Maritime Wood

The Norwegian explorer Ragnar Thorset started his career by rowing single handed from Norway to Shetland. Since then, he has followed in the wake of Leif Ericsson by sailing to North America in a small fishing boat, and in 1980 he sailed the Northwest Passage to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Ronald Amundsen’s voyage.

While on these expeditions he formulated the idea of sailing from Norway to Greenland in a Viking ship replica, and he later decided to attempt a round-the-world voyage. In Thorset’s own words: “The Vikings did not sail around the world, but I want primarily to show how it was possible for our Norse ancestors to have established regular transportation links between Norway and North America through the Arctic waters.

In continuing around the world, I want to carry firsthand knowledge of this history to people who otherwise would never have the opportunity to see such a ship, and to establish that 1,000 years ago the Norsemen designed and built ships that could sail in any waters.”

For his trip, Thorset decided to build a replica of a late Viking Age merchant ship. The original vessel, known as “Skuldelev Wreck No. 1,” was found with four other ships near Skuldelev in Roskilde Fjord, Denmark. In the middle of the 11th century, the ships had been sunk in order to block the best navigable channel in the shallow fiord, clearly in order to keep out unwanted visitors. As Skuldelev Wreck No. 1 is mainly built of pine, she is believed to be Norwegian; very little pine grew in Denmark in the Viking Age. The ship was probably built around 1000 A.D. Arrow marks on the strakes indicate that her transfer into Danish ownership may have been dramatic.

Compared to the 9th-century vessels from Oseberg and Gökstad, Skuldelev I is clearly a more utilitarian ship. The sheer is less spectacular, the scantlings more sturdy, and the beam greater in proportion to overall length. She is believed to be an example of the type referred to in Old Norse sources as a “knarr,” a sturdy merchant ship used for long voyages.

Where does one find a boat builder in 1982 who has the necessary experience to build a Viking ship? Thorset found such a builder quite near his home, in the Sunnmøre district in western Norway. Fishing has been a very important part of the livelihood on this part of the coast for centuries, and there has always been a demand for a large number of boats. The outer coast is practically treeless, however; good boatbuilding timber is found mainly in Bjørkedalen, a valley located six miles from the coast, and for centuries the boat builders there have had a near monopoly on the supplying of boats to the rest of Sunnmøre.