Programme I: 'Ruling The Waves' goes out at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday 02 November 2005
This programme looks at who the Vikings were, where they came from, their social strata, their home life, and why they were called "Vikings". Presented by David Aaronovith.
Ruling the Waves
2 November 2005
Boat being built in traditional Viking style. Einar Borgfjord (left) and David Aaronovitch (right) at Einar's boatyard, Sticklestad, Norway. (July 2005)
Programme I : 'Ruling The Waves'
This programme looks at who the Vikings were, where they came from, their social strata, their home life and why they were called "Vikings".
It also examines their carpentry and boat-building skills: Norse craftsmen had a very sophisticated understanding of how to get the best out of wood, and used this knowledge in constructing their houses and ships.
In all nautical matters, Vikings were vastly superior to their contemporaries. Their navigational abilities alone are still being debated by historians and archaeologists: for how did they manage to navigate when out of sight of land?
Had they developed some kind of compass - and if not, what other methods did they use when travelling back and forth between places as far away as Iceland, Norway, and Greenland?
What were their fabled longships really like, and what was the effect of their appearance upon those the Vikings attacked?
...and did Viking warriors really wear those horned helmets?
David Aaronovitch is a broadcaster and journalist. Having been editor of On The Record, he moved onto presenting a number of programmes, including On Air, The Argument and Radio 4's Copy Snatchers.
In 2002 he presented the acclaimed series The Roman Way that looked at life in the Roman Empire and followed this in 2004 with The Norman Way. In 2006 he will be turning his attention to Anglo Saxons in The Saxon Way.
David Aaronovitch is a broadcaster and journalist. Having been editor of On The Record, he moved onto presenting a number of programmes, including On Air, The Argument and Radio 4's Copy Snatchers.