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T-shirt - Varangian Way

Price: 20.00€

Drakar - A "dragon" is a wooden Viking ship.
They were between 35 and 60 m in size, with an elongated and narrow construction, raised bow and stern and equipped with oars and a tall mast on which a rectangular or square propeller was mounted. The almost complete symmetry between bow and stern allowed them to move equally well both forward and backward without having to maneuver.


A distinctive feature of drakes is the dragon's head on the bow, but it should be noted that according to Viking traditions, the dragon's head symbolized the high social status of the ship's owner, therefore such a head could be placed on any vessel. According to custom, when approaching friendly lands, the dragon's head was retracted from the nose, as it was believed to be able to anger or frighten the good spirits.


The drakes were used both for military actions and for transporting goods and for long-distance voyages - it was on such ships that the Vikings reached the shores of North America, Greenland and Iceland. In addition, their shallow bottoms made them convenient for river navigation, and their low sides made them almost invisible in the sea waves, which made them particularly suitable for camouflage and deception of the enemy until the last moment. On these ships it was possible to accommodate relatively large military detachments - up to 100-150 people, but this always happened when crossing coastal waters, as the detachments necessarily disembarked on land at night.

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