THE VIKING SHIP

IN THE
SCANDINAVIAN CENTER

For those who live near the great waters, there is something dark and terrifying
that lives out there beyond the waves. There is a world undreamed of, a night world into
which few have entered, and from whose depths no one has returned alive. Hovering
beyond sight is a haunted world populated by dragons and demonic beings which only
legends can comprehend. Great beasts lurk there, ever just beyond sight, at any moment
about to emerge from the breakers, propelled by their rippling wings, their gaping mouths
ready to devour all in their terrible rampages.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records for the year After the Lord 793:

In this year terrible portents appeared over Northumbria which sorely

affrighted the inhabitants: there were exceptional flashes of lightning,
and fiery dragons were seen flying through the air. A great famine
followed hard upon these signs; and a little later in that same year,
on the 8th of June, the harrying of the heathen miserable destroyed
God’s church on Lindisfarne by rapine and slaughter.1

Every book on Vikings cites this event as representative of the ways of the ancient
Scandinavians. For centuries there are only monks going about their business quietly,
praying, studying, copying and illustrating precious books. In a moment they are set
upon by huge, demonic steeds with undulating wings of oars, each one propelled by a
fierce warrior. These suddenly appear out of the mists surrounding the little isles to strike
terror:

And they came to the church of Lindisfarne, laid everything waste with
grievous plundering, trampled the holy places with polluted feet, dug up
the altars and seized all the treasures of the holy church. They killed some
of the brothers; some they took away with them in fetters; many they
drove out, naked and loaded with insults; and some they drowned in the
sea.2

Lindisfarne was only a beginning. There were other raids on monasteries and
churches: Wearmouth and Jarrow in 794, Iona in 795, repeated in 802 and 806, Rathlin
Island off of Ireland in 795, and even the islands off of the coast of France.3

That the Vikings were able to make such an impact upon England, Europe, the
Mediterranean and Russia during the Viking Age, that is, from the mid-eighth to the mid-
twelfth centuries, is due to a number of reasons. They had an appetite for glory and
wealth, and were natural entrepreneurs and pioneers, but, above all, they had a superior
technology in the one thing that gave them rapid mobility over vast areas—the ship—the
“sea-steeds” of the Vikings. Yet, up to the end of the last century there was only a partial
understanding of the nature of these ships. Now, however, after a number of spectacular
archaeological discoveries their evolution, construction and handling are better known.

This model in the Scandinavian Center is based upon the Gokstad ship now in the
Viking Ship Museum at Oslo, representative of the finest of the construction of the
Viking ships. It is seventy-six and one-half feet long, and is seventeen and one-half feet
at the beam. From the bottom of the keel to the gunwale the height is six feet, four and
four-fifths inches. The keel, stem, stern, ribs, crossbeams and knees are of oak.4 The
keel is of one piece, and viewed in section, it is shaped like a “T.” It curves down fore to
aft, so that the deepest draft of almost a foot is at the midpoint of the keel, giving the ship
balance, and making it easier to turn the vessel as if on a swivel.5

There are sixteen, clinker-laid strakes rising from the keel, which are fastened
together with round-headed, roved nails driven in from the outside. These are about two-
fifths of an inch in diameter, and inserted at intervals of about seven and one-fourth
inches. The strakes do not run the full length of the ship, but are “scarfed,” that is,
beveled at the ends, and then placed with the one forward overlapping the one tapering
aft, so that water or ice would not be forced in when the ship was underway. When the
planks of the ship were being assembled, caulking, consisting of loose, wooly animal
hairs woven together into a cord and coated with tar, was placed in grooves in the lower
end of the strakes as the planks were pounded together.6 This manner of construction had
a great advantage over the Mediterranean ships that were built by the “carvel” method in
which the planks were fitted edge to edge with caulking between. These ships leaked
continuously. But, in the Viking ships, the overlapping clinker strakes hold the caulking
tighter, making a better seal.

Another interesting part of this ship is that the first, or “garboard” strake, is
fastened to the keel with rivets, and the eight strakes above it are not nailed, but are
carved with projecting bosses. These are used to lash the sides of the ship to transversal
ribs. Each boss is precisely cut to come under the corresponding rib. Two holes are
made on each side of the boss to receive the binding, which then passes through a hole
drilled through the rib. The lashing is “withy,” or tough, pliable strips of spruce roots.
Such a construction gives suppleness to the ship, enabling the strakes to bend as the ship
is tossed about in the waves. If the strakes had been nailed, the structure would have had
to be heavier and the ship less flexible.7

