Shipbuilding
Vikings highly depended on ships for travel because they were colonised near or by the sea because of this they needed to be excellent seamen and ship builders. The Vikings had many different types of ships such as long ships, shallow draft, war, slender and fishing ships there was nearly one for every purpose you could think of. Since the ships were needed for travel and to raid other countries the boats needed to be strong enough to with stand strong waves and winds. The Vikings made their boats from oak this was because oak wood is very strong and flexible it can be bent up to about 90 degrees.
Navigation
The Vikings needed to be very good at navigating so they could travel in ship to get to new lands and to raid other countries to do this they used their knowledge of the stars to find Polaris (the north star) which would always point North giving them a sense of direction. The Vikings also used cloud formations to tell if they were near land certain clouds only form over land and some only over the ocean. Many Vikings when lost or didn’t know where land was they would release a raven or bird hoping it would fly to land and they would follow it. The Vikings didn’t just use birds they also used other animals such as wales which stay near currents which fish are near and other animals that live near/on land.
Trade
Viking trading was used to trade with other countries and people so they could expand their empire. The Vikings built a knarr which was specifically design for trading it could carry up to 35 tonnes it was used to transport merchandise such as timber and livestock and was used to transport the goods to places as far as Greenland and were strong enough to travel through the rough rapids of the European.
Harsh Climate
Scandinavia’s harsh climate has prevented the Vikings from doing certain things but gave them the incentive to find new lands and better themselves because of the climate and landscape. The climate in Scandinavia is very cold wet and rainy this makes it hard to grow crops because it is so cold. The very north of Scandinavia is located in the arctic circle. The landscape od Scandinavia is very mountainous and rocky this means there is very little vegetation and crops also when it rains all the rain comes rolling down the side of the mountains possibly destroying parts of villages. The landscape also consists of fjords and many islands making it hard to travel to and from.