The 'Cutting Edge' Viking Technology That Changed History [5:34]

YouTube ^ | May 29, 2025 | BBC Timestamp

[SunkenCiv]

How did the Vikings rise from isolated Scandinavians to dominate the seas across Europe and beyond? Historian Dan Snow investigates the cutting edge shipbuilding technology that powered the Vikings' legendary longships and how their mastery of oak and ocean reshaped history. 

This clip is from The Vikings Uncovered (2016) 

The 'Cutting Edge' Viking Technology That Changed History | 5:34 
BBC Timestamp | 835K subscribers | 27,385 views | May 29, 2025

[SunkenCiv]

--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
0:00	·	originally the Scandinavians live
0:02	·	relatively isolated from the rest of
0:06	·	Europe but by about 700 AD they are part
0:10	·	of a growing commercial trading network
0:13	·	powered by advances in ship technology
0:17	·	maritime technology is improving ships
0:20	·	are getting faster they can range
0:22	·	further a field sails are really coming
0:24	·	into common use and that's gives the
0:27	·	people increased possibilities to head
0:29	·	out into that wider world
0:33	·	the Vikings set off in all directions
0:36	·	well beyond their
0:39	·	territories they were both
0:43	·	traders and
0:46	·	raiders of course the acquisition of
0:49	·	wealth stealing things is one of the
0:53	·	motivations for these expeditions
0:59	·	alongside the Viking raiders there are
1:01	·	traders still going out there
1:06	·	exploring new markets new
1:10	·	transactions there are Scandinavians
1:12	·	walking the streets of Istanbul and
1:14	·	Baghdad
1:16	·	the Islamic traveler Iben Fadlan
1:19	·	described some he encountered along
1:21	·	their eastern trade routes as having
1:23	·	bright red hair like
1:26	·	fire
1:28	·	tattoos from tips of fingers to
1:33	·	necks the Vikings use the great rivers
1:36	·	as highways to travel east through
1:39	·	today's Russia and beyond to Asia
1:43	·	they raid Europe to the
1:45	·	south and then they go west first to the
1:50	·	neighboring British
1:52	·	Isles and then on to Iceland and
1:58	·	Greenland the Vikings were able to
2:01	·	travel such great distances thanks to
2:03	·	their cuttingedge ship technology
2:08	·	one of the earliest surviving examples
2:10	·	of a classic long ship is from Oenberg
2:13	·	in
2:14	·	Norway this vessel with its elegant high
2:17	·	bow and stern dates to around 800
2:21	·	AD its rounded hull and shallow keel
2:24	·	would allow it to land easily on a beach
2:26	·	or riverbank making any coast or inland
2:29	·	waterway vulnerable to
2:32	·	attack but how were these long ships
2:35	·	made
2:39	·	[Applause]
2:42	·	[Music]
2:45	·	at the Viking Ship Museum in Rosskilda
2:48	·	Denmark master boat builder Martin
2:51	·	Rodivad Dale is using traditional
2:53	·	materials and tools to construct a
2:55	·	replica what are you working on here
2:58	·	right now it's the backbone it's the
3:00	·	keel for a small Viking ship so what
3:02	·	kind of wood is this this is This is oak
3:04	·	yeah and uh the whole boat will be built
3:07	·	out of oak right look at this what a
3:10	·	piece how old do you reckon this is i
3:12	·	would think 200 years old this is going
3:14	·	to become planks how do you do that
3:15	·	actually we'll split it in halves and
3:17	·	quarters
3:19	·	splitting oak trunks into planks perfect
3:22	·	is tough work
3:23	·	[Music]
3:26	·	see
3:28	·	well this is the line I think yeah yeah
3:30	·	it's going that's going to work isn't it
3:34	·	the plank will still have to be smoothed
3:36	·	and shaped that's right yeah and fitted
3:39	·	to the keel there we go this brilliant
3:44	·	plank so the next plant will come right
3:48	·	here this overlapping design is known as
3:51	·	clinker it actually needs less
3:54	·	waterproofing than fitted planks making
3:56	·	the boat lighter and faster
3:59	·	most think of oak as strong but it's
4:02	·	also flexible wa it's pretty good that's
4:05	·	amazing eh i weigh 100 kilos
4:09	·	you get these amazingly strong planks
4:11	·	and you get the flexibility too it all
4:14	·	helps to mold the ship into the classic
4:16	·	Viking shape and makes the boat sturdy
4:19	·	and flexible enough to withstand
4:22	·	powerful wind and
4:24	·	waves and Martin wants to show Dan how
4:27	·	it works so if you sort of move it you
4:31	·	can see it's really see if you move you
4:35	·	can tell amazing the whole thing is the
4:38	·	whole thing's just twisting like this
4:40	·	you can just see the ripples going down
4:42	·	the hole there these amazing long ships
4:46	·	are the engine of the Viking era their
4:49	·	power helps create the myth of the
4:51	·	Vikings as invincible maritime warriors
4:57	·	on board their long ships the Vikings
5:00	·	travel far and wide in search of
5:05	·	wealth and soon the Vikings are starting
5:08	·	to wreak havoc up and down the coast of
5:11	·	the unsuspecting British Isles
5:14	·	[Music]

