Infopanel 16

Rowing

As a rule, Viking ships were only rowed in battle, in complete calm or when mooring. The simple oars were secured with a rowing rope made of walrus leather straps or woven willow rods. On a medium-sized Viking ship, the oars were about 4 to 5.5 m long, which is why they were made of light, soft wood.

It is significant that the most important type of trading and transport ship, the knorr, had only a maximum of two recesses in the ship's side on each side for oars. In general, rowing larger boats and ships over long distances is monotonous and exhausting.

Sailing

All Viking Age ships found to date have rigging equipment that identifies them as sailing ships. However, it was only experimental archaeology that revealed how good Viking ships were at sailing. Like most larger European vessels until the 19th century, Viking ships were equipped with rectangular square sails, which generally did not allow them to sail against the wind by tacking. However, the Vikings found a way to stretch the leading edge of the sail far enough to make tacking possible. This feature gave Viking ships an advantage over all other European ship types of their time, in addition to their speed.