The Vikings Play Again or Longboat
The Vikings are coming. Once more.
After a 900-year hiatus, Viking culture and all things Nordic are all of a sudden landing on shorelines around the world. From the History Channel's ratings juggernaut Vikings, to 2011's blockbuster Thor, to the upcoming summertime epics Hammer of the Gods and Thor 2, it is suddenly very cool to exist a Northman. Even HBO'due south fictional Game of Thrones is set in the distinctly Viking-esque kingdom of Westeros.
And yet, surprisingly piffling is known about this ancient culture that then thoroughly changed the world, and that has so thoroughly captured the imagination of scriptwriters, viewers…and engineers alike. "There's much more that's unknown [of the Viking Historic period], or even unknowable, than at that place is that is known," says Dr. William Brusque, who holds a Ph.D. in electrical technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Applied science, just who is now an author and independent scholar specializing in Viking-age topics, also every bit beingness a research Fellow of the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, MA. He teaches Viking martial arts on his site, Hurstwic.org.
One thing we practice know for certain, however, is that they could sail. And how.
The Boat
The Viking longboat, along with a related blueprint called the "knarr" for shipping cargo, is a true engineering marvel of the aboriginal world, and in light of the fact that modern replicas accept been apocryphally clocked at 25 knots, these boats are a marvel to this very day, over a millennium later.
"Beginning of all, they [longboats] had very shallow drafts, so they could sail in very shallow water, which meant they could go anywhere," says Short. "They were strong enough to cross the open ocean, but they were shallow enough that they could go way up river and truly surprise people in places where no 1 expected an ocean-going ship to announced."
And surprise people they did, with Viking civilisation fundamentally reshaping the people and culture of the British Isles, while simultaneously spreading every bit far east as modern Russian federation and equally far southeast equally modern-day Turkey, where the "Varangian Guard" served Byzantine emperors for centuries. At the center of it all, of class, was the longboat, their unparalleled means of transportation.
"Another thing they [longboats] could do was sail very shut to the current of air – atypical for European ships of that time," Short continues. "And so they could sail in many directions, and unexpected directions given the wind." Ane of the advances that enabled this well-nigh unique power, related to "tacking" in today'southward terminology, was the "beitass," which was a spar that helped brace the sail against stiff winds.
However, i curiously modern advance in the technology of the longboat seems to be the flexibility of the vessel. Anyone who has seen an airplane wing bounce up and downwards in a high current of air knows how critical flexibility can be to the structural integrity of any vessel, particularly one trying to navigate huge ocean swells far out to ocean. The Vikings seem to have grasped this concept much earlier than many other cultures.
"They could cross the open up bounding main and the swells and the waves of the open bounding main and they were able to do that because of their flexibility," says Short. "They [the longboats] weren't firmly nailed together, they actually bent with the waves rather than taking the full force of the waves and perchance breaking."
The People
Combine all of these engineering elements – shallow draft, the ability to sail in whatsoever direction, and an incredibly durable, flexible pattern – and you had a boat that could create a distinct advantage for an early heart ages people, whether in warfare, trade, or exploration. But this detail people had 1 additional advantage, at least every bit far every bit discovery and exploration went. This advantage had naught to with applied science and everything to do with psychology and the type of thinking that would enable a group of sailors to head for the horizon on the open ocean, not having any idea what would greet them when they got there. In outcome, to go on what many would have considered an early middle ages suicide mission.
"The other aspect is the mindset of the Vikings," says Short. "These people believed that at the moment of your birth, the time of your death was chosen for you. So if it was your twenty-four hours to die, nothing could save you. Only if it wasn't your day to dice, nothing could harm you. So why non go out and be bold?"
Why not, indeed. With a mentality that truly lent itself to bold exploration and discovery, it is petty wonder the Vikings accomplished all that they did. However, the next time an episode of Vikings comes on television, or you lot're in the middle of a crowded theater at one of this summer's blockbusters, keep in mind that things similar draft, tacking, and stress analysis were just every bit responsible for the adventures nosotros still bask watching today.
They were strong enough to cross the open ocean, but they were shallow enough that they could go manner up river and truly surprise people in places where no one expected an ocean-going ship to announced.William Brusk, author and Viking scholar
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Source: https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/engineering-the-viking-longboat
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