Viking Longships: The Dragon Boats That Sailed the Seas
Long, long ago, people called the Vikings built wooden boats with a scary dragon head carved on the front. These boats were called longships. They were skinny, fast, and could sail across the big cold ocean OR paddle up a shallow river. When people on the shore saw a dragon head sliding out of the fog, they knew the Vikings were coming!
What You'll Learn
- What a Viking longship looked like - Why the dragon head was on the front - How the Vikings made the boat go with sails and oars - Why these boats could go where big ships could not
A Boat Like a Long Skinny Snake
A longship was very LONG and very THIN, like a big wooden snake floating on the water. It was made from lots of wooden planks laid over each other like the shingles on a roof. Because it was thin, it could cut through the water fast. And because it did not sit deep in the water, it could float in shallow rivers where fat ships would get stuck.
The Vikings put a carved dragon or snake head on the front of the ship to scare their enemies AND to scare away bad sea spirits. Sometimes they took the head off when they got close to home, so they would not frighten the friendly spirits of their own land!
Wind Power and Arm Power
A longship had TWO ways to go. First, a big square sail, often striped red and white, caught the wind and pushed the boat along fast. Second, when there was no wind, the Vikings used their arms! Rows of people sat on benches and pulled long wooden oars through the water. Pull, pull, pull, all together, and the boat zoomed ahead.
Where the Longship Could Go
Because it was light and did not sit deep, the longship could do something amazing. It could sail across the huge ocean, then slide right up onto a sandy beach so the Vikings could hop out. The Vikings sailed these boats very far, all the way to lands like England and even cold, faraway Iceland.
Match each part of the longship to what it did.
Terms
Definitions
Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.
Why could a Viking longship go up shallow rivers when big fat ships could not?
The wind was gone and the sail hung flat. How did the Vikings still make the longship move?
Build Your Own Longship
Ask a grown-up for help. Take a clean, empty plastic tub or a walnut shell and float it in a sink or bowl of water. Cut a small square 'sail' from paper and tape it to a short stick or straw for the mast, then poke it into a lump of clay or playdough in the middle of your boat. Blow gently to be the wind and watch your longship sail across the water. Then draw a dragon head on paper and tape it to the front. Show someone your dragon ship and tell them ONE thing Vikings used to make their real boats go.
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