[Young Werther]

In that Epic "The Vikings" Tony Curtis lead the maurauders with a moonstone which was in essence a piece of a meteorite which was magnitized. It pointed north and with a knowledge of the wind and waves it was almost as good as a Garmon!

[investigateworld]

Now this is your department.

[xcamel]

GGG Ping

[dfwgator]

It obviously hasn't helped them to win any Super Bowls.

[Rudder]

Vikings used sundials aboard ships to navigate.

If they were used as time-keeping pieces in the navigational computations, then that might imply the Vikings assumed the earth was round.

[Sam Cree]

"The researchers found that the crystals could be used to find out where the sun was in the sky in certain foggy or cloudy conditions."

That's cool, where can you get one? And how do they know the Vikings used one? When the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, local noon, it is due south exactly, I believe. Pretty helpful.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks xcamel.

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[DieHard the Hunter]

There is a persistent theory that Vikings found their way to the South Seas, and settled (amongst other places) in New Zealand.

Speakeing personally, I'd have no at all difficulty believing this theory: their longboats were more than sufficiently seaworthy, and they had an idea-or-two about how to do long trips by boat.

And this would explain several persistent Maori tales about blond, white, faerie people who inhabited New Zealand before the Maori settled here.

It has also been postulated that the Phoenecians got here, at some point, prior to the big Taupo volcanic explosion. Again, I have no difficulty believing this.

Worst case scenario: if you were on a log, cast adrift somewhere in the South Pacific, the prevailing currents would in all likelihood sweep you toward NZ and wash you ashore. Or, at least, that is my reading of the maps...

[Ramius]

I'd like to see this in action. I'm having a hard time believing that when light is completely diffused there's some refractive principle that can un-diffuse it. An estimate of where the sun sits is possible through an overcast, but its really approximate and subject to easy mis-direction.

[Bernard Marx]

The crystal in question was iolite, aka cordierite after the name of the mineralogist who first described it. This mineral is trichroic (offering 3 different colors when viewed in different orientations). Two of them, blue and yellow, are very distinct.

The modern usage of the word “sunstone” refers to an entirely different mineral, varieties of feldspar.

Here are two links that give more detail about how early seafarers might have used iolite crystals as a navigation aid.

Navigation and Iolite

[Valin]

Vikings may have used a special crystal called a sunstone to help navigate the seas even when the sun was obscured by fog or cloud, a study has suggested.

What it can't do is help them find the End Zone.

[WesternCulture]

Leif Eriksson discovered America, speaking from a West European perspective.

This has been proved time after time.

Furthermore, for several years it has been known that evidence strongly indicate Vikings also used advanced navigation techniques like actual compasses.

Though being of Viking descent, my mission is not to boast.

But to hallow truth.

[leilani]

Latest Must-Have Accessories for the Nav Station Ping