[SunkenCiv]

The Vikings -- inventors of the Booty Call.

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the 'sunstone' keywords, sorted:

• Devastating Volcanic Eruption Sparked Ritual Sacrifice of Neolithic Sun Stones [01/16/2025]
• Mythical Viking Sunstones Could Have Worked [04/04/2018]
• Incised stone sun discs found during Danish island excavations [08/15/2015]
• Researchers suggest Vikings used crystals with sun compass to steer at night [03/29/2014]
• Researchers: We may have found a fabled sunstone (Update) [03/08/2013]
• Sunstone 2012 Recap [Focus on internal Lds critic Dehlin's presentation on why some Mormons stay] [02/17/2013]
• Icelandic rocks could have steered Vikings [11/01/2011]
• Did Vikings navigate by polarized light? [01/31/2011]
• How Vikings May Have Navigated On Cloudy Days (More) [03/02/2007]
• Crystals 'helped Viking sailors' (For Viking fans....and others, of course). [02/07/2007]

[FLT-bird]

For those who are unfamiliar, Dan Snow is a particularly obnoxious hardcore Leftist and moron who got put on several BBC programs and became known solely because his daddy was a BBC history presenter. On his podcasts - ostensibly about history - he used to have the most hilarious meltdowns about Trump from 2016-2020. This despite the fact that he’s Canadian-British and as such America is not his country and he won’t be living under any of the laws or policies passed by President Trump anyway.

Eventually laughing at his hysteria and idiocy became boring so I tuned him out completely.

[Openurmind]

Early Ships and Sailing fascinates me. Especially the Viking ships hand built with nothing but Axes and a supply of Trees...

[Hyman Roth]

They dominated their opponents by eating Lutefisk and rotted pickled herring and knocked them out during battle with their rotten breath.

[Openurmind]

“3:56 · the boat lighter and faster”

Faster is the interesting feature. I dove into this one time to find out why they were fast. I found the answer in Seaplane Float design. Early Seaplane float designs were smooth. and because they were smooth they created a kind of “suction” with the water which made it hard to release from water surface friction. So they added a “step” that would allow air to be sucked down to the bottom of the Float which broke this suction therefore letting it release easier. They found out that the Clinker built Viking ships did the same thing under way. The plank overlaps would suck in air to help greatly reduce the friction of the water drag along the hull.

