Climatological Analysis of Old Norse Sailing Directions for North Atlantic Routes

Abstract

The navigational feats of the Vikings and Norse in the Middle Ages have excited much interest and admiration, and we are fortunate that actual sailing directions for their various North Atlantic routes have been passed down to us in the Icelandic sagas. Using statistical data of modern wind conditions, this paper examines the sailing directions to determine whether the sailing times quoted are reasonable for a type of ship that was making these voyages in the Middle Ages. The findings show very good correlation between the calculated times and those of the sagas. The paper goes on to study an apparent anomaly for a particular route quoted in the sagas and concludes that the departure and destination points have probably been misinterpreted in the past.