9781422283424

This 3-D illustration provides a sense of what a Viking invasion must have looked like.

Can you imagine a ship with such a carving coming at you? How would you feel?

other dangerous animals. To a Viking warrior, sailing into battle might have felt like riding on the back of a fierce dragon. To the people who saw them coming, it was terrifying. Although the Gokstad ship looks plain today, it may once have been brightly colored. There is evidence for this on the wall hanging called the Bayeux Tapestry, which shows longships painted in colored stripes with patterned sails.

12 THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS: VIKINGS