Viking longship with clinker hull and square sail
Barco vikingo de casco ligero con vela cuadra
- Date
- c. 800-1000 · confidence medium
- Place
- Gokstad, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway
- Credited to
- Scandinavian shipbuilders
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A clinker-built hull with keel and mast, combining square sail and oars, flexible, light and shallow-draught. It allowed ocean crossings and river penetration, and is documented in the Oseberg, Gokstad and Skuldelev ships.
The sail reached Scandinavia late: the Salme ships (Estonia, c. 700-750) were still oar-powered only. The date of adoption of the sailing rig (7th-8th centuries) and the 'drakkar' model (a later name) are debated. Gokstad was built around 890 and Oseberg around 820.
What it led to
- Viking voyages to Iceland, Greenland and Vinland
- raiding and river trade in Europe and Russia
- the clinker-building tradition of northern Europe (cog, hulk)