knarr

plural knarrs · alternative knorr

1. historicalA kind of Norse merchant ship used by the Vikings.

   Mogens and Morten followed him on the two knarrs, but behind them to the north two other ships could be sighted.

   2003, James Richard Larson, The Eye of Odin, page 341

   2 more examples

   One of the other ships found in the bay was a knarr, a type of ship the Vikings used for trading and exploring. The knarr was about the same length as the small longship, but it was much wider […]Knarrs were wider because that gave them more room for livestock and objects for trade.

   2004, Janey Levy, At Sea on a Viking Ship, page 8

   The next morning, the ten knarrs leave the protected harbor located on the Greenlandic Southern tip and head north, by beginning their travels around the tip and up the west coast, but always within the sight of land.

   2013, GrinOlsson, Asgard - Saga of the Midgard Serpent, page 70

2. A type of modern long-keeled sailing boat.

   This summer, one of these Knarrs is being delivered to Johannes Westergaard of New York, and another to Gerhard Lorenz of the Grosse Isle Yacht Club, Michigan.

   1954 June, Motor Boating, page 100

   1 more example

   The Knarr soon attracted the interest of local regatta sailors, who liked its lines and performance. Back in Scandinavia, the Danish Sailing Association became interested in building Knarrs.

   2008, Dieter Loibner, Folkboat Story: From Cult to Classic—the Renaissance of a Legend, page 39

plural Knarrs

1. A surname.