B&G | Tom Cunliffe | How did the vikings navigate the seas?

[@leifdrabls5345]

Helge Ingstad was an Norwegian lawyer and adventurer, written many books about his adventures, also about the viking settlements in Greenland and Newfoundland.His wife, Anne Stine Ingstad was an archeologist, and they travelled several summers along the canadian atlantic coast looking for vinland, using the former resque boat Halten. They found the viking settlement at the west coast of Newfound Land which most probably was the Vinland from the sagas. Vin is the norrøn word for meadows, not meaning wine. Thank you for very interesting videos

[@corvavw6447]

Best story i here in a live time. A am a old zealover without a boat 😢. Love the way vikings navigate.🎉 Thanks good luck 🎉

[@silentbullet2023]

One can't tell whether he's a lad, chap or a sire. Such a fine blend takes elegance and wisdom.

[@Siravingmon]

What a wonderful storyteller you are! I can't imagine that voyage being recounted better. Thank you! 😊

[@rorybone100]

Great yarn. You can't help but love Tom with his shock of white hair, walrus moustache and wonderful enchanting stories. Just a brilliant man.

[@BandG]

We would have to agree! :-)

[@obiwanfisher537]

Damn. Now I want to go there and see the sights. You're such a great storyteller, Tom.

[@sailingyoumeandjosapea6770]

What a guy you are too Tom ! Where all lucky to have your storytelling. Your a National Treasure you are mate 👍

[@BandG]

100% We agree! :-)

[@harper5892]

Wonderfully infectious narration, I must find the audiobook if Tom is reading I think!

[@johnsmall9729]

Found a used copy of your book "Topsail and Battleaxe" from 1988, on Amazon. Can't wait to read it!!

[@ianseddon9347]

A truly fabulous film, thank Tom always a great yarn, reminds me of great uncle Capt Winchester of Crosby!

[@bryanduchane2371]

Such a great history lesson with just enough flare. New sub and hope this is exactly the kind of content you produce!! Great job.

[@backtothebarky]

Fascinating. You can't imagine what it must've been like not knowing what was out there sailing night and day and to have that power of reasoning with so little to go by. Incredible. Ultimately simple solution but sure I and most people would've perished through ignorance! Thanks for telling the story Tom!

[@paulb19691]

Wonderful listening to you describe this 👌

[@eduardoquiroga6804]

Bro all I did was pause the video at 2:04 with out looking at the screen and when I came back holy shit lmao.

[@rockykoast7065]

👍Yet another cracking good yarn! Wish I could see the finer details of those voyages!

[@SirPrancelot1]

Fascinating. Thanks.

[@MrBugten]

A pleasure to listen to you as always Tom ! Just want to add about Helge Ingstad`s nationality ; Norwegian , not Danish.

[@ExposingReflections]

Recently new methods of dating have given the spring of 1021 I think when the wood was cut down. I'll try and get the proper date, but it was a rather interesting article.

[@horiacioflan6128]

Sir, you re more than fascinating! You are a delight for the listener. Thank You

[@johnmeldrum4717]

They used a crystal sun stone which could position the sun even on a cloudy day . The crystal was spar and it works , Thanks for your stories Tom ,cheers ,John.

[@josephlai9759]

Awesomely fascinating story! Exceedingly gripping! Thank you!

[@lucasmyers9795]

Ordered your book (Topsail & Battleaxe) after hearing this interview. Just started the chapter on Erik the Red. I enjoy your sense of humor and the book so far. Cheers from America. P.S. My ancestor is one of the first documented Norwegian settlers in the New World, Albert “Nordman” Andriessen.

[@maxflight777]

Trust Tom to have a balanced opinion even on boats that aren’t his “cup of tea “ ! Loved this

[@klaus730]

Wat a fantastic story! I gave my son the name Bjarne. Hé is sailig a Southerly now. I had a 9 m gaffcutter an I am sailing an other Southerly too. Your change from a classic boot to a modern boat touched me. I feel also that a modern boat has to be better for me. I am 77 jears old now. I shall follow you chanel!

