Model of the Gokstad ship
Ships are the best-known symbol of the Vikings and were very well built. There are several different types. Some could negotiate shallows and coastal waters while others were built for the high seas. This is a model of a seagoing ship, based on a real ship from Gokstad, Norway, which has been dated to 895 AD.The original Gokstad ship measured nearly 24 meters from bow to stern. The keel was made from an 18-meter log half a meter in diameter, showing that there were big trees growing in the Nordic countries during the Viking era. The ship was clinker-built. The 16 boards consisted of stout planks laid one outside the other and joined together with iron rivets.
The boards of this model have many joins, corresponding exactly to those of the original ship. The same goes for the positioning of the 4,000 rivets and nails, which were hand-made in miniature.
We know relatively little about the sails and rigging of Viking boats, and the Gokstad ship does not show any traces. The sail for this model is linen tabby. The tackle is hemp, though actually the Vikings mostly used lime bark raffia, a tradition maintained by some Norwegian sailors until the Second World War.
This model ship is more travelled than the Gokstad original, having been on exhibition tours in many parts of the world.
1:6 scale model of the Gokstad ship from Norway.
Made by Knut Gransaether, 1994-1995.
