The Norse Vikings found importance in expansion and the seizing of land and goods, the way this was done was by taking control of the sea with their powerfully built ships into different countries. Even today, these Viking ships from the past are found and researched about the possibilities of the reasons of the uses of these ships, including raids and travelling. In "Njal's saga", there were many instances of how these Vikings got not only physical and valuable items, but as well as honor and loyalty from their friends and family. Vikings have not only become the most successful early explorers but most famous of pillaging and raiding among other historical people. Viking ships are the way that we can look at the past of the Vikings and contemplate their way of life through observations of historical archaeology of ships that have been found all over different continents. How these ships were built and how they were used creates more imagination of how Norse Vikings behaved in the past. .
The idea of Viking ships paved a way for people today to think what these people might have been like in the past. Most of these ships looked similar even if they were found all over different countries. The ships were long and thin, which could give the perception of knocking down a tree and using the trunk to carve a particular way according to their preference of details and structure based on if the ship was being used for carrying cargo or for war. Ships were central in the Viking society, they had all types of meanings whether it being for strictly transportation or the aspect of masculinity and power for raiding, "Without this crucial advance in ship technology, the Vikings would never have become a dominant force in medieval warfare, politics, and trade" (Hadingham). There are two main types of ships that were constructed in the Viking era called the "langskip" and the "knörr".