The Vikings
Viking Weapons
TV-Y7
S1 • E2 Jul 8, 2015 45m"This episode covers the way the Vikings developed the tools of their trade. Pillage was a spare-time occupation but (alongside trade - and at times the two went together) proved to be exceptionally profitable. Plundering the coasts of France or England could of course be quite risky so the Vikings developed weapons and tactics to heighten the effect of surprise. Nothing would have been possible without the Viking ship. We examine the development of the longboat, the typical Viking ship, with its broad beam and shallow keel, able to sail up rivers but at the same time take to the high seas, bending with the waves thanks to the clinker build (outer boards laid partially one on top of the other) and joints made with wooden pegs.