The Gokstad ship has nineteen ribs of oak, each cut from wood that had been
grown in a “U” shape. These are placed about three feet apart, giving space for one row-
stroke of an oar. Thus, there was one oar per rib, and each space between the ribs is
called a “room.” In the Viking Era the size of ships were gauged by the number of these
rooms.8

In order to brace the ship from the inside there are knees riveted to the strakes and
to a cross-beam. Yet, since the pressure upon the sides of the ship is primarily below the
water line, the upper two strakes are simply riveted together and not to a knee. On the
uppermost strake is a shield rack upon which the round, decorated shields of the warriors
were displayed. When the Gokstad ship was excavated, thirty-two shields, two for each
oar hole, were found.9 However, the shields would not have been mounted when the ship
was underway, but only in port, to indicate the status or prestige of the ship.10

Enough is known of this ship now to reconstruct the procedure by which it was
built. First, timber was felled, the branches lopped off, and the wood dried.11 After a
year’s cure, the wood could now be split with hafted metal wedges struck with a hammer,
and then shaped with an adz or an ax, and finished with other tools.12 The construction of
the Viking ships began with laying the keel on a base and joining the fore- and after-
stems with wood treenails or iron nails. In the Mediterranean, the ships were built by
constructing a solid frame first, after which the skin was added. The Viking ships were
built by erecting the sides, and then adding the bracing to stiffen the vessel.

Next, the garboards were attached to the keel, and the strakes above these
fastened in clinker fashion, using roved nails with ropes of woven hair covered with tar as
caulking. Clamps and leveling devices guided the builders.13 Inside of the ship,
supporting floor-timbers were cut to match the shape of the hull, their lower sides
notched to fit the planks and keel. These were attached not to the keel but to the sides by
either lashing them to bosses left projecting when the strakes were carved, or by roved
nails or treenails.14 At this point a keelson to support the mast was shaped to fit over the
keel and floor strakes. Also, crossbeams were placed atop the ends of the floor-timbers
and braced in the center by “stanchions,” wood pillars held upright by knees. With that
done, further strakes with beams, knees and “stringers,” horizontal, supporting pieces,
were added as needed.15

At last, the ship’s figure head would be attached, often being the well-known
dragons’ heads of the sagas. Of the decorations of the ships, the figurehead received the
most attention. There are several intricately carved examples in the Oslo Museum.
These were detachable, so that they could be removed upon coming into a harbor.

To propel the ship, the oarsmen were probably seated, and rowed with about one
third of the oar inboard. Thus, the oar handles would be about two feet two inches above
the floorboards. What the oarsmen sat on is not revealed on the Gokstad ship. It is likely
that they used their sea chests, which held their personal items, as benches.16

With the development of higher gunwales, it was impossible to have rowlocks

carved or lashed on top of them, so oar ports were cut through the upper strakes. Piercing
the third plank from the top in the Gokstad ship are oar holes about four and three-
quarters of an inch in diameter. There is a small slit that extends back and up to allow the
blade of the oar to pass through. This was much more efficient than lifting the oar over
the gunwales and then passing the handles back through the oar holes. Also, the slit is
cut in the area of the hole that would have received the least wear in rowing, and where
the slit would not chafe the oars. For high seas, these ports can be closed with round
covers that slide over the hole and hook onto a nail in the strake.17
 Steering the Gokstad ship was by means of the rudder. It is an oar blade of oak,
ten feet eight and three-fourth inches high, and sixteen and one-half inches wide. Perhaps
the ancestor of this rudder was just a paddle held over the side of the ship, but, in the
heavy waves, or, for larger ships, this would have been inadequate. Thus, the elaborate
construction consisted, first, inboard, a thick plank that extended up from the last rib to
the starboard gunwale. To this was attached another, horizontal board, three and three-
quarters inches thick, covering the inside of the top two strakes. On top of the upper
strake another reinforcement was added where the neck of the rudder rested.

Outboard and lower was heavy block, called the “wart,” to which the rudder was
attached. This was rounded so that the rudder could turn from side to side. Above the
wart, a hole was drilled from the interior of the ship through the upper blocks and the
rudder. Through this was passed a withy made of woven cedar roots, which was then
wrapped around the upper part of the rudder. At one end of the withy was attached an
oval piece of wood, and the other had a buttonhole like slit. The peg then was inserted
through this slit to keep the rudder in place and upright. Thus, the rudder could turn from
side to side, and, also, by loosening the withy, the rudder could be rotated quickly to raise
the end of the blade when the ship was in shallow water or beached. In the Gokstad ship
the rudder extends below the keel of the ship about one and one-half feet. The neck of
the rudder is at a right angle to the rudder and projects inboard for the helmsman to
grasp.18

