Viking Ships

If one were to look for a single icon for the Viking Period, that icon would surely be the Viking ship.

I think that everyone who looks at these ships finds them amazing works of functional beauty. In recent years, studies of the ships recovered from Skuldelev have resulted in a number of reconstructions being made and sailed which have considerably improved our knowledge of how these ships were built.

You might like to look at these two short videos on Viking ship construction here…

The culmination of these reconstructions was the building of Havhingsten fra Glendalough (“Sea Stallion from Glendalough”) – a reconstruction of Skuldelev 2, the great longship. This reconstruction sailed from Roskilde to Dublin in 2007 and made the return trip in 2008. The ship handled incredibly well, including under some fairly tough conditions.

You can find out more about the Havhingsten fra Glendalough Project here…