A longship is a sleek, clinker-built vessel used for trade, exploration, and warfare. Its narrow hull and shallow draft allow coastal and river travel. With 40 crew, it moves at 3 mph using oars and a single square sail. Often adorned with carvings, it remains an iconic Scandinavian design.
The prow’s curve is the neck of a dragon, carved in knotted patterns to the intimidating figurehead. Inside the ship built like a trough, warriors stand on dark oak planks over the powerful keel and stems, round shields mounted in a line along the rail. A square sail, emblazoned, flies on a rickety mast. The ship climbs from the trough of a wave to its crest, the dragon breaking through, and aims itself toward plunder.