Photo. O. Voering, Christiania.
Fig. 30. Norwegian Ship.
Being an open ship it was customary to stretch a tent, called a tjald, over the vessel under which the crew could sleep at night or shelter in bad weather. This was extended by means of cords and wooden stretchers. A pair of these latter have been found in the Gogstad ship with carved figureheads. Very similar to the ships depicted in the Bayeux tapestry, as we shall presently see, the Gogstad ship may be regarded as a typical Viking ship, such as we are accustomed to read of in the literature of the Sagas.
Fig. 31. Russian Ship.
Since this last ship was unearthed there has also been found another Viking ship, which we shall refer to by the name of Oseberg. This was discovered on the western side of the Christiania Fjord, in the district of Vestfold, in the year 1903. Its resting place was, as usual, deep down in a mound. Happily the work of excavation was put into scientific hands, and the University of Christiania sent Professor Gabriel Gustafson to Oseberg to superintend the digging, which proceeded with great care, and about Christmas, 1904, the whole ship was fully disclosed. The various pieces were subsequently put on board a lighter and brought to Christiania, where for the present at any rate they are stored in the military arsenal of Akershus, each piece having previously been numbered so as to facilitate reconstruction. She is of similar dimensions to the Gogstad ship though a little shorter, but unfortunately she has not been so well preserved. She has in fact suffered severely by the earth pressing up from beneath while her own weight, together with that of the mound above her, have damaged her frames considerably. In ornamentation she is indeed superior to the Gogstad ship and some detailed carving at the ends of the ship runs along the gunwale. However the wonderful collection of personal property found in her has not yet been surpassed. Although she also had suffered at the hands of thieves, there were discovered in her:—a loom with a tapestry full of small pictures resembling those on the Bayeux tapestry, implements of various kinds, a carriage but no weapons, which latter had probably been stolen unless we suppose that his wife and not the sea-chief himself had lain buried here.
With regard to the internal arrangements and fittings of the Viking ships, the rowing benches were placed at either side of the ship with a gangway running down the centre. In calm weather the ship was of course propelled with her oars. In the centre of the gangway, fitted to the keelson, was placed the step—stalbr—for the mast, room being left so that the mast could conveniently be raised and lowered. Like those of their ancestors in the Mediterranean, the masts of these ships were lowered by means of a tackle on the forestay before going into battle, and also when compelled to resort to oars on meeting with a head wind. Stays supported the mast from the top to the high stem-post, as well as shrouds on each side. The halyards passed through a hole below where the shrouds met. Wooden parrals called rakki were used to hold the yard to the mast, and these are clearly seen in old manuscripts of English ships of mediæval times. Braces came down from the extremities of the yards, leading away aft.
The sail was square and was not practicable for tacking, consequently it frequently meant waiting for a fair wind or resorting to oars. We learn from the Sagas that Harald Sigurdson wishing to visit Constantinople, on his return from Jerusalem, waited with his fleet a whole month and a half for a side wind to enable him to display his magnificent sails all glorious with rich velvet. The sail was much wider at the foot than on the yard, and exceeded the breadth of the ship. Fig. 30, as we have already remarked, represents a modern and practically an ancient Scandinavian ship—so little have these craft altered in the march of time. It will be noticed that she has no boom. However, the Russian ship in Fig. 31 is correctly shown with one. That, in fact, is the characterising difference between the ships of these two peoples. That a tacking-boom or beiti-ass was in use we know from the Ynglinga Saga. It is said to have reached so far beyond the gunwale that it could knock a man overboard from a boat when sailing too close past.[44] This boom was probably used when wishing to sail fairly close to the wind. Apparently when the beiti-ass was not in use the braces were called sheets.