Thyra Dane

Author of Romance. Blogs about Scandinavia, Vikings and books.


Archaeologists have found a few Viking ships either used in burials or sunk in the fjords to stop enemy attacks. These ships can be seen for instance here in Oslo, Norway:  The Vikingshipmuseum in Oslo or here: http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/

Copies of the ships in these museums have been made and are being made. I`ve visited several of them and they are truly lovely. But what archaeologists ask themselves is whether these ships are what the Vikings truly did use. One can`t help wondering if they didn`t use the scrappy ones for burials and to stop enemy attack. Maybe the truly great Viking ships will never be found?

Here are a couple of old ones and copies of old ones. I`ve picked different sizes. The long, narrow ones are called Longships.

June 11, 2012

4 thoughts on “Viking ships and boats

  1. Alison Griffiths says:

    Hey, nice to see you here – well done Reefchic for all your hard work. I love the history bits.

  2. fffbone says:

    I love all the viking boats. I love the woodwork and the art that goes into these. I wonder how long it took to build one. The model my husband built for me says it’s a 10 century Longboat of Gokstad. LOL I wonder if they cursed the way my husband did building one.

  3. fffbone says:

    In one of the video’s they put rocks in the boat. Have any idea why?

  4. thyra10 says:

    The rocks in the boat are to stabilize it. I think modern ships also have this, at least when they are empty. Not rocks, perhaps, but often water, if my recollections serves me.

    I have no idea how long it took the VIkings to build a boat. Probably the whole summer? But if they knew a war was brewing, maybe they could build faster? The sails would take forever to weave as well. I`ve tried a Viking weave and that is one of the Viking things I do NOT miss 😉

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