A Viking longship is a naval vessel that the Vikings made and built Vikings. Vikings used longships as trade, transport, and warfare. Viking longships were also used to bury dead lords by dressing them in their best clothes and placing them in their ships. They then buried the ship in stones, clay and peat sods. This was thought to help the dead person to quickly sail to Valhalla. Valhalla is a majestic hall ruled by Odin.

Vikings ships were usually built in the open, although sometimes they built a boatshed around it. Viking ships were built from oak, except for the mast, which was made of pine, so it was able to bend in the wind. The oars were also made of oak they were about 5 metres long. Longships were usually around 20 metres long. The largest longship was 35 metres long.

The Vikings mainly travelled around Europe, however they made it as far as North America, Russia, North Africa, Constantinople, Iceland and Greenland. When the Vikings travelled they usually held 20 to 60 Vikings each with their own set of weapons and shields.

Viking longships were the ships that they travelled around Europe in. Viking longships were made strong and lightweight so they would sail through water quickly and able to sail through very rough seas. They were also designed with a very shallow hull or bottom which allowed them to sail right up onto the beach. They could also sail up shallow rivers this helped Vikings enter the centre of many of the villages they were invading. They also buried their dead lords in these ships.

Margaret Hudson 2003 The Vikings uk Heinemann Peter 2003 Chrisp strange stories the Vikings uk Belitha press stamboultwilight.blogspot.com kidcyber.com.au wearevikingsfans.com