every day in 2016, write a sentence or a paragraph or a poem that appreciates
the Viking longship
imagine! a ship because it really can go to sea, but it has no deep keel or centerboard so it can enter rivers and even streams. it can work in water only one meter deep! it can land on any beach, or any riverbank or stream bank that is not too precipitate. in the ocean it skims across the surface, and can handle waves that are ten to fifteen times as high as its hull. it carries cargo, or warriors, or both. it is fast, typically 10 knots, occasionally 15. it worked well as a trader's or a merchant's vessel, but it worked best as a raiders' or invaders' vessel. it could land, maraud, and escape before "homeland security" could pull itself together. it could deliver an invading army, then put back to sea, and land another army behind the defenders who had gathered to defeat the original invaders. it brought the Vikings into France where they became the Normans and spread into England, Italy, Sicily, and Jerusalem. it was an amazing vehicle in its time. it still is today.
No comments:
Post a Comment