#snekkja

[illustratus]

The Sea Raiders by Albert Goodwin

Depicts four Snekkjas (Viking longships) at sea amidst a flock of seagulls

[onuen]

Summer quarters at Lofotr and the Vestvågøya Innerpollen, Lofoten, Norway.

[toihaismoi]

Esnèque normande, Rouen

[janus-the-god]

Viking ship. - The Swedish Viking Age lasted roughly between the 8th and 11th centuries. During this period, it is believed that the Swedes expanded from eastern Sweden and incorporated the Geats to the south. It is believed that Swedish Vikings and Gutar mainly travelled east and south, going to Finland, the Baltic countries, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine the Black Sea and further as far as Baghdad.

[bregma]

The snekkja, meaning 'thin and projecting,' was typically the smallest longship used in warfare and was classified as a ship with at least 20 rowing benches. A typical snekkja might have a length of 17 m, a width of 2.5 m, and a draught of only 0.5 m. It would carry a crew of around 41 men (40 oarsmen and one cox).

Snekkjas were one of the most common types of ship. According to Viking lore, Canute the Great used 1400 of them in Norway, in 1028, and William the Conqueror used about 600 for the invasion of Britain (The Battle of Hastings) in 1066.

The Norwegian snekkjas, designed for deep fjords and Atlantic weather, typically had more draught than the Danish model designed for low coasts and beaches. Snekkjas were so light that they had no need of ports – they could simply be beached, and potentially even carried across a portage.

The snekkjas continued to evolve after the end of the Viking age, with later Norwegian examples becoming larger and heavier than Viking age ships.

image: Full-scale replica of a Viking snekkja based in Morąg, Poland