When you take into account the huge distances traveled by the first travelers and the difficult sailing conditions, modern man begins to wonder, what kind of ships and technologies did the Norwegians use, to pave the sea through uncharted territories. Archaeological finds indicate, that long Viking boats, low vessels with a length of over 30 m, they were used mainly during wars and invasions. Most of the settlers traveled in smaller cargo boats, called knerrins (number of vehicles. knórr). You powerfully, solid boats only 18 m had little space on board, and were used to transport large loads. Traveling them due to the crampedness must have been uncomfortable, and oftentimes probably also terrifying.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect related to past journeys is the method of navigation used at that time. The sagas mention a mysterious device called solarsteinn, that is, a sun stone, which allowed navigation in overcast skies or when the sun was hiding behind the horizon and astronavigation was impossible.
Researchers now agree on this, that Solarsteinn was a crystal of cordierite found in Scandinavia, which has natural polarizing properties. When I look at it from below I turn it, Light passing through the crystal becomes polarized and turns blue – right then, when its long axis points towards the source of sunlight.
The same property is also used today. Jets flying over the polar regions, where compass devices are of no use, and astronavigation is difficult, they use blue compasses, which make it possible to determine the position of the sun by filtering sunlight through artificial polarizing lenses.