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