[@gavinmurray575]

Well done Tom another great video! Have you ever read the Brendan Voyage by Tim Severn? A book about how Saint Brendan the navigator from Co Kerry in Ireland. Tim built a replica Currach and sailed it to Newfoundland over the course of 2 summers in the 70's.

[@ericmagnusson1990]

Great! Thanks Tom

[@gnohn9366]

Great story. Thank you.

[@ronbork684]

Great story telling. Very informative also. My late Father would have also enjoyed it. He once read of a sailing man who found himself on calm sea in which one could not tell the starry sky from its reflection in the mirror like sea. It was as if one was sailing through the stars. Have you ever experienced that Tom? Better yet, would be to experience that beneath the Northern Lights.

[@Saga47swanSailing]

Awesome navigation skill in time of no charts , great video . Thanks Where did you get the map of Bjanl’s voyage as he saw it ?

[@BarneyLeith]

Fascinating - great story telling and fascinating history. May thanks.

[@rockykoast7065]

A pdf of that chart would be a useful! 🧐

[@seabound1350]

Just beautiful 🙏

[@richkallerud2781]

That was so interesting, thank you.

[@fastfreddy19641]

Great story told by a great sailor and story teller.

[@daijones101]

Fabulous tale well told.

[@embrj1453]

" when you don't have these things, you become much more sensitive" that is absolutely true, remember when there was no GPS used to drive everywhere with just instructions and printed map, paying attention the road signs and the direction i came from, now i can't even go across twon without firing the GPS

[@ximono]

The polynesian navigators also had an incredible sensitivity. It's a lost art, but there are some good books about it, such as The Voyaging Stars.

[@mosca3289]

Great history.

[@nickwebb9290]

So enjoyable and so interesting, thank you Tom 👍

[@WillN2Go1]

Great video. I find that 'thumbs up at arm's length' is pretty reliable for 15 degrees or one hour of sun movement. (Summer is a bit more finicky because of the shallow angle the sun follows. How Ingmar Bergman ever got the chutzpah to title a Swedish movie "Smiles on a Summers Night" There's no real 'night' in Sweden in the summer). I can usually break this down into thirds so 5 degrees (So Bergan/Cape Farewell is North Star four thumbs up- probably +/- 5 degrees. Keep a bit north so you don't miss it... or notice when the currents change like the Polynesians.) I like paddling my sea kayak off Los Angeles in the fog. It's safe, I've got a compass and GPS on my phone, and if I take out my head phones and listen for the surf. What has never ceased to amaze and humble me for the past 16 years: I know the swell pattern, I know what the sea birds are doing -usually up and down the coast in the morning, and I know my paddle stroke is consistent enough to keep me on a straight track..... Without fail in a dense fog I can turn 90 degrees in less than a minute. Completely humbling. I read the Icelandic Sagas in the 1970s. Even then archeologists and historians had discovered that a lot of it was true. Since then even more of it has been proven to be true. Something I've always had a laugh about. Clearly 'Greenland' was marketing. So how are you going to top that? "Vineland" What do all Swedes born in the past 80 years want to do? Move to Spain. I had the pleasure of being in a discussion where two people were arguing whether the Vikings or Columbus were first when a Native American pointed out how ridiculous the discussion was. Also I tested Thumbs up 15 degrees with a bunch of students 12-15 years old and a few adults who wandered into my classroom. It worked very close for all of them. I drew a 15 degree angle on the board and students put their eye at the join and stuck out their arms.

[@crichtonmiller8241]

The north star Polaris was not acting as a celestial pole in the 10th Century AD, it circled the pole at a distance of around 10 degrees off true north, this was caused by the action of Luni Solar Precession and the 23.4 degree axial tilt of the planet, finding latitude by the pole star was not an option at that time. Since it was the summer season and at that latitude, hard to see the stars anyway, Noon sights would have been the answer, however that also varies either side of the solstice, Lunar navigation is possible but you have to know the nodes 5 degrees off the ecliptic, the skills of these sailors inherited from the Phoenicians was far more complex , Longitude was possible using the moon.

