity. It was during the Middle Ages that shipbuilding radically changed navigation. The longships of the legendary northern Viking warriors and travelers are a prime example of these changes. The abundance of wood - oak and pine, as well as the presence of first-class iron ore, which allowed the Scandinavians to make excellent iron tools, contributed to the rapid construction of many ships. Which became the real basis of their civilization. Warships were called "drakkar" (dragon).

Many of the heads (noble Normans) had ships with purple sails embroidered with gold, and on gilded masts they had golden lanterns or weather vanes in the form of birds with outstretched wings. An important advantage of the drakkar was the keel - a longitudinal beam made of a single oak trunk, running along the entire bottom from bow to stern. The keel gave the ship strength and stability in the waves and allowed the ship to be dragged ashore without damaging the hull.

In the middle of the ship there was one mast 10-12 meters high, which could be removed and stored on deck when there was no wind. The length of the oars could be 4-6 m, the number of rowers from 14 to 20 rows or even more. The steering oar, which was turned using a short transverse handle - a tiller - was usually located at the stern on the right.

Drakkars were very well designed, which made it possible to sail along rivers and fiords. For the same reason, longships made it possible to land troops deep in enemy territory. The low sides made the drakkar barely visible against the background of sea waves, which made it possible to merge with the waves.

Some longships, discovered during archaeological excavations and carefully restored, have survived to this day. Nowadays they are exhibited in Viking ship museums in Norway and Denmark.

The sides of the drakkar were covered with shields to protect the rowers. There was nothing on deck that would weigh the ship down. A Viking merchant ship similar in design, the knorr, could even transport livestock.

Scientists know about this thanks to the most famous embroidery of the Middle Ages - the “Queen Matilda Carpet”, which immortalized the exploits of her husband, King William I the Conqueror.

On a huge strip of canvas, 68.3 m long and 50 cm wide, that has survived to this day (the “Bayenne Canvas”), 58 scenes of the conquest of England by William I the Conqueror are embroidered.

The ships on which William I transported his army from Normandy to England were also embroidered on this canvas. Striped sails and masts decorated with “golden” weather vanes are clearly visible - wind indicators, most likely made of slotted gilded tin. Then, in 1066, to transport troops and cavalry, William I assembled a fleet of more than 100 longships, on which he crossed the English Channel. Due to their design, longships were able to enter the shallowest waters, which allowed soldiers to quickly leave the ships.

Types of Drakkars

The Norwegians challenged Columbus's primacy in the discovery of America by sailing to Chicago on an exact copy of the Gokstad longship.

One of the representatives of the drakkars can be called Gokstad ship(Norwegian) Gokstadskipet) - this type of Viking ship of the 9th century was most often used as a funeral ship. Discovered in 1880 in a mound on the shores of the Norwegian Sandefjord (Vestfold province). This is a ship from Gokstad, exhibited in the Drakkar Museum, has a length of approximately 23 m and a width of 5.1 m. The sailing rig consists of one large rack sail, sewn from vertical panels. The length of the rowing oar is 5.5 m.

A beautiful and slender vessel with a steeply raised side line on both sides, it was built entirely of oak and richly ornamented. The excellent seaworthiness of this type of vessel was proven by 12 young Norwegians in 1893. They built an exact copy of the Gokstad ship, after which they crossed the North Atlantic and arrived in Chicago for the Columbus Exhibition, the ship showed an average speed of 9-10 knots, which was a very good indicator for later large sailing ships.

Oseberg boat.

Oseberg ship- an oak Viking ship (schneckkar), discovered in 1904 near Tonsberg in the Norwegian province of Vestfold. The ship was dug out of the ground and with all its contents is in the Drakkar Museum in Oslo. Judging by the data found, the ship was launched around 820 and was used in coastal waters until 834, after which it was used as a funeral ship.

The length of the ship was 21.6 meters, width 5.1 meters, the size of the mast could vary from 6 to 10 m. With a sail area of ​​90 m², the ship could reach speeds of up to 10 knots. 15 pairs of barrels indicates that there were about 30 oarsmen on the ship. The bow and stern were painted in the form of intertwined animals.

Although the mound was plundered back in the Middle Ages, archaeologists were able to discover in the vessel the remains of two women of high social status (young and old), fragments of oriental silk fabrics, a well-preserved wooden cart and even the bones of a peacock. This indicates a thriving trade.

Scandinavian scholars have been trying for a long time to connect these women with the Yngling dynasty. But preliminary DNA analysis indicates that the youngest of them had haplogroup U7, which is virtually absent among Europeans but is common in the Middle East, especially among Iranians.

Thun ship, exhibition in the museum

Thun ship(Norwegian) Tuneskipet) - this 10th century ship was used by the Vikings for funeral events. Discovered in 1867 by archaeologist Oluf Rygev in a boat mound at the Haugen farm in the village of Rolvsey in Tyn, Østfold, Norway. Exhibited at the Drakkar Museum, Oslo.

