The Drakkar Viking ship is shipped to you *assembled

This wooden ship model comes with a wood base and a metal name plate

This Drakkar Viking ship model is entirely handmade piece by intricate piece by skillful and experienced master craftsmen, using the plank on frame construction method- no kits are used

Only the highest quality woods were used in constructing these museum quality viking model ships

The following rare woods used to build our Viking Ship models were subjected to severe conditioning (put over fire & sun dried), to ensure your model will withstand any climate and thus, preventing the wood from becoming twisted or cracked: Ebony, English Sycamore, Rosewood, Black Wood, Cherry, Mahogany, Yellow Wood & Jack Wood

Shields on this historic Viking Ship are made of a special clear composite

Large crimson and white sail is handmade

This wooden viking ship model is built according to scale through original plans, pictures and drawings.

The Vikings are best known for their ships. Of the many types they designed, two are famous; the longship called a drakkar or dragon ship and the more sturdy cargo ship called a knarr. Without these ships, the Viking Age, as we know it, could never have happened.

The Drakkar: The Viking Warship

The Vikings called their warship a drakkar. Long, sleek and lightweight, its averaged 28 metres in length. The largest longship excavated was about seventy metres long. Its sixty oarsmen could swiftly deliver four hundred warriors to a battlefield along any European coast or well inland via a river. Like most large drakkars, it was owned by a powerful king. He was the only one who could afford to have it built. In the last days of the Viking Age, three hundred longships of varying sizes were part of the Viking fleet.

The Drakkar, the best known of the spectacular longships, were symbolic of the legendary Vikings. A rather late invention (11th century), these ships were used primarily as vicious and brutal warships. Developed by majestic Kings such as Olaf Tryggvasson, they were a symbol of the incredible Scandinavian power and were to these proud owners, a highly valued material possession.

Ancient ship-burials are the best and most common source for information about the dramatic longships. Honored Viking Kings were often buried after their death under a long burial mound in one of their Drakkar ships containing many of their most valued and luxuriant possessions.

The longships were always built of one-level construction with rows of oars on both sides covering almost the entire length of the ship. In later years according to the burial sites, their ships were built with a large rectangular sail on a single mast.

The Vikings used the Drakkar to battle Europe, North Africa and a small area of western Asia until the end of the turbulent Viking Age. The stunning longships with their vibrant blood red sail and hundreds of vicious and fierce warriors will always be symbolic of the horror and terror the Vikings brought to these saddening times.

The average-sized longship was owned by a jarl, the Viking name for an earl or chieftain. It carried a crew of twenty to thirty oarsmen. It was rowed to the beat of a drum or a shanty but only when the winds were calm. Other crew members included a helmsmen, who steered the ship; a lookout who watched for rocks in shallow waters and a few spare men, who relieved a tired oarsmen or replaced one lost overboard during a storm. The remaining men onboard were warriors, eager to do battle or to loot a community or monastery.

Like all Viking ships, the longship, was constructed using the clinker design. This means it was planked using two centimetre thick oak boards which were overlapped slightly and then nailed together with iron nails called rivets. The spaces between the planks were caulked with tarred wool, moss or animal fur to make the ship watertight. The planks were also nailed to ribbing that ran from the gunwale to the keel. The keel, which ran the full length of the ship, was made of one solid piece of oak. It helped the ship sail straighter through the water than non-keeled vessels.

The longships were very sturdy, and yet flexible enough to withstand the waves of stormy seas. In fact, the bow and stern could twist in opposite directions without causing the seams to leak. Remarkably, thedrakkar was also light enough to be dragged overland between two lakes or rivers. The prow, or bow, was sometimes tipped with a very ornate carving of a snake or dragon head, thus earning them the nickname “dragon ship”. Called a figurehead, the ornament was removed while at sea. Replacing such a finely carved piece would be expensive and losing it might be a bad omen.

The sail of a Viking ship was very expensive, often costing more the rest of the ship itself. It was probably the most precious item on the ship.

