Viking Longships in the historical sources
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle notes: “793. Here, terrible portents came about over the land of Northumbria and miserably frightened the people: these were period flashes of lightning, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. A great famine immediately followed these signs, and a little after that in the same year on 8 January the raiding of heathen men miserably devastated God’s church in Lindisfarne island by looting and slaughter.”
The speed at which the Vikings arrived to sack the monastery at Lindisfarne in 793 is said to have caught the monks entirely by surprise. Their monastery is thought to have had a tower from which the monks could keep watch for approaching ships, and on a clear day, they should have been able to see up to 18 nautical miles away, or several hours of sailing for the average ship of the time, historians believe. That their attackers appear to have sailed in without notice begs the question: how fast were Viking longships?
In another account, The Two Lives of Charlemagne, by the biographer Notker the Stammerer, we encounter a deeply troubled Charlemagne who witnessed an unusual event in southern France. A fleet of Northmen sailed up the coast to raid, but seeing a garrison of Franks stationed where they had hoped to strike, they fled. The Franks sent a fleet to pursue them, but could not match the Northmen’s speed. Notker tells us Charlemagne recognized the imminent threat of the Vikings on his empire when he said, “I do not fear that these bandits will do me any harm; I am sick at heart to think that, even in my lifetime, they dared to attack this coast, and I am horror-stricken when I think of the harm they will do to my descendants and their subjects.”
Already in his lifetime, we learn that the Vikings’ longships had a reputation for sailing much faster than those of the Franks. The longship was an innovation that struck terror in the hearts of their victims, and it has become a symbol synonymous with the Viking Age. Yet, despite contemporary accounts of their speed, historians and archeologists struggled for a long time to determine how fast a longship might have sailed. Not until modern reconstructions put their theories to the test did they manage to estimate longship speeds, and even then, there are likely factors that may have affected speed that remain unaccounted for. Still, it is through modern reconstructions that we may begin to answer the question: how fast were Viking longships?
Reconstructions from the Roskilde Ship Museum have given us ample information to work with.
The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark, has built five reproduction longships based on those it has found in recent years, and it has put them all to the test. Their effort is among the most educational for assessing the speed at which the Vikings might have sailed. Below are the four best longships among the five they’ve reconstructed, and the information the museum lists about them.
Skuldelev 1 – The Ocean-Going Trader
Ottar: Skuldelev 1. Photo Credit: The Viking Ship Museum.
Skuldelev 1 is a sizeable ocean-going cargo ship from Sognefjord in western Norway. The vessel is built of heavy pine planks and has a rounded form that gives it a high loading capacity and exceptional seaworthiness on the North Atlantic. It was repeatedly repaired with oak in Norway and Denmark. The ocean-going trader could have sailed all over the North Sea and the Baltic as well as in the North Atlantic. The ship and its cargo may have been owned by a chieftain or a group of merchants sailing it on trading expeditions. The vessel had decks fore and aft as well as an open hold.
- Age: ca 1030
- Length: 15.84 meters Breadth: 4.8 meters
- No. of oars: 2-4
- Crew: 6-8 men
- Sail area: 90 m2
- Average speed: 5-7 knots Top speed: ca 13 knots
Skuldelev 2 – The Great Longship
The Sea Stallion from Glendalough: Skuldelev 2. Photo Credit: The Viking Ship Museum.
Skuldelev 2 is a warship built to carry warriors at high speed from place to place. With a crew of 65-70 men, it was owned by a chieftain or king, like those evoked in the sagas. Tree-ring analysis of the timber shows that the ship was built in the mid-10th century and was likely used to ferry soldiers across long distances, such as to England, Ireland, and France.
- Age: ca 1042
- Length: approx. 30 meters Breadth: 3.8 meters
- No. of oars: 60
- Crew: 65-70 men
- Sail area: 112 m2
- Average speed: 6-8 knots Top speed: 13-17 knots
Skuldelev 3 – The Coastal Trader
Roar Ege: Skuldelev 3. Photo Credit: The Viking Ship Museum.
Skuldelev 3 is a small, elegant, and sturdy trading ship built for carrying goods across Danish coastal waters and throughout the Baltic. The vessel is the best preserved of the five Viking ships found in the Roskilde Fjord and was built with Danish oak. It had decks of loose planks fore and aft and an open hold with room for about 4 tons of cargo. The ship may have been used when the owner and his associates or family traveled to a market or meetings at the assembly.
The wind was the most important means of powering the ship, but the oars could be used when maneuvering or traveling short distances in calm weather.
- Age: ca 1040
- Length: 14 meters Breadth: 3.3 meters
- No. of oars: 5
- Crew: 5-8 men
- Sail area: 45 m2
- Average speed: 4-5 knots Top speed: 8-10 knots
Skuldelev 5 – The Small Longship
Helge Ask: Skuldelev 5. Photo Credit: The Viking Ship Museum.
