[gothic-l] Gothic and Gotlandic Sailing

[Tore Gannholm]

Bertil,
It all depends on who the source is. Tacitus' source was the Roman 
Merchant  dealing in ember (Bärnstensriddaren).
He is said to have visited the most important trading places on the 
Baltic coast which of course includes Gotland which is probably the 
furthest he went as that was the trading center in the Baltic in 
those days. Perhaps the wind was not favorable and they had to use 
paddles.

It is only possible to use a sail when there is a favourable wind.

"Next occur the communities of the Suiones, situated in the ocean 
itself; and besides their strength in men and arms, very powerful at 
sea. The form of their vessels varies thus far from ours, that they 
have prows at each end, so as to be always ready to row to shore 
without turning nor are they moved by sails, nor on their sides have 
benches of oars placed, but the rowers ply here and there in all 
parts of the ship alike, as in some rivers is done, and change their 
oars from place to place, just as they shift their course hither or 
thither. "

What Tacitus describes seems to be a boat where they can quickly land 
, get away and go the other way. Excellent for quick raids. This is 
not a merchant ship.

Haywood mentions this type of boat also.

Tore




>Tore,
>
>Yes, indeed, naive is a very good designation for the
>views that there was no sail ships in the Baltic Sea
>in the pre-Viking era.
>
>It must, however, be noted that Tacitus in his _Germania_
>claimed that the Suiones did not use sails:
>
>"They neither work them with sails nor attach banks of oars
>to their sides but as on some rivers the oarage is loose and
>can be reversed as the situation requires". (44.3)
>
>Gothically
>
>Bertil
>
>
>It is naive to think that sails were not used in the Baltic.
>What we can discus is to which extent sails were used. When rowing
>was faster they used rowing. But if there was good wind they of
>course used some kind of sail.
>
>I have made relevant parts of the book  "Dark Age Naval Power"
>available on http://w1.855.telia.com/~u85528681/Gothic_l/
>
>About sails one can read the following:
>"Most Of the ships in this fleet were probably sailing ships as,
>Tacitus tells us, the Germans used cloaks to make improvised sails to
>improve the performance, and appearance, of some of their captured
>Roman vessels.41 This is the earliest evidence which exists for the
>use of the sail among the Germans and is discussed in greater detail
>below "
>
>"The Roman fleet had the advantage of the current but the Germans had
>the wind behind them. The last point is another indicator of the
>importance of sailing ships in the German fleet. "
>
>"It is impossible to say exactly when the Germans first learned of
>the sail but it was certainly in widespread use among their Celtic
>neighbours by c. 100 BC.  Roman naval expeditions in 12 BC, AD 5 and
>AD 12 had explored the coasts of Germany and Denmark so it is
>impossible that the Germans of the North Sea coast were still
>ignorant of the sail in the first century AD.  It is thought that the
>common Germanic word segel is derived from the Celtic word seklo ).
>As the word must have entered the Germanic vocabulary long before the
>first century AD, this would seem to indicate that the Germans had
>learned of the sail from their Celtic neighbours well before their
>first contacts with the Romans. "
>
>"The type and sophistication of a seafaring people's shipbuilding
>traditions seems to be completely irrelevant to the question of the
>adoption of the sail: almost anything that can float, from a log raft
>to a reed boat or a dug-out canoe, can be, and has been, successfully
>saildriven."
>
>"The Franks and Saxons were also being joined by raiders from
>Scandinavia, for in c. 287 Maximian defeated a force of Heruls, then
>settled in Denmark, who had attacked the lower Rhine along with the
>Chaibones, probably the Saxon tribe of the Aviones."
>
>"He suggests that the structure was detachable and was set up only in
>rough seas. This hypothesis has received scant attention from
>maritime archaeologists, which is surprising because, if Åkerlund is
>right, the limitations of the weak keel structure, as regards the
>potential seaworthiness of Nydam-type ships and their ability to
>carry mast and sail, have been exaggerated. Indeed, in the light of
>the ship-carving from KarIby,92 it now appears certain that
>Nydam-type ships did at some point in their development become
>sailing ships. Unfortunately, the lack of a dating context for the
>carving means that at present the time at which that occurred cannot
>be determined. "
>
>
>
>
>
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>
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