What is a drekar?
a Viking town
a merchant ship
a longship
an ocean-going ship
The author tries to persuade the reader of what?
Vikings were only violent pirates and raiders.
There was no connection between the Vikings’ success and their ships.
Viking ships were more advanced than ships today.
Vikings were not simply pirates and raiders.
The Vikings considered speed an important quality in a ship. What evidence from the passage supports this conclusion?
The hulls of the drekar were shallow and fat so the ships rode high in the water
The drekar had very large sails and space for many oarsmen.
The drekar were light enough to be carried from one body of water to another.
The drekar could be driven right onto beaches to allow soldiers to jump over the side.
Read the following description of the knarr:
“The knarrs would have looked similar to the drekars except they were longer, fatter and taller, and the space dedicated to cargo left less room for oarsmen. These were the backbones of the Viking empire, which they used to carry everything from gold coins to timber, spices and fine fabrics.”
What can you infer about the knarrs?
They were not designed for warfare.
They were faster than the drekars.
They were designed to carry soldiers.
They were used for the same purpose as drekars.
What is the main idea of this passage?
The knarr had cargo holds built into the bow and stern, including one such cargo ship discovered near Roskilde that was capable of carrying 24 tons, or 48,000 pounds.
The different kinds of Viking ships illustrate the truly complex people that the Vikings were, and how far reaching their influence was.
The keel of a ship helps the ship maintain a straight line through the water and counters the force of the wind against the sail.
Viking ships were so advanced for their time they often were the biggest, tallest and most striking ships many people had ever seen.
