A narrow, shallow-draft Viking warship designed for speed and maneuverability, featuring a distinctive dragon-head prow and square sail. These vessels could navigate both open seas and rivers, making them ideal for raids and exploration.
From Old Norse 'langskip' meaning 'long ship,' referring to their elongated hull design. The term evolved in Middle English to describe these characteristic Scandinavian vessels that dominated northern European waters from the 8th-11th centuries.
Longships were engineering marvels that enabled the Viking Age itself - without them, there would have been no raids on England, no settlement of Iceland, and no Viking discovery of North America 500 years before Columbus! Their shallow draft meant Vikings could sail up rivers and attack inland targets that seemed completely safe from naval assault.
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