The Vikings were seafaring people and their ships were at the cutting-edge of technology in the Early Middle Ages. They were light, strong and fast, and could travel up rivers just as well as they could withstand the open ocean.

Viking explorers, traders, settlers and warriors journeyed from Scandinavia to the Middle East and the shores of North Africa and were the first Europeans to reach North America – long before Columbus got there.

Their ships also allowed the Vikings to raid monasteries and settlements all over Europe, and the sight of the dragon-headed prows of their long-ships would have struck terror into coastal communities from Ireland to Istanbul.

All of this meant that ships were very important to the Vikings... sometimes they were even buried in them.

What were Viking ships like?

Vikings Ship elements