The ship was built around 900 AD. e., the paneling is made of oak with overlap. The vessel is partially preserved and was probably 22 meters long with eleven or twelve rows of oars. The width of the vessel is 4.35 meters, the length of the keel is 14 meters. The ship is a massive structure with frames made of unbent logs of the appropriate shape, thick beams and a solid rail.

Team

The number of people on the ship depended on the size of the ship itself. One rower sat behind each oar. The captain and his assistants also formed part of the team. When the Vikings went on campaigns on longships, it became their home, where each Viking had his own place. During military campaigns, much more people were transported on drakkars. There are cases when drakkars transported relatively large detachments (up to one and a half hundred Viking warriors), but in this case the ships most often sailed in coastal waters, and at night the detachments always landed ashore.

Construction

This is how the skin on the longships was attached.

Drakkars were built from wood of many species, among which the most important were ash, pine and oak. Shipbuilders specifically chose trees with natural curves for the keels and frames of Viking ships. As soon as the tree was cut down, they did not wait for it to dry, the tree was split in half with wedges, and then the resulting blanks were split further, exclusively along the fibers. The resulting boards could be bent without fear of them cracking. To give the boards additional flexibility, they were moistened with water and held over the fire. The most important tool was the carpenter's axe. It was believed that one was enough to build a ship, but other tools were also used: chisels, drills and others.

For cladding, boards were used, laid overlapping. Depending on the tradition of the builders, the boards were fastened with iron nails and rivets, wooden nails, or even tied together. Then the entire structure, just like now, was caulked and tarred. Thus, when moving through the water, an air gap was created, which increased stability, stability and speed of movement: the higher the speed, the more stable and smooth the ship moved.

Construction of Drakkars today

Various historical organizations have tried to recreate this or that ship using original technologies. For example, “The Seahorse of Glendalough” (dat. Havhingsten fra Glendalough), a 30-meter warship, is an almost exact copy of the ship Skuldelev II, built in 1042 in Ireland and sank at the end of the 11th century in the Danish fjord of Roskilde (the ship is named after the village of Skuldelev, not far from which in 1962 marine archaeologists found the bottom of the fjord is the remains of 5 ships). About 300 oak trunks, 7,000 iron nails and rivets, 600 liters of resin and 2 km of ropes were spent on the creation of the Sea Horse from Glendalough.

The sailing ship Harald Hirfagre, named after the king who unified Norway in the 9th-10th centuries, completed the main part of the transatlantic crossing in the port of St. Anthony on the island of Newfoundland, 60 kilometers (40 miles) off the coast of mainland Canada, the Internet reported. expedition website.

On April 26, the longship Harald Horfagre raised sail in the port of the Norwegian commune of Haugesund, and on June 1 entered the port of St. Anton on the Canadian island of Newfoundland. For the first time, such a vessel of modern construction went the way of the ancient Scandinavians - the discoverers of America.

Along the way, the longship moored in Shetland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The ancient Scandinavians sailed this way; those who left their native land for trade or robbery or exploration, they called vikingr - “those who went on a campaign.” This is where the word “Vikings” came from, which we now call the entire ancient population of Scandinavia and Northern Europe - the ancestors of modern Swedes, Danes and Norwegians. The task of those on deck was to follow the path of Leif Erikson, the navigator who reached the shores of America in the year 1000, half a thousand years before Columbus.

“I am proud of the team and what we have achieved along the way. It wasn’t easy, we faced a lot of challenges throughout this voyage, but the crew kept their spirits up and worked hard throughout the voyage,” said the ship’s Swedish captain, Bjorn Ahlander. Under his leadership, more than three dozen people from Norway, Sweden, the USA, Canada, Estonia, Russia, Spain, France and Great Britain set off on a trek across the North Atlantic from Scandinavia.

“It all started as a dream to build a large, sea-capable Viking ship, like the ones they talk about in the ancient Norse sagas. The longship Harald Horfagre has now become a reality, having completed a difficult journey across the North Atlantic. This is a dream come true,” said Norwegian businessman and history buff Sigurd Aase. He dreamed of building a real boat of northern warriors, “like in the sagas,” and spared no expense in making his dream come true.

Construction of the largest modern longship began in 2010. Two years later, the ship, 35 meters long and eight meters wide, was launched. Its mast is 24 meters high (for comparison, a five-story Khrushchev building is 16 meters high).

Four years later, on April 26, 2016, the longship left the Norwegian port of Haugesund, the ancient capital of the Vikings, to the shores of Vinland, as they called North America. Under sail and oars, the Harald Horfagre reached first Shetland, then the Faroe Islands, then reached Iceland, and after that Greenland. On the largest island in the world, the crew celebrated the wedding of two crew members.

The harsh North Atlantic stood in the way of Captain Bjorn Ahlander. On the way to Greenland, “Harald Horfagre” had to fight waves, overcome ice, and withstand storms and rain. The violence of the elements gave way to warm sunny weather and calm seas. The most difficult, as Captain Ahlander foresaw before leaving Norway, turned out to be the last section of the journey - from Greenland to Newfoundland - with icebergs, fog and unpredictable winds.

