In 787 C.E.,  three narrow boats filled with northerners approached the monastery in Lindisfarne, a small island in England. These raiders killed and looted the Christian monastery marking the beginning of a new civilization, the Vikings. Over the next two and a half centuries, the Viking longboat was the spearhead in the attacks in Europe. The Viking longboat dominated in almost any scenario and was the key to Viking success. 

There were many aspects about the Viking longboat that made it standout amongst its peers. In keeping with its namesake, the long narrow design was built so that there could be many rowers and the strong warriors could help propel the vessel forward. It also allowed it to be much lighter and streamlined for faster speeds up to around 15kn. A special design  which the boat had two front ends allowed the boat to back out of a tight space instead of turning around. There were many versions for a different use, such as some were much larger spanning up to 30 meters that were used for cargo and much smaller lighter ones reaching 10 meters for raids. A very interesting piece of information about the Viking boats was that each one was slightly different like a fingerprint of its builder according to “The Viking Ship’ a journal by Per Bruun.