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Ships and Sailing in the Old Norse Texts

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Ships and Sailing in the Old Norse Texts Ships and sailing in the Old Norse texts The Old Norse texts are amazingly underexploited as a source for Eldar Heide knowledge about ships and sailing in the Middle Ages – the standard work University of Bergen on the topic is over a century old. I have studied some of this material and [email protected] seek funding to continue research. http://eldar-heide.net/ ABSTRACT The early Viking ship types In spite of the great public In Heide 2014, I have attempted to sift out from Old Norse written sources the early Viking Age terms for ship types – knǫrr, beit, skeið, kjóll, askr and elliði – and link them to actual ships and ship depictions from that interest in maritime aspects period: of Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, we do not possess a proper knowledge of these topics. The archaeological record can only give us a skeleton, but neither the terminology nor the culture surrounding the Probable representative of the first phase of the ship type knǫrr: The Oseberg ship, 820 AD. The term probably means: ‘a ship with material remains. The gaps Probable representative of the ship a backwards-curved stem’. can be filled by Old Norse type beit: woodcarving on a board texts, but they are highly from the Oseberg find, early 9th understudied with regard to century. The term seems to refer to maritime aspects – and the keel extensions used in the earliest period of sailing. when they have been used, their information has mostly been linked to Viking Age These results contradict previous ships, although it reflects presentations of the topic because primarily High Medieval hitherto not enough attention has technology. At the same been paid to source problems: the time, we know only little High Medieval authors mostly describe the High Medieval ships about High Medieval ships they knew, even when describing and ship technology, events centuries earlier. Thus, Óláfr because the archaeological Probable representative of the ship type kjóll: The Gokstad ship, c. Tryggvason’s Long Serpent is record from that period is 890 AD. The term seems to refer to a comparatively large cargo described as a 13th century floating fragmentary. As an Old capacity, prior to specialised cargo ships. castle, not the ‘serpent type’ known Norse scholar and sailor of from finds from c. 1000 AD. A full review of the Old Norse texts Viking ship replicas and for data on maritime aspects will vernacular vessels, I am bring an abundance of information seeking funding for text- about ship types, technical solutions, based research into these technical developments, trade, etc. questions. This poster So far, only a small part of the textual presents some of my results information has been used and only a fraction of it has been interpreted in so far. light of the present archaeological and ethnographic knowledge. REFERENCES Heide, Eldar, 2014: "The early Probable representative of the second phase of the ship type knǫrr: Viking ship types". Sjøfartshistorisk Skuldelev 1, c. 1030 AD. From this time onwards, a knǫrr was and årbok 2013. 81-153. ocean-going cargo ship. Seal of Bergen, c. 1300. From this th ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS period we have no well preserved Probable skeið: Hedeby 1, late 10 century. The term may reflect a Images from Crumlin-Pedersen 1997: Viking-Age ships finds of large cargo ships or war comparison to a skeið, ‘weaving beater’, because this ship type was and shipbuilding in Hedeby/Haithabu, Schleswig and 2002: The Skuldelev ships I; ships, but its ships are well long and narrow. Óláfr Tryggvason’s ‘The Long serpent’ was Nicolaysen 1882: Langskibet fra Gokstad ved reflected in Old Norse texts. probably of this type. Sandefjord, and Christensen et al. 1992: Osebergdronningens grav..
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