[Paddlewise] The Viking Longship, Scientific American

This is a fascinating article on Viking Longships by John R.Hale published
on the Scientific American site.

http://www.sciam.com/1998/0298issue/0298hale.html

Under "Illustrations:" click on "Longship Ancestors" to see seven
illustrations that show the evolution of the Viking ships starting with a
dougout canoe from 5000 B.C. and finishing with a oared warship with a keel
and fixed side rudder from A.D. 700.

Here are a couple paragraphs from the article:

LONGSHIP ANCESTORS The beak became the prominent feature of war canoes at
the beginning of the Iron Age (500 B.C. to A.D. 400), a time of severe
climatic and economic stress in northern Europe. Too high and too flimsy to
serve as a ram, the beak must have been preserved by boatbuilders because it
protected and stabilized the hull. Shipwrights deemed the beak valuable
enough to include it at both ends, creating, in the Iron Age, the first
truly double-ended design.

A bog near Hjortspring, Denmark, yielded an early Iron Age canoe--complete
with paddles, weapons and other gear--built in about 350 B.C. With its
symmetric beaks and large steering paddles at each end, the Hjortspring boat
could have reversed directions without turning. Such adaptability might mean
the difference between life and death when encountering enemies in a narrow
fjord or pushing off after a raid on a hostile shore. For the next 1,500
years, all Scandinavian warships would maintain the double-ended design of
the Hjortspring boat, even after the fixing of rudder, mast and sails had
irrevocably distinguished the bow from the stern. The trait was unique: even
the Romans, who left little commentary on Scandinavia, felt compelled to
mention the double-ended boats.

Rex

Okay, now I really have to go do my taxes.

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