longship

longship, a Norse or Viking galley, used mainly for raiding and for war purposes approximately between the years ad 600 to ad 1000. The largest longships pulled up to 80 oars, the smallest about 40 or 50. They also carried a mast, housed in a step, which was always lowered aft when they were under oars. A single square sail was hoisted on a yard, and by using bowlines and a beitass to brace the yard it was possible to use the sail for working to windward as well as for running free. As longships had neither deck nor keel, they gave no protection to their crews and also were poor seaboats, and normally did not operate in the winter when rough seas might be expected. The usual practice was to haul them up on shore during the autumn for launching again the following spring. Yet they made many remarkable voyages, sailing as far west as Vinland and as far south as the Mediterranean Sea.

Researches by J. Hornell during the 1930s revealed that the longship design was not confined to the northern hemisphere, for he found that similar vessels were used in the Pacific region. Not only did the two designs look alike, but they used identical methods of construction. So complex were these that it seems impossible they could have emerged independently, though no explanation could be found. See also sepulchral ships.