Long Serpent: Most Famous Viking Longship Of King Olav Tryggvason Of Norway And Its Fate

A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com - The Vikings used wooden longships or dragonships with wide, shallow-draft hulls, allowing navigation in rough seas or in shallow river waters. Their ships could be landed on a beach, and their light weight enabled them to be hauled over land if necessary.

Saga of Olaf Tryggvason “Eiriks men board the Long Serpent in the battle of Svolder.”  Ill. Halfdan Egedius

"Dragonships"  with a dragon-shaped bow, symbolized the Viking times. They were the largest longships of the Vikings.

They were decorated with beautifully carved heads of dragons and other magical beings mounted on their stems. These solid ships were built for chieftains and kings and were most probably first developed in Northern Norway.

The Long Serpent  ("Ormen Lange") was the most legendary warship and the pride of the Norwegian King Olav Tryggvason (995-1000). It was built on special orders of Tryggvason, who had captured a similar but smaller dragon ship. This one had to be far more extensive and more carefully put together.

A Viking longship. Image source

Thorberg Skafhog was the master builder of the ship, and he had many hard-working men who fell wood and shaped it while others made nails and carried timber.

Extraordinary qualities of "Long Serpent"

Snorri Sturluson wrote in "Heimskringla" that it was exceptionally long, built on the model Drakkar, and its stem and stern were gilded. The ship was long, broad, high-sided, and strongly timbered.

"The ship was a dragon...but this ship was far larger, and more carefully put together in all her parts…. The length of the keel that rested upon the grass was seventy-four ells. The Long Serpent had thirty-four benches for rowers. The head and the arched tail were both gilt, and the bulwarks were as high as in sea-going ships. This ship was the best and most costly ship ever made in Norway..."

The Battle of Svolder, at which the Jomsvikings fought with Denmark against Norway, maybe with a swap of allegiance to side with Forkbeard's advantage, of his 400 ships to Tryggvason's 100. Image credit: Otto Sinding - Painting by Otto Sinding - Public Domain

The Long Serpent was equipped with 34 sections for rovers, 68 half-sections, and 68 oars. "In every half-section were eight men, and each and all chosen men; and in the fore-hold were thirty men… and the ship had a crew of 574 men."

The "Long Serpent" was approximately 48m long or even longer. It was this ship, in which Olaf Tryggvason fought his last fight at Svolder (Svoldr).

In 1000 AD, the "Long Serpent" and King Olav Tryggvason participated in the famous sea battle at Svolder, (today, probably Rügen in Germany.)

Olav Tryggvason is elected king of Norway. Painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo 1860. Public Domain

His fleet faced a coalition of three powerful rulers, Eric (Håkonsson) Haakonsson (960s – the 1020s), Governor of Norway and Earl of Northumbria, King Olaf of Sweden (ca.980 – 1022), and King Svein of Denmark (960 – 1014) who together combined their forces, which means they had 71 ships against Tryggvason's 11 warships.

They ambushed Tryggvason, and his ships were boarded and captured. The fiercest fighting took place on the "Long Serpent," the last boat to be captured by enemies.

"…The deck was wet with blood. More and more of Eirik's men climbed aboard and closed in the stern, hacking with broadaxes and swords. When Olav and his remaining men saw that the battle was lost, they leaped into the sea with their armor, shields, and weapons.

Viking longships on the Bayeux Tapestry

The enemy tried to seize the King before he sank. But he pulled his shield over his head and vanished beneath the waters..." wrote Robert Wernick in his book "The Vikings."

The magnificent "Long Serpent" became Eirik's booty and a share of Norway. Two hundred years later, in the 13th century, when Snorri Sturluson recorded "King Olaf's saga," the "Long Serpent's" oaken bones were still visible beside Trondheim Fjord, a reminder of the greatness of the Viking mariner and the boldness of the Viking warrior…."

The "Long Serpent" was neither the fastest nor the best rowing ship in Tryggvason's fleet; still, there was something special about it.

The ship became legendary for its size and extraordinary qualities when it was used and later in the sagas about Olav Tryggvason.

It is still remembered today.

Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Staff Writer

Updated on December 10, 2022

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