Ormrinn langi

Ormen Lange by Halfdan Egedius

For other uses, see Ormen Lange.

Ormen Lange (Long Serpent) was one of the most famous of the Viking longships. It was built for the Norwegian King Olav Tryggvason, and was one of the largest and most powerful longships of its day.

The ship reportedly had 34 rooms, i.e. was built with 34 pairs of oars, for a crew of 68 rowers (and additional crew members). Extrapolating from archeological evidence (e.g. the Gokstad ship), this would make Ormen Lange nearly 45 meters long. The ship's sides were unusually high, "as high as that of a Knarr".

The ship was the last to be taken in the Battle of Svolder where Olav was killed (although his body was never found; and some stories tell of the king jumping into the water either sinking due to the weight of his armour or escaping in the confusion) by a coalition of his enemies in the year 1000.

Its story is told in a traditional Faroese ballad (Kvæði), called Ormurin Langi.

References

• Björn Landstöm, The Ship: Illustrated History (1961)