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Published: September 17th 2022
1000 years ago, the Vikings sailed along the shores of Europe. We know that they went up rivers and across the open sea throughout the North Atlantic area. They travelled near and far . Ships are what define the Vikings and on which Scandinavian countries were founded . The Vikings changed the world with their ships and are part of a story that spans beyond trips and voyages . The Vikings changed the world . Theirs and ours with their travels , their mythology and their gods. They say that without ships there would be no Viking Age . And perhaps there is a truth to be found in that.
First things first the drivers knees were still aching . Perhaps we could try an automatic gearbox. That might work but the story goes that they are unreliable and go wrong regularly when they are fitted aftermarket. Perhaps the seats are the problem . Are they so straight that they are restricting his blood supply and may be causing long term problems?. We keep guessing at a solution and it does not appear to be coming to us. The drive was long and the parking difficult . The car park
was full to bursting . But then it was a weekend and the world with his dog were out for the day .
We walked out of the van to the museum. Entrance fees seem to be the same everywhere you go to visit. It feels expensive but then when we talk of hundreds of krone can understand our confusion over prices . We were welcomed to the museum . "Where are you from?" When we said Wales they commented that they did not see anyone from Wales and not many from the UK. We had realised the same thing . We had seen one other van with a GB UK plate since we had been on the road in Denmark .
We climbed down into the first exhibition was full of a modern interpretation of the Vikings and their ships . There were lights and sounds, digital installations showing shipbuilding and Viking life. The children would have loved wandering round but it was more of a childrens thing than an adults . There were activities that the children could have a go at and stories about maritime culture. The displays suggested that we are not being taken
back in time but the cultural history is brought right up to the present day .
We wanted to see the ships as that was what we had come to see . This meant coming out of the exhibitions, climbing the stairs and climbing down into the modern white washed walls of the exhibition area where the ships were displayed . Perhaps ships were the wrong names . Parts of ships perhaps but not full Viking longboats . It seems that during the late Viking Age, a system of barriers were established on Roskilde Fjord. The idea was to make it possible to control the sea routes to one of Denmark's great royal and ecclesiastical cities. Three old and worn out ships that no longer had a use were towed out to the narrowest point which was just outside the village of Skuldelev. The ships were filled with stones and sunk in Peberrenden which was the most direct route to Roskilde. Twenty years later the barrier was reinforced with two more ships. In essence an effective defence system was created.
A thousand years later an iron cofferdam was driven into the seabed and excavations of the ships began
. The five ships were all different and had different usage. Some were for long distance travel . Others shallower for river use and the rest for fishing around the coast.
We began our walk around the displays . All the skibs (the ships) were displayed against the open windows of the museum . The windows overlooked the fjord where they were found. Each boat was placed inside a metal frame which was shaped like a boat . The boat frame cradled the bits of the boats that were still remaining . Each boat was named and information plates told us about their capabilities.
Skuldelev 1 was a large ocean-going cargo ship from Sognefjord in western Norway. Built of heavy pine planks it was very rounded form which give it the high loading capacity and seaworthiness in the North Atlantic . That gives it a high loading capacity and great seaworthiness on the North Atlantic. It iwas repeatedly repaired with oak . This ocean going trader could have sailed all over the North Sea and the Baltic as well as in the North Atlantic. The ship and its cargo may have been owned by a chieftain or cooperatively
by a group of merchants sailing it on trading expeditions to the European markets. The ship had decks fore and aft as well as an open hold amidships. From what was left it was hard to imagine what the ship really looked like with just so little remaining . There was a copy in the harbour so that at least give us a clue to what the ship originally looked like . The ship was built around 1030 60% of it was preserved. It was produced of pine, oak and lime. Its length is just a little over 15 metres. and was a little under 5 metres wide. It only had 3 to 4 oars and a crew of 6 to 8 men and had an average speed of between 5 and 7 knots and a top speed of 13 knots.
Skuldelev 2 is a different breed of ship - a war machine built to carry many warriors at high speed. With a crew of 65-70 men, it was a chieftain's ship. Tree-ring analysis of the timber show that the ship was built of oak in the vicinity of Dublin around 1042. Vikings settled in Ireland in AD 800
and established several fortified bases along the Irish coast.The long, narrow shape of the ship and the enormous sail allowed at great speed. And the manning of 60 oars made it possible to keep the ship moving even without wind.
Skuldelev 3 , 4 and 5 were all different ships . Again some were built in Ireland and others were built in Norway . Some were repaired many times.Some had sails . Others had places for shields to be held on the sides of the ships. We walked amongst them and were amazed in one way that so much remained but equally disappointed so much had gone .
We picked up our fridge magnet of a Viking ship and headed out to see the boats in the harbour . All reconstructions but excellent to give an example of what the ships looked like . Lunch was eaten in Gabby before we headed up to the second visit of the day . Roskilde cathedral and the royal tombs .
Our next stop but one would have been to see the Vasa ship and then on to the Oslo where there is a Viking museum . However because the distance to the Vasa is too much this trip and the Viking museum at Oslo is closed for refurbishment until 2025 this is the closest we are going to see Viking ships . It is not everyday you see not just one Viking ship but five of them .
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Sorry to hear about Glenn's knees...
I had the same problem after twisting my knee at Iona. I too had problems with roads and had to modify my visit to castles in Scotland. I did see 30 of the 40 I had planned. You mention the difficulty of traveling with a stick shift van. Most people I talked to in Scotland preferred an automatic transmission. As for your van, given that you have visit most if not all countries within driving distance of Wales, perhaps you have reached the point where air travel to more distant destinations is more befitting your thirst for travel...in particular to Turkey where you have wanted to go for some time. Woolly Mammoth may have further advice for you. Thanks for all the information your blog provided about the Vikings and their ships!