Secrets of the Viking Navigators - Book

How the Vikings used their amazing sunstones and other techniques to cross the open ocean. Begins with retelling and examining the Norse sagas for clues to navigation techniques and progresses to well founded conjecture on sunstone use. Photos, maps, charts, and more.

In Secrets of the Viking Navigators, Leif K. Karlsen examines how the Norse crossed the open ocean. He begins by retelling and examining the Norse sagas for clues to navigation techniques, then builds a well-founded case for how the Vikings may have used the sunstone.

The sunstone is a mineral mentioned in 13th and 14th century Icelandic sources, one of which describes its use to locate the sun in a completely overcast sky. The book also discusses Iceland spar, a transparent calcite that polarizes light. Photos, maps and charts illustrate the text. Published by One Earth Press; 204 pages, 6.5 x 9 inch paperback.