[@HeidiLandRover]

Love the sea-monster on that chart :-)

[@BandG]

:-)

[@andyelliott8027]

@@BandG I'm pretty sure Noggin the Nog came across that monster too!

[@fredjones7307]

Deliberate error navigation, used that technique on many an occasion before the advent of electronic trickery. Recently met a guy stuck in the Solent for several weeks because his GPS had broken down, would you believe..

[@tomriley5790]

Have a copy of those vinland sagas on my bookshelf, visited his house on Iceland too :-)! It's worth noting that when the Viking's settled Greenland it was the beginig of the Medival warm period and the end coincided with the end of it. (If you're interested in the events of that I recommend the "Fall of Civilisations" youtube channel)

[@torepres]

Correction: Helge Ingstad was a norwegian, not a dane!

[@liamhemmings9039]

Wonderful. Where is his Knighthood?

[@TermiteUSA]

Tom you should absolutely do something with the new Time Team archeology series.

[@ExposingReflections]

Nay, not national treasure, you're a Global Treasure.

[@philgoodwin67]

Fab !

[@DIY-DaddyO]

It’s like a grown up Jackernory. I must do that voyage myself one day.

[@karhukivi]

Tom, here's a thought - we always assume that the ancient mariners could estimate latitude but had to sail along a line of latitude to get to a destination, as longitude was unknown. However, using the fact that a full Moon is exactly true South at midnight local time (N. Hemisphere) might allow some calculation of longitude, although only once a month in theory. I'm going to do some experiments (pretending I don't know local time) as we have a full moon on the 27th of April this year.

[@vagabondroller]

How did the experiments go?

[@karhukivi]

@@vagabondroller Not very well, it was always too cloudy. For it to work, it has to be bright enough to see the horizon (even at midnight) and then make some observations of stars or planets too. The error would be at least 15 deg of longitude as it is difficult to distinguish between a 100% moon and a 97% moon which could be a day either side of the full moon, and these are not true south. I will try it again this summer!

[@karhukivi]

Just an update on using the full Moon due South to give the time as midnight - it is possible but I doubt the Vikings could use it. I think it is just a special case of the "Lunars" method used by Joshua Slocum and earlier, before chronometers were common. In the lunars method the angular distance between the Moon and the Sun is used to give local time, but it requires an almanac that astronomers could provide in the 18th century. With a bit of planning (and luck) both Sun and Moon could be visible as the navigator neared the destination, giving some light to see the landfall. Perhaps some intrepid navigator can tell us about using lunars on an actual voyage!!

[@SeabreezeRJ]

always a huge pleasure! Thank you Tom and crew!! *__/)__~

[@kevgermany]

Thanks, really interesting. I heard they had a semi transparent stone for navigation. Or was that a myth?

[@SidBonkers51]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4GnYoWamsiKapo

[@kevgermany]

@@SidBonkers51 thanks

[@spaceskipster4412]

Tom's two middle names are "Ripping Yarns". 🇬🇧 👌🏼 😉

[@vincegordon6830]

😲💥⚡️👏👏👏

[@Burvedys]

How did they? Poorly. As not only that discovery of America was a cause of losing at sea but Scandinavians still have an old Norse word that roughly translates "lost at sea on a way to.." :)

[@spaceskipster4412]

That's interesting, what's the word...? 🤔

[@Burvedys]

@@spaceskipster4412 : cursive, most likely. :)

[@victorimmature]

So Basically he got lost :)

[@stanhesketh]

Ho the original slave trader Vikings

[@harbourdogNL]

Greetings from Petty Harbour, Newfoundland. Didn't know you've been to L'anse aux Meadows, Tom! And what a lovely vessel to have made the crossing in! Check out Farley Mowatt's book called The Farfarers (know as The Alban Quest in the UK). Mowatt's belief was that Iceland, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic and Newfoundland were visited and settled before the Vikings by people he calls the "Albans", from Shetland and the Orkneys, hunting walrus ivory. A fascinating book, that put a lot of Canadian archaeologists noses out of joint! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farfarers