Monday, May 13, 2013

Viking ship


Viking ships were vessels used during the Viking Age in Northern Europe. Scandinavian tradition of shipbuilding during the Viking Age was characterized by slender and flexible boats, with symmetrical ends with true keel. They were clinker built, which is the overlapping of planks riveted together. They might have had a dragon's head or other circular object protruding from the bow and stern, for design, although this is only inferred from historical sources.
They ranged in the Baltic Sea and far from the Scandinavian home areas, to Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Newfoundland, the Mediterranean, and Africa.
The ships are normally divided into classes based on size and function. They were from 10 meters long (33 ft) to sometimes even 30 meters (99 ft).
Marlies send me this lovely card from Germany.