A pack of Danes have gotten together and built themselves a replica of a 100-foot Viking longship. The model they based their vessel on was recovered from the bottom of a harbour where it had been sunk, along with four other longships, to barricade the harbour.
The original longship had been built a thousand years ago in Ireland, and who knows where it had sailed before being scuttled.
Well, the folks that built the replica — called the ‘Sea Stallion’ — decided it would be a nice symmetry to sail her back to Dublin.
So, they’re on their way.
The website linked above has a beautiful presentation video of the building of the ‘Sea Stallion’, and a clickable map of her progress.
If my old LandNav training holds true for water, I figure she’s just now entering the North Sea.
Beautiful ship. As I watch the videos of her dancing through the sea, I awes me to think that open ships just like her crossed the North Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland and North America; sailed the length and breadth of the Mediterranean; and up Russian rivers to their headwaters.
Did they bring the feared Norse raiders? Oh, hell yes. Just as often, though — if not more often — they brought traders, spreading goods and ideas from one end of the Viking known world to the other by way of those sleek little longships.
As I sit here polishing a sword, a part of me envies those lads and lasses on their historic voyage — but an even larger part of me wonders if the Irish still have monasteries along the shore, and would the skipper mind making a quick little detour…?
Ah, well.
Good luck to the ‘Sea Stallion’ and her crew. Easy trip and a safe landfall, boys and girls.
Tip of the Stetson to my friend Peter for the link and story.
LawDog
7 thoughts on “And a-viking we will go …”
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Don’t forget to swipe the herds of Irish dairy cows. Milk: It does a Viking Good!
On a less silly note, that ship has gotta be one of the cooler things I’ve seen in a while.
Dawg: What a great video. I bookmarked it so I can follow their progress. Thanks
“but an even larger part of me wonders if the Irish still have monasteries along the shore, and would the skipper mind making a quick little detour…?”
Maybe I shouldn’t have giggled… but I did.
While I am almost deathly afraid of boats, there’s always something I can’t quite identify about ships that draws me in and fills me with some feeling that seems almost out of place and time, but is a wonderful feeling.
Wow – they are only a crew of 8? Very cool link. Thanks for posting this.
Oops, my mistake. Considerably larger crew. It’s late.
“Where have all the young men gone,
Long time passing.
Where have all the young men gone,
Long time ago.
Where have all the young men gone, gone a-viking every one.
Sailed off to pillage and burn,
Sailed off to pillage and burn.”
“gunner”
On a similar note: Viking Kittens!