This is perhaps the archetypical image of a Viking ship; the ornamented prow of a dragon-ship appearing out of the fog carrying a bunch of mushroom-crazed barbarians, hungry for loot. They certainly had a good eye for the aestethics of their ships, whatever their other qualities were.

Both the keel and the upper plank of the hull sides is richly carved. It is easy to understand, from this viewpoint, why these ships were called "snakes" or "dragons".

The ship is double-ended, so the shape of the stern is similar to that of the bow. Here, too, the stern and upper side plank are carved. The side-rudder is hung on the opposite side of the hull - which is why that side is still today called "starboard", from "steer-board". The "port" side is, of course, the side which faced towards land on those rare occasions when one had a pier to tie up alongside. Under normal circumstances the entire ship could be dragged half-way up on the beach, they were lightly built and had large crews so this was no problem.

Of interest here is the nearly horizontal V-shaped timber that supports the ship's sides, inside the bows.

A closer look at the stern decorations.