vikings

[druiaghtagh]

wher can i fing out about the viking practise of oar walking, thankyou

[simms]

I have only ever come across this in the film 'the Vikings' which had Michael Douglas in it when he was still cute.I know of no references to it that date from the time of the Vikings - can anyone else help here?

[simms]

Sorry chucks Kirk douglas

[woofgang]

I have a nasty feeling that it might have been made up for the movie, like throwing axes at ladies' plaits

[Sludge]

Late in the 8th century AD, strange ships began appearing in the bays along the coasts of Europe. They were strongly built of oak, and from 40 to 60 oarsmen sat on the rowers' benches. Each ship had a single mast with a square sail that was often striped in brilliant colors. Bright shields overlapped along the gunwale. The ships were pointed at each end so that they could go forward or backward without turning around and had tall curved prows, usually carved in the shapes of dragons. These dragon ships, as they were often called, usually appeared in a bay at about dawn. As soon as the ships reached the beach, tall blond men jumped out, shouting battle cries. Armed with swords and battle-axes, they attacked the villagers and carried all the loot that their ships could carry. Then they sailed away. These marauders, or pirates, came from Scandinavia -- what is now Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The people who lived there were Norsemen, or Northmen. Those Norsemen who took part in these swift, cruel raids along the coast were called Vikings. The Vikings came to be the most feared raiders of their time and were the only Norsemen with whom most Europeans came into contact with. Their name was given to the era that dated from about AD 740 to about 1050 -- the Viking Age. Norsemen loved games. They played ball games on the ground and on ice. Wrestling and fencing were popular sports. Norsemen used skates made of the bones of animals. According to a Norwegian historian, an unusual sport involved walking on oar blades while a boat was being rowed.