From the Catan.de site:

The Viking edition was created for all lovers of wooden figures. The large characters are modeled on buildings and ships from the Viking Age and are available exclusively in the Catanshop.

The set for the Seafarer expansion consists of 91 wooden figures and also contains figures for 5 and 6 players.

The typical northern merchant ship, the Knorre, served as a model for the design of the ships. The pirate ship has the typical silhouette of a Viking longship.