The Viking Age extended approximately from the 8th Century A.D. into the 11th Century A.D., during which time these notorious raiders from Scandinavia traded, raided & colonized lands from Russia & the Black Sea to the Canadian Maritime Provinces. The vessels in which they made their most far-reaching voyages were generally smaller & slower than the "Great Snake" or "Long Ship" type, but the largest type of Viking war ship was a truly impressive feat of marine architecture. The full-size, 98 foot long replica of "Skuldelev 2", largest of 5 Viking era vessels excavated at Roskilde Fjord, Denmark, has been tested at sea around Great Britain & across the North Sea, & found capable of 13 knots under favorable conditions, making this design one of the fastest warships built before the age of steam.

The men who built these ships were true master shipwrights. Their hulls were light & flexible, yet strong, primarily because the planking was split rather than sawn. This meant that greater strength could be achieved with less thickness, every fiber of each plank being continuous from end to end. The known details of the Viking sailing rig permitted the huge square sail to be braced around far enough to sail the ship a point or more into the wind. The keel had just enough "rocker" in it's profile to allow the ship to be steered noticeably more easily than an otherwise identical design with a straight keel would be. The typical Viking raider drew only about 3 feet of water, so could be rowed right up to shore or taken far up rivers for freebooting or trading. For their intended purposes, these ships were very nearly perfect.

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