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Sailing Directions of the North Atlantic Viking Age (from about the year 860 to 1400)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2009

Søren Thirslund
Søren Thirslund
Affiliation:
(Danish Maritime Museum, Kronborg)
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Extract

As long as man has ventured to go to sea, sailing directions have existed. Man's survival depended upon knowing the best fishing and hunting places and how to find these were secrets, told only to family or friends.

Later, sailing directions covered areas in the world where trade or new settlements had begun and, as early as 500 years B.C., some of these sailing directions were written down. They covered the Mediterranean Sea and part of western Europe and they were called PERIPLUS meaning ‘sailing around’. They contained almost the same information as sailing directions today, namely: harbours, anchorages, currents, possibilities for fresh water, provisions and other supplies.

Keywords

1.History.2. Sailing directions.
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Navigation , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , January 1997 , pp. 55 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 1997

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References

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