The longship's crew had to maneuver between icebergs in changing winds and unexpectedly falling fogs. The sailing ship had modern equipment, but the crew also used navigational instruments of distant ancestors. Along with the drakkar, an escort ship sailed across the Atlantic, always ready to provide assistance, which, fortunately, was not required.

Having reached the shores of America, travelers do not intend to stop. “Harald Horfagre” will pass along the eastern coast of the mainland, and then move inland along the system of interconnected Great Lakes, visiting the cities of Canada and the USA located on their shores. By mid-September, travelers plan to return to the Atlantic coast of the United States, to New York.

"Harald Horfagre" is the largest of the modern longships. Sagas are told about such huge wooden ships. During construction, we were guided by the Gokstad ship of the 9th century - the best preserved of the ancient drakkars, as well as by the still preserved Norwegian traditions of building fishing boats. Of course, the giant can hardly be called a real reconstruction (if only because it has a motor installed), but it certainly makes an impression.

The curator and owner of the Draken Harald Hirfagre project is Sigurd Aase.

And a few more photos

Emphasizing the knowledge of Rus', described by me in the book AZ BUKA IZTINY, and the film I shot about Andrei's yard, I want to highlight and tell you who Apostle Andrei is. An - night starry sky (according to supposed mythology), d - two, rey - rey. The name indicates that mythology is a real story. The Apostle is also deciphered in the book just as simply (the surface of the table in the strict horizon of the earth). The Apostle's Cross - two rays, between which there are 66.6 degrees (on the day of the min. and max. solstice) (ratio 3:2 as on the flag), to calculate the longitude between the vector directed using the rays of the ridge to the 13 ecliptic constellations RA from vector to the polar star. Do the navies even know this? Or do they now only pray to the saints in robes (similarity in mathematics - pido) having forgotten their skipper Andrew and the apostolic meridian? Why do these guys in robes now perversely tell the navy about the cross on their own flag, and they also kiss their hands? What kind of perverts are both one and the other? Where is everything going? It is easier to become pious than to study business... How could officers forget their craft and humiliate their honor? Let's decipher this term again. And on the table - the ground, the border, the table. An D Rey - night, two, reiki. A table and some kind of rack-and-pinion fixing tool. Do you remember the icon? Of course, no one was crucified on this cross. The Neopops, because of their unsteadiness, distorted and substituted faith, adjusted everything to their Faith. From all the coats of arms of ancient Rus', George the Victorious was made a Jew. I’m generally silent about Jesus, read the book... In what places did Apostle Andrew install his Cross and why and for what purpose? Read in the book... Why did Apostle Andrew choose the Dnieper itself? Previously, people traveling from the sources of the Nile in Africa, through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, along the Black Sea, the Dnieper and the Velikaya River, noticed that the rack and pinion structure of the Ra ring coincides with a certain logbook by dates, which was kept in order not to verbally lose sight of the calendar date , recording important events of the day. Therefore, this path was called the Apostolic Line and was taken as the prime meridian. If you deviate from the Apostolic Line, for example, by 30 degrees, at midnight, according to the constellations, the ring will show a deviation from the real calendar of 30 damn days. This is how man learned to determine longitude while moving. Now the prime meridian was moved without any reason to England in 1884, and it became known as Greenwich. And we are just Ivans. This ancient Apostolic line coincides with the Nile-Lapland lineament. It is now almost 30 degrees from Greenwich. Read about it yourself here, so much mystical nonsense has been invented, it would take half a day of reading. Now about latitude. Not only did Apostle Andrew move up the river, looking for the source of many rivers, he moved with two tools - a table with a graduated ring of Ra and two slats crossed and fastened together like scissors. What is all this for? we remember that the table was installed strictly at the horizon along a trough with water. Now let’s simply place this Cross on this strict horizontal surface with the axis of the connections of both yardarms and direct its rays at midnight to the polar star and the star in the ecliptic strictly to the south. So Andrey walked until both yards began to show the same angles to the table surface - a perfect result. We check everything from a scientific point of view... We know that the plane of the ecliptic deviates from the plane of the equator by 23.44 degrees. We know that from the equator to the north pole, the right angle is 90 degrees. The rack and pinion device is a deployed polar star pointer from north to strictly south, and, therefore, divides all degrees in half relative to the vertical. We count... (90-23.44) / 2 + 23.44 = 56.72 degrees. To summarize: 30 degrees east longitude and 56.72 degrees north latitude. We open an electronic map on the Internet and point the cursor at the height of 338 meters of the Bezhanitsky Upland... Some kind of devilry. After this discovery I could not fall asleep for a long time. I kept thinking how much knowledge was eventually closed into one. When I wrote the first book and indicated this place... I didn’t know that this would happen with degrees. And after this the neo-popists tell us to simply Believe. There is no Faith on earth, just like there is no faith in the Neopopians. Christianity has been replaced! Proof! Our FAITH has been replaced. It's time for everyone to know this! I ask you to purchase the book AZ BUKA IZTINY (you can from me) and spread the knowledge. Distribute links to my films from my YouTube channel “Kulanoa Vyacheslav” to all sites, groups and friends. No one but us will restore Great Rus'.