Heimskringla range
Karfi £3.20
Representing a typical general purpose ocean going longship, the Karfi had 16 benches (32 rowers) giving it a crew of about 40 men This ship is the kind of vessel that transported Viking invaders to England in the 9th century. The model is approximately 76mm long.
Snekke £2.50
Representing a typical raiding longship that would compose the bulk of most fleets, the Snekke had 13 benches (26 rowers) giving it a crew of about 30 men. This ship is thought to be a 10th century design. The model is approximately 58mm long.
Skeid £5.20
Representing a purpose built ocean going warship such as might be owned by a wealthy Earl, the Skeid had 30 benches (60 rowers) giving it a crew of about 70 to 80 men. 'Crane', 'Short Serpent' and 'Great Bison' are all examples of a Skeid. This ship is thought to be a 10th century design. The model is approximately 99mm long.
Drakkar £6.20
Representing the largest ships of the period the Drakkar would only be found in the hands of a King or powerful Earl, the Drakkar had 34 benches (68 rowers) giving it a crew of about 80 to 100 men. 'Long Serpent' is an example of a Drakkar (the Sagas tell of 40 bench Drakkars, our model is suitable to represent these ships). This ship is thought to be a 10th century design. The model is approximately 122mm long.
Saga Warriors
All warriors are designed to be used in conjunction with our range of ships. As such they do not come mounted on a metal base as a standard figure would.
MD50 Earl Eirik's Iron Beard £0.50
MD51 Deck Furniture Pack £1.20
MD52 Rower Pack £1.20
MD53 Saga Warrior Crew Pack £2.00
MD54 Longship Command Pack £2.00
Earl Eirik's Iron Beard
No one actually knows what the Iron Beard really looked like, there is only one mention of it in the Sagas:
“Earl Eirik had a large ship of war which he used upon his viking expeditions; and there was an iron beard or comb above on both sides of the stem, and below it a thick iron plate as broad as the combs, which went down quite to the gunnel.”
The Beard appears to be a device to prevent the enemy from boarding. It would fit over the prow in place of the figurehead and hang down in front of it; this means that the prow itself must have braced the iron plate beard from behind. The comb or ‘moustache’ would most likely be a row (or rows) of long nails/spikes driven into the wood pointing slightly downward, their purpose would be to prevent the enemy from climbing over the iron plate beard.
Painting Your Ships
For those who do not want plain wood the Sagas tell of painted ships. Strakes (the plank sides of the vessel) above the waterline could be coloured; red or red and white stripes seem popular choices. Sails could have vertical strips of red, blue or green (in any combination). Archaeological research suggests yellow could also be used. Some figure heads on the prow are described as 'gilt' so presumably that would be gold or silver in colour.
We at Kremlin do not think that the Vikings had true black as a colour. We base this on translations of stories about "Blueland" wherein live "Bluemen" - Blueland is Africa and Bluemen are black African men. We believe that this reference indicates that the Viking equivalent of black was a very dark navy blue.
Styling Your Ships
When depicting a ship note that not all Viking longships had figureheads on the prow, or stern tails. Some had none at all and others replaced the figurehead on the prow with a wind vane. So, you can mix and match these components when ordering multiple ships to give variety to a fleet.
A Viking longship styled for battle should have a furled sail. If depicted, the crew would be split into thirds: one third would row the vessel, one third would protect the rowers and one third would be free to fight as needed. We recommend that, if you are going to put crew in the ships, you do so at a ratio of one figure representing between 2 to 5 men. This is cheaper than representing at 1 to 1 ratio and gives the model an aesthetically pleasing look.
Shield racks were used to store the shields while sailing. The racked shields covered a ships oar ports meaning that they would probably have had to be (at least partially) removed when rowing. Shield colours varied.
Rigging - sorry but we don't own the copyright on any pictures showing how longships were rigged. Osprey Publishing brought out a book entitled "Viking Longship", there are plenty of excellent rigging examples in that.
Starting Points for Further Research
Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Heimskringla/index.html#contents
The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/
Osprey Publishing New Vanguard series "Viking Longship"
Osprey Publishing Elite series "The Vikings"
Greenhill Military Paperback "The Viking Art of War" by Paddy Griffith