Vikings: Ships

"For three turbulent centuries, the glimpse of a square sail and dragon-headed prow on the horizon struck terror into the hearts of medieval Europeans. Indeed, the Viking Age, from A.D. 800-1100, was the age of the sleek, speedy longship ... "

"An illustrated guide to Viking warfare from strategy and weapons to culture and tradition. From the time when sailing was first introduced to Scandinavia, Vikings reached virtually every corner of Europe and even America with their raids and conquests ... "

"The history of these pillaging, plundering, board-game-playing Scandinavian seafaring warriors, in lively words and pictures!The Vikings and All That is a skull-splitting saga about the wild, seafaring warriors who burst into history in the eighth century and looted, plundered, pillaged, and burned their way from their native Scandinavia to the British Isles and much of Europe ... "

"They earned their brutal reputation--but the Norse were also craftsmen, explorers and believers in democracy ... "

"Viking longships were used in battle, and were long, light and slender so they could move around quickly.

"The longship is the very essence of the Viking Age. It was with the aid of such ships that the Scandinavian lands were created. Across sounds and belts and along trackless coasts the longships carried warriors and discord – but also order and the power of the state and this led gradually to the Nordic kingdoms finding their places within Europe ... "

"The region settled by the Vikings during the ninth to eleventh centuries consisted of the Scandinavian Peninsula and Jutland, the Danish archipelago, and islands in the Baltic and the North Atlantic as well as areas along the coasts and larger rivers of Britain, Ireland, northern France, and Russia. There were no overland routes connecting these areas, and consequently all communication relied on the ships and boats that rightfully became a trademark for Viking expansion as recorded in contemporaneous sources and in the archaeological record ..."

" ... Ever since the museum opened in 1926, the Viking Ship Museum has been a national symbol and gathering place for Norway's most important cultural heritage. For almost 100 years, the ship graves from Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune and Borre have captivated visitors from all over the world ... "