Amidships in the Gokstad vessel is the block of oak called the “crone.” Its
function is to provide a sturdy socket for the bottom of the mast, to hold it fast under sail
and to give some upright support. The crone tapers off at the ends, and the bottom rests
directly on the keel and four ribs. In this ship it is twelve feet two inches long, about
fifteen and three-quarters inches wide, increasing to about twenty-three and one-half
inches wide at the middle. The socket for the mast is rounded fore and square aft, so that
the mast may be tipped in rather than hoisted or lowered, and secured with a wedge.
Given the weight of the mast and the necessity to raise it while the ship was underway,
this detail is important.19

A mast partner stands upright and rises alongside the mast to prop it up. This
mast partner is sixteen feet four and four-fifths inches in length, three feet three and two-
fifths inches wide, and sixteen and one half inches thick. While the crone supports the
weight of the mast and holds it in place, the mast partner provides the mast additional
support, absorbing the strain of the mast as it gives in the wind. The Gokstad ship has a
mast of pine nearly one foot in diameter. In the burial of the ship the mast had been cut
off at the top and placed in the grave. An old shipbuilders rule is that the mast of a ship is
to be as high as the circumference of the ship at it’s widest, so this would give about
forty-two feet seven inches in height.20

The rigging would have been of one large, square sail, suspended from a “yard,”
or, transversal beam, probably attached to the mast by a wood hoop, since rope would get
stuck when the yard was raised or lower.21 Lines in the Bayeux Tapestry and in the
picture stones of Gotland Island, Sweden, give an idea of the rigging. They would have
been secured for easily release, since the mast needed to be lowered frequently. The mast
would have been braced by “shrouds,” or lines extending down from the top of the mast
to the sides of the ship, and a “stay,” or line that would be attached to a cleat aft to brace
the mast. Such cleats, however, are missing from the Gokstad ship. The sail could be
rotated by managing the cords running from the ends of the sail’s yardarm and from the
lower corners of the sails.

The sails would have been of a coarse, woven fabric called “wadmal” cloth. It
was probably stitched together from many pieces woven on the upright looms typical of
ancient Scandinavia. Sails with vertical stripes of alternating colors can be seen in
pictures embroidered in the Bayeux Tapestry, and diamond-shaped patterns on the sails
are carved on the Gotland picture stones. Perhaps the latter indicated lines stretched over
the cloth to strengthen it against the squalls and fierce winds which often sweep the seas
of Scandinavia.

In 1893, a replica of the Gokstad ship was constructed in Norway and sailed from
Bergen to Newfoundland by Captain Magnus Andersen. The trip took twenty-eight days,
and demonstrated the seaworthiness of the ship. During the voyage the sailors
encountered several storms, and the ship performed excellently by flexing as it pitched
and rolled through the waves. If the construction had been rigid, it would have had to be
constructed far more massively, or, else, it would have broken in half. As it was, the
ship’s strakes bent as much as six inches, and the bottom and keel rose and fell some
three-eighths of an inch.22 It was reasonably watertight, but leakage at the seams required
constant bailing.23 Magnus Andersen found that the steering of the reconstructed ship
was excellent, using the distinctive side rudder. The speeds were also impressive, some
seven knots under oars. With the shallow draft, under sail the ship made eleven knots,
nearly skimming over the water.24

We, too, go to the sea in ships, to transport people and goods, to fish, to make
war, and for pleasure. Our ships are fast, efficient, huge—and commonplace. Looking at
this ancient vessel, we can hold the highest admiration of the Vikings, for their ships
represent one of the heights of human innovation and achievement from an age as grand
and heroic as that of the ancient Greeks. These were sea-going masterpieces, whose
grace and brilliance of design were undreamed of before, and unequaled since.

Ernst F. Tonsing, Ph.D.

Thousand Oaks, California

1
Magnus Magnusson, Vikings! (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1980), p. 31.
2
Simeon of Durham, ibid., p. 32.
3
Ibid.
4
Brøgger and Shetelig, op. cit., p. 79.
5
Ibid., p. 80.
6
Ibid., p. 82.
7
Ibid., pp. 83-85.
8
Ibid., p. 85.
9
Ibid., p. 88.
10
Ibid., p. 89.
11
Kenneth Setton, ed., The Age of Chivalry (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1969), pp.
104 ff.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid., p. 55.
14
Ibid., p. 56.
15
Ibid., p. 57.
16
Brøgger and Shetelig, op. cit., pp. 95-96.
17
Ibid., p. 95.
18
Ibid., pp. 90-92.
19
Ibid., p. 86.
20
Ibid., pp. 86-87.
21
Ibid., p. 93.
22
Ibid., p. 112.
23
Graham-Campbell, Viking World, p. 59.
24
Ibid., p. 60.