Page "Viking" Paragraph 32

The discovery of two particular buried vessels at Gokstad and Oseberg in Norway provided information about the Viking ships.

There were two distinct classes of Viking ships: the ' longship ' ( sometimes erroneously called " drakkar ", a corruption of " dragon " in Norse ) and the ' knarr '.

The longship, intended for warfare and exploration, was designed for speed and agility, and was equipped with oars to complement the sail as well as making it able to navigate independently of the wind.

The longship had a long and narrow hull, as well as a shallow draft, in order to facilitate landings and troop deployments in shallow water.

The knarr was a dedicated merchant vessel designed to carry cargo.

It was designed with a broader hull, deeper draft and limited number of oars ( used primarily to maneuver in harbors and similar situations ).

One Viking innovation was the ' beitass ', a spar mounted to the sail that allowed their ships to sail effectively against the wind.