Viking Ships: The Knarr
While Viking warriors raided and looted their way across Europe and parts of Asia, many more of them lived in communities scattered along the coastline of Norway, Denmark, Sweden and later Iceland and Greenland. These Vikings were hunters, farmers, shipbuilders, blacksmiths and traders.
Size To sell or trade their goods, the Vikings used a ship especially designed for the job. It wasn't long, sleek and built for speed like the longship. It was shorter, wider and better suited to carrying cargo such as cattle, wool, timber and wheat. It was called a "knarr" or cargo ship. This freighter averaged 16 metres in length, 5 metres in width, and over 2 metres in height from keel to gunwale. It had a draft of 1 metre and could not navigate the shoals as well as the lighter longship. Under full sail, it could travel at 10 knots.
Construction Like the longship, the knarr was constructed in the clinker method using oak for keel and oak or pine for the planks. Typical of all Viking ships, the knarr had one mast with one square wool or linen sail. The sail was stitched in the typical cross-hatched pattern. The knarr's mast could not be taken down and stored like the longship's. It was permanently fixed to the keel. Unlike the drakkar, it was equipped with only a couple of oars.
Crew The crew members of the knarr included the same kinds of sailors as the longship except that there were fewer rowers. Crewmen were needed to steer the ship, furl and unfurl the sails, watch for shoals and row. Because their were fewer oarsmen, rowing was done when entering and leaving port and when docking. Because the deck of the knarr was higher above the water, the ship was rowed with the oarsmen standing up. They took two steps forward to complete one full pull of an oar.
Uses of the Knarr The knarr was used to haul cargo over long distances. It was well suited for ocean travel and because it was shorter, it was a better ship in rougher seas than the drakkar. Lief Erikson and other Viking explorers used a knarr for their voyages to North America. Farm animals and other cargo for sell or trade were placed in the middle of the knarr, sometimes under protective tarpaulins. For these reasons, oarsmen could not row from amidship. Rowing was done nearer the bow or stern or both.
Life Onboard a Knarr The knarr had triangular shaped spaces under the deck at both the bow and stern of the ship. They were used by passengers for protection against unpleasant weather. Despite being wet and dark, they were better than sharing sleeping space with the animals on deck. Like all Viking ships, the crew of the knarr bailed a lot of water. There were no watertight decks or housing to make sea spray flow directly back into the ocean and no pumps to keep the water levels low. Instead, the water collected in the bottom of the ship and had to be constantly bailed out to keep it from sinking. Bailing was mainly the job of children, if any were on board.