Skuldelev 5 is one of the smallest longships and was likely used as part of a war fleet. It was ideal for sailing in Danish coastal waters and through the short, choppy waves of the Baltic. Unlike the other Skuldelev ships, it was built and repaired with new and recycled timber. We do not know how old the ship is exactly, but researchers think it was likely used for a long time and repurposed many times over its life.
- Breadth: 2.5 meters
- No. of oars: 26
- Crew: 30 men
- Sail area: 46 m2
- Average speed: 6-7 knots Top speed: 15 knots
Other ship constructions around the world
As the Vikings’ popularity continues to grow around the world, other shipbuilding projects outside Roskilde have also contributed to our understanding of how quickly longships were built. Some of these stem from mythical sagas, while others have elaborated on Viking Age designs to create new models that may help to expand our understanding of longship technology.
Draken Harald Harfagre
Construction of the 35 m long Skeid longship Draken Harald Hårfagre
The Draken Harald Hårfagre is the largest reconstruction ever built and has sailed across the Atlantic as far as New York. The project was meant to create a ship based on the descriptions of the largest longships found in the sagas combined with the building techniques discovered in actual burial ships. The website for the Draken Harald Hårfagre warns, “Draken Harald Hårfagre is a clinker-built Viking longship. She is not a replica of a known ship, she is a reconstruction of what the Norse Sagas call a ‘Great ship.’ Knowledge of history, especially the Norse sagas, archeological findings, and Norwegian boatbuilding traditions, combined created the world’s largest Viking ship, sailing in modern times.”
It is essential to understand that this ship is not the best source for understanding the speed of the longships of the Viking Age because it is not a replica of a known ship and is much larger than any of the ships ever found. However, the experiment has shown us a profound trend: bigger does not equal faster. The top speed recorded for the Draken Harald Hårfagre is 14 knots, a full three knots shy of the Skudelev 2’s top speed. While an impressive ship, its size negatively affects its top speed and maneuverability.
ORKAN, by Bátar.
The Orkan, the flagship of the French association Bátar, is currently in a high-stakes transition from a stationary engineering marvel to a record-breaking ocean voyager. As of April 2026, the 28-meter longship is moving through its intensive sea trial phase along the coasts of Brittany, having recently bid farewell to its Mediterranean training grounds in Sète. While the crew has already unofficially tested its specialized “wood-carbon” hybrid hull—designed to withstand the punishing forces of high-speed planing—the official world record attempt is slated for the upcoming North Atlantic crossing to New York in 2027. That voyage will be the ultimate test; the team aims to officially clock a top speed of 20 knots (approx 37 km/h), which would shatter the existing benchmarks for modern longship replicas. For now, the Orkan holds the title of the fastest longship in the world “by design,” and the maritime community is watching closely as the crew refines their maneuvers to turn that theoretical speed into a certified reality.
Top Speeds vs. Actual Navigation
Understanding the longship’s top speed makes for sensational headlines, but sailboats rarely travel at their top speed. A more recent adventure by the Roskilde Ship Museum involved sailing their small longship 50 nautical miles across the Danish Archipelago. It took them twelve hours with an average speed of four knots. The test case showed that the Vikings may not have moved around as swiftly as the sagas and chronicles suggest in the real world. Ideal conditions are exceedingly rare.
The Verdict: How Fast Were Viking Longships?
While modern replicas offer a tangible window into the past, the “top speed” of a Viking longship remains a subject of intense debate among maritime historians. In ideal conditions, high-performance replicas like the Sea Stallion have topped 17 knots, yet most sustained sailing occurs in the 8–12 knot range. Some historians have made the bold claim that original Viking-age vessels could have reached 24–25 knots, but even with the advent of the Orkan—which utilizes a carbon-fiber composite hull for maximum rigidity—those speeds remain elusive. To put that in perspective, 25 knots is a blistering pace for a modern racing yacht and nearly unheard of for a single-hull wooden vessel.
We must remember that speed is relative. An average of 10 knots might not break modern Olympic records, but compared to the sluggish, heavy-bellied Carolingian cogs of the era, a Viking fleet would have appeared to move with supernatural swiftness. They were ships as much as they were a technological marvel of the early Middle Ages.
Navigating Fiction vs. Reality
In my own historical fiction, I have to reconcile these sensational top speeds with the grueling reality of sailing. Sensational headlines focus on top speeds, but history is moved by averages. When I’m plotting my characters’ journeys across the North Sea, I generally lean on a 3-4 knot average. While a chieftain might boast of higher speeds to impress his peers, the reality for a crew involves shifting winds, weary rowers, and the relentless drag of the tides and currents. By sticking to a more conservative average, I find the drama doesn’t come from how fast the ship can go, but from how the characters survive the days when the wind refuses to blow at all.
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