History
The name knarr is the Old Norse term for ships that were built for Atlantic voyages. The knarr was a cargo ship, the hull was wider, deeper and shorter than a longship, and could take more cargo and be operated by smaller crews. They were built with a length of about 54 feet (16m), a beam of 15 feet (4.5m), and a hull capable of carrying up to 24 tons. It was primarily used to transport trading goods like walrus ivory, wool, timber, wheat, furs and pelts, armour, slaves, honey, and weapons. It was also used to supply food, drink, and weapons and armour to warriors and traders along their journeys across the Baltic, the Mediterranean and other seas. Knarrer routinely crossed the North Atlantic carrying livestock such as sheep and horses, and stores to Norse settlements in Iceland, Greenland and Vinland as well as trading goods to trading posts in the British Isles, Continental Europe and possibly the Middle East.
The only knarr found to be well preserved was in a shallow channel in Roskilde Fjord in Denmark of 1962 along with two warships, a Baltic trader, and a ferryboat. Archaeologists believe that the ships were placed there to block the channel against enemy raiders. Today, all five ships, known as the Skuldelev ships, are being restored at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.
The knarr might have been in use in colonizing Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland, although the similar small cargo vessel the byrthing (berthing) is another major possibility.
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