Hedeby 1

[6] It is important to note as well that who had previously had control of the town is contested with sources saying it was either the Holy Roman Empire and Otto II or it was taken over by Swedish King Erik the Victorious.

[8] The ship was very skillfully built using planks that were made of radially cloven oak wood and in some cases, they were more than 10 m (33 ft) long.

[9] Evidence further shows that this was often a common occurrence for royal ships to be larger than most longship as those of high standing of the Viking age would often compete with one another about who had the longest and most magnificently decorated warships.

It was not just the construction that was important for historians either though as the destruction of the ship played a major role in the decline of Hedeby, the town proper.

The town of Hedeby was a significant commercial center of the Viking age and acted as an important transit highway for most of the Baltic Sea.