Viking Longships

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Why were longships needed?

The Vikings needed a ship that could be used for everything, from trading and exploring, to pillaging and battling. The Vikings decided to make their own ship rather than relying on buying them from other people and this will be a great decision for them. The ship they came up with had everything they needed, and could be scaled up or down for its intended purpose. these viking longships were probably the worst thing the Vikings could have developed... for everyone they were raiding that is.

Join us as we dive into the facts and designs that made these ships so awesome for the Vikings.

What impact did Longships have on vikings?

Well, lets look at what they used them for to determine there impact. Viking longships had a very versatile use, as they were good for literally every use of a boat at the time. Having a lot of these ships was seen as a very big power flex as they were quite expensive to produce and have an entire fleet of.

These ships also allowed them to quickly raid towns and get away, travel far and wide to explore the frontiers, and consistently trade with everyone around them. Making them one of the most versatile and unique ship designs of the time.

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How were longships made?

Longships were made using a clinker construction method according to Theofano Moraiti on Reaserchagate, what the ship builders did was have each piece of wood overlap each other, similar to shingles on a roof. these boards are held together by nails. There are five different types of Longships.

the five types of Longships are...

The Knarr, this ship was primarily designed as a merchant ship, therefore not having any rowers for extra speed and usually had a crew around 6 to 8 men

The Drakkar, could carry a crew of 50-70 men with 15-20 pairs of rowers, . these ships were mainly used in exploration, however quick raids were not out of the question for these ships.

the Karvi, these were small but very versatile ships, these ships could trade, fish, and raid and were definitely the ship you would want as a small community leader. had a 20-30 person crew.

the Snejjka, this is the smallest of the ships purpose built with warfare in mind, they had around 30-40 rowing benches and could carry more if need be.

the Skeid, the largest longship, could carry around 100-ish men as a crew, includes Roskilde 6, the largest longship ever made

what effects did the longhip have on later civilizations?

essentially, it strengthened European governments and made them more centralized due to here constant raids. They influenced Europe's militarily as the constant raids gave them a lot of experience. It influenced maritime design due to their rudders.

These ships also had the idea to have a centralized and very strong keel, to keep the ship stable and strong in the treacherous tides.

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what made viking longships so historically important?

They are so important due to them essentially being the founder of what we see in vikings today. None of the vikings heroic battle or bloodthirsty raids would have happened if the viking longship never existed. I also believe they are important due to there role in creating feudalism. as they brought about the centralization of multiple governments due to the raids.

Things like Kieven 'rus would have never existed, the Varangian guard wouldn't have been formed, viking culture wouldn't have spread, Europe's governments would have taken more time to centralize, and their military would be severely lacking as well. not to mention that maritime trade and design would have taken far longer to develop.

All in all that's why I believe viking longships are so important, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed your stay.

Museum "Rooms" - Every student in the group must create a Museum Room which should feature a specific invention or innovation for the team's civilization. Rooms should contain between 300 and 400 words of text, use in text citations or reference phrases as needed. (According to..., As found in...) and should present ALL of the following information:
- - Background information on why this invention or innovation was needed by this civilization
  - How was the invention made?
  - What impact did the invention have on this civilization?
  - What (if any) impact did the invention have on later civilizations?
  - What else made this invention so historically important?
  - At least two images relating to the invention and/or information on the page with identification numbers and captions explaining the images.
  - 3 to 5 links to other websites with related information and why a visitor might find them interesting

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