A knarr is a type of Norse

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

used by the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

. The knarr ( non, knǫrr, plural ) was constructed using the same

clinker-built Clinker built (also known as lapstrake) is a method of boat building where the edges of hull (watercraft), hull planks overlap each other. Where necessary in larger craft, shorter planks can be joined end to end, creating a longer strake or hull ...

method as

longship Longships were a type of specialised Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by the Nors ...

s, karves, and

faering A faering is an open boat with two pairs of oars, commonly found in most boat-building traditions in western and northern Scandinavia. History Faerings are clinker-built, with planks overlapped and riveted together to form the hull. This type of ...

History

''Knarr'' is the Old Norse term for a type of ship built for long sea voyages and used during the

Viking expansion Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norsemen, Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far ...

. The knarr was a cargo ship; the hull was wider, deeper and shorter than a longship, and could take more cargo and be operated by smaller crews. They were built with a length of about , a beam of , and a hull capable of carrying up to 24 tons.''The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings''
by

Peter Hayes Sawyer Peter Hayes Sawyer (25 June 1928 – 7 July 2018) was a British historian. His work on the Vikings was highly influential, as was his scholarship on Medieval England. Sawyer's early work ''The Age of the Vikings'' argued that the Vikings were "t ...

It was primarily used to transport trading goods like walrus

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

, wool, timber, wheat, furs and pelts, armour, slaves, honey, and weapons. It was also used to supply food, drink, weapons and armour to warriors and traders along their journeys across the Baltic, the Mediterranean and other seas. Knarrs routinely crossed the North Atlantic carrying livestock such as sheep and horses, and stores to Norse settlements in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

and

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland ( non, Vínland ᚠᛁᚾᛚᛅᚾᛏ) was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John ...

as well as trading goods to trading posts in the British Isles, Continental Europe and possibly the Middle East. They may have been used in colonising, although a similar small cargo vessel (the ''byrthing'') is another possibility. Only one well-preserved knarr has been found, discovered in a shallow channel in

Roskilde Fjord Roskilde Fjord is the fjord north of Roskilde, Denmark. It is a long branch of the Isefjord. Cities The cities Frederiksværk, Frederikssund, Jægerspris, Jyllinge and Roskilde (including Himmelev), (home to the famous Roskilde Festival), all h ...

in Denmark in 1962. Known as ''Skuldelev 1'', it was placed among two warships, a Baltic trader, and a ferryboat. Archaeologists believe that the ships were placed there to block the channel against enemy raiders. Today all five ships, known as the

Skuldelev ships The Skuldelev ships are five original Viking ships recovered from the waterway of Peberrenden at Skuldelev, north of Roskilde in Denmark. In 1962, the remains of the submerged ships were excavated in the course of four months. The recovered piece ...

, are exhibited at the Viking Ship Museum in

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

References

Other sources

* Greenhill, Basil (1976) ''Archaeology of the Boat'' (London: Adam and Charles Black Publishers Ltd) *Harrison, Mark (2006) ''The Vikings, Voyagers of Discovery and Plunder'' (Osprey Publishing) *Crumlin-Pedersen, Ole (1997) ''Viking-Age Ships and Shipbuilding in Hedeby'' (Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde)

External links

The historical journey from Norway to Greenland in a replica Viking shipRoskilde Viking Ship Museum
{{Sailing Vessels and Rigs Viking ships Merchant sailing ship types Tall ships

History

See also

References

Other sources

External links