[Openurmind]

Here is something you might find interesting Civ. Most sources claim that the Viking Ships were unable to tack against the wind. When they absolutely had to... Both the prevailing wind and ocean currents were against them to everywhere they went and sailed to from their home base. :)

https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-1.07,58.22,4424/loc=-0.197,58.712

https://trickyfish.co/how-did-vikings-sail-against-the-wind/

[LastDayz]

The sunstone aspect itself is fascinating. Icelandic spar... if I’m not mistaken. Would be interesting to know who figured out that one... Viking-wise.

[SunkenCiv]

It’s likely to have been noticed a while earlier, then adopted for use in navigation long after that. OTOH, maybe they were used much earlier than is documented in old acct’s.

[LastDayz]

Precise navigation in that area of the world implies it’s use earlier. Wouldn’t mind acquiring a slice of spar for personal use and study.

[Jacquerie]

Thanks.

No clicks from me.

[poconopundit]

Hey Openurmind,

You tackled the key question I had about the Viking vessels: how did they sail to windward?  Your link on this subject was excellent!

When I was a kid growing up on Cape Cod, a popular sail boat was the cat boat.

It was easy on a 14 foot Beetle Cat to understand the problem of sailing into the wind.  A catboat is designed to operate in shallow waters (for fishing or shellfishing) -- perfect for the relatively shallow Nantucket Sound and the many inlets on the Cape.

And because catboats have no keel and almost no draft, they are equipped with a retractable centerboard attacked to the hull by a simple hinge.  That was useful: if your catboat hit bottom (such as a sandbar), the centerboard was forced up with no damage to the boat.

You really got a feel for the forces at play in sailing to windward.  In a moderate wind, you could even raise the centerboard yourself and notice: the sail was full, but you were making zero progress going in the windward direction.

[Openurmind]

Good morning and thank you for sharing. Yep... I am all in with how the design principles and forces work. Mast placement, Sheet shape, Keels, Center Boards, Etc. It is a science to make a vessel handle well and make the best of the forces/counter forces involved.

Another interesting shallow draft vessel is used by the Dutch and they have swing down side Leeboards rather than a keel. Very cool innovation from centuries ago...

But for myself I am still trying to figure out the advantage of the Viking Steerboard and why they clung to it for so long. They obviously understood the principles and I'm sure they considered using a Rudder instead but they never did. I realize it can be lowered or raised for shallow draft reasons but it still perplexes me. There had to be an advantage of some sort other than just the draft issue.

[SunkenCiv]

Oooh, nice link!

[Openurmind]

Yeah, Sailing is pretty cool stuff. Thank you for posting the OP! :)

[Openurmind]

Here is one for you that will raise some historic interest. I found some of the connections pretty intriguing... Several chapters of cool Viking stuff... :)

https://www.spirasolaris.ca/1aintro.html

[shoff]

The origins of port and starboard: Since port and starboard never change, they are unambiguous references that are independent of a mariner’s orientation, and, thus, mariners use these nautical terms instead of left and right to avoid confusion. When looking forward, toward the bow of a ship, port and starboard refer to the left and right sides, respectively.

In the early days of boating, before ships had rudders on their centerlines, boats were controlled using a steering oar. Most sailors were right handed, so the steering oar was placed over or through the right side of the stern. Sailors began calling the right side the steering side, which soon became “starboard” by combining two Old English words: stéor (meaning “steer”) and bord (meaning “the side of a boat”).

As the size of boats grew, so did the steering oar, making it much easier to tie a boat up to a dock on the side opposite the oar. This side became known as larboard, or “the loading side.” Over time, larboard—too easily confused with starboard—was replaced with port. After all, this was the side that faced the port, allowing supplies to be ported aboard by porters.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks. I used to know a guy online who said he had his old family records (centuries ago) regarding some ancestors’ trade with the east end of Siberia, during the 24 hour daylight the whole stretch of Arctic Asia was navigable. If this were legit, I’d have had that published as soon as I found out about it, but maybe that’s just me.

His graphics regarding the Medieval climate:

https://www.spirasolaris.ca/liav3l3s2.gif

https://www.spirasolaris.ca/liav3g2.gif