Roskilde Viking Muesum

In another building on the museum grounds is where five viking ships are on display. It was really interesting to see that much history in one place. I hope you enjoy all the pictures and all the information I got while there. 
 

Five Viking Ships

Towards the close of the Viking Age -- presumably at some time between 1000 A.D. and 1050 A.D. - the fairways of Roskilde Fjord were blocked by a series of barriers to protect the important trading town of Roskilde from attack by enemy fleets. The five Viking ships in the museum come from one of these blockages in the Peberrende channel at Skuldelev, 20 km North of Roskilde. Here, there ships were sunk across the channel and boulders heaped up on top of them. A little later the barrier was strengthened by the sinking of a further two ships at the spot.
It was at a time when Norwegian Vikings were ravaging Denmark but we have been unable to link any definite historical event with the blockage.

The blockage manifested itself as a ridge of stones. It had always been known to fisherman in the fjord and local tradition claimed that it contained a ship sunk at the command of Queen Margrethe I. It was not until underwater excavations were carried out by the Danish National Museum between 1957 and 1959 that it was established that the blocked dated from the Viking period and contained not just one but serval ships.

The Excavation

In 1962 a cofferdam of sheet piling was built around the blockage so that it could be drained. In a period of less than four month all five ships were excavated and brought to the land in thousands of fragments.

The find was significant not just because it consisted of five ships but because these represented five different types of ship which together provide a good indication of the impressive range of activity of the Viking-age shipbuilders.

The ocean going trader

                                                                     

Wreak 1 is a sturdy, ocean going trading vessel possibly of the knave type.

The ship was built of stout pine planks at Sognefjord in Western Norway and was later repeatedly repaired with oak near Oslo Fjord and in Eastern Denmark.  The ship had desks fore, aft, and an open hold amidships.

The ship and its cargo may have been owned by a magnate, who used it to sail on trading expeditions with his clan or coorperatiely by a group of merchants who sailed it in order to trade at markets. The crew would have consisted of 6-8 men. The ocean - going vessel could have sailed all over the North Sea and the Baltic as well as in the North Atlantic.  With a favorable wind, it probably maintained an average speed of 5-7 knots.

 The great longship

Wreck 2 is an ocean going warship possibly of the skied type and can carry a crew of 65 to 70 warriors. The long narrow shape of the ship allowed a great speed and the manning of 60 oars made it possible to keep the ship moving even without wind.

The ship was built of oak. Tree-ring analysis of the timber has shown that the ship was built in the vicinity of Dublin about 1042. Vikings settled in Ireland in AD 800 and established several fortified bases along the Irish coast. these bases developed into towns with Dublin as the most important. Here the Vikings lived as merchants mercenaries and shipbuilders.

The Coastal trader

Wreck 3 is a small elegant trading and transport vessel, possibly of the 'byrding' type. The ship was built of Danish oak. It has decks of loose planks fore and aft and an open hold amidships with room for about 4 tons of cargo. The ship had a crew of  5-8 men.

 The ship may have been used by a farmer and his associates traveling to a market or meeting at an assembly.

It was well adapted for sailing in Danish coastal waters and in the Baltic. Wind was the most important means of powering the ship but the oars could be used when manuring or when traveling short distances in calm weather. An average speed of 4-5 knots could be held in favorable winds.

The small longship

Wreak 5 is a smaller warship, possibly of the snake type.

The ship was built of Danish oak, ash, and pine, partly by reusing timber from other ships. With 13 pairs of oats and about 30 warriors, it belonged to the 13-sessers, the smallest longship in a war fleet.  Along the sheetstake there are fragments of the shield-rack, on which shield were placed and on the 6th strake on the port side aft, carved decoration can be seen.

The ship was ideal for sailing in Danish coastal waters and through the short, choppy waves of the Baltic. An average speed on longer voyages would have been 6-7 knots in the favorable wind, with a top speed of about twice as much.

The fishing vessel

Wreck 6 is a combined rowing and sailing vessel probably built for fishing and whaling or seal hunting. The ship was built of pine planks near Sognefjord in Norway. Later, an extra plank was added to increase the height of the side in order to transport more efficiently carafes of fish, other trading goods or people. During the alteration, the original rowlocks were removed and the number of oars reduced. the conversion presumably meant that the ship was used more for transport and less as a fishing vessel and that is sailed with a smaller crew.  The bottom of the hull had been repaired with oak planks from South Scandinavia before the ship was scuttled.