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Most people only know the Viking longboats, with the shields on the side and the dragon's head at the front. Since these ships were very low above the water, they were unfit really for travel on the open ocean and they usually only sailed on trips close to the coast. Most of them only got to see service as warships in fights between Viking clans because the longboats' large surface could hold a lot of warriors.

For open sea travel, Vikings used broad-hulled cargo ships called Knarrs and Karves, the last type more used for combinations of sea and river travel.

As navigational aids, they may have used a 'sun stone', a primitive sort of compass and they had a good working knowledge of the stars that could be helpful for navigation. They also knew that the combination of time of the day and position of the sun was as a directional aid. Through experience they knew which sea currents they could make use of to get somewhere. On regularly used trails they knew where certain sea animals or birds were indicative of where to make a turn of whether their destination was getting near.

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