The sails of all Viking sailing ships were square and made of wool or linen. Viking women were responsible for making the sail, a task that would take several women several years to complete. A sail wasn’t made from one piece of material. It was made in pieces that were then sewn together. The process began with the weaving of small diamond-shaped pieces of fabric. Each piece was then trimmed with walrus hide to strength them and to hold their shape, particularly when wet. The pieces were then coated with animal fats and oil to protect them from the corrosive salt spray of the ocean. To complete the sail, all of the diamond pieces were sewn together. Usually, sails were half the ship’s length in width.

Red dye was added to the leather trim to give the sail a vivid cross-hatched pattern. Today, many pictures- even the ones used in this passage- mistakenly show the sails with vertical red stripes. Sometimes the whole sail was dyed a solid red colour. The choice of red, the colour of blood, was meant to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. The sail was hoisted on the center mast with ropes likely made from hemp or walrus hide. Once it caught enough of a steady breeze, the sail could move the ship a very swift seven knots (13 kilometres per hour). If the winds were calm, twenty to thirty oarsmen could move the ships briskly through the water at about five knots, the same speed as a quick walking pace.

At night, the sail was lowered and removed from the ship. In bad weather, it often served as a tent. The Vikings, inventors of the sleeping bag, would sleep under its protection.

The mast that held the sail was attached directly to the sturdy keel. The mast could be moved and laid on the deck. This was done in high winds and heavy seas so it would not break.

Vikings ships were rarely at the mercy of their enemies. Their ships were better than any others sailing in Europe at that time. They could navigate in water less than a metre deep. In shallow water, the warriors would move to one side of the ship to tilt it so it would pass over rocks and shoals. The longships’ tapered bows and sterns enabled the Vikings to row the ships forwards and backwards without first having to turn the ships around. This was a great advantage when fleeing after a raid.

Drakkars are often pictured with shields hanging from the gunwales. These shields were held in place by racks or ropes.

The shields protected the warriors against arrows and spears during sea battles. They also protected raiding parties as the ships neared shore. It is a myth that the shields were always in the racks while at sea. In rough seas, shields could easily be lost overboard. Warriors, depending on their shields for his lives, would likely have stored them safely on board.

The deck of a longship was completely planked. There were no sleeping quarters below deck. Crewmens and warriors stored their personal belongings in chests on the deck. The oarsmen sat on these chests when rowing. Because the Vikings often sailed in sight of land, the crews would go ashore and camp for the night.

Living onboard a drakkar wasn’t great. The constant rolling of the ship opened cracks on the seams and bailing, usually two people at a time, was constant. Meals on a drakkar weren’t great. Cooking on an open fire was not practical on a wooden ship in
choppy seas. Food consisted of dried meat, freshly caught fish, sour milk, water, beer, nuts and cloudberries. Spoiling was often a problem.

The Vikings eventually settled down in many of the countries they had invaded. Consequently, some of their words entered the language spoken by the locals. One Viking word that entered our English language was berserk. It was used to name a type of Vikings fighter. When a Viking longship neared a coastline, ten to fifteen warriors often dressed in bears skins, would move to the front of the ship and work themselves into a frenzy. Sometimes this was done by shouting battle whoops,

sometimes it was done with the aid of hallucinogenic mushrooms. As the longship neared a beach, these warriors, called “berserkers” would go over the side, shouting and waving their swords in anticipation of a battle. This too created fear in their enemies. Some berserkers were so worked up, they jumped too soon and downed in water over their heads. In our language, going “berserk” is taken from these fierce Viking warriors. It means “going crazy”.

While Viking warriors raided and looted their way across Europe and parts of Asia, many more Vikings lived in communities scattered along the coastline of Norway, Denmark, Sweden and later Iceland and Greenland. These Vikings were hunters, fishermen, farmers, shipbuilders, artisans, blacksmiths and traders. To sell or trade their goods, the Vikings used a ship especially designed to do the job. It wasn’t long, sleek and built for speed like the drakkar, the famous Viking ship of war. It was shorter, wider and better suited to carrying cargo such as cattle, wool and wheat. It was called a knarr or cargo ship. It was about 16 metres long, 5 metres wide, and over 2 metres high from keel to gunwale. It had a deeper draft than the longship and could not navigate shoals as well.

Like the drakkar, the knarr was constructed in the clinker method using pine for the planks and oak for the keel. Typical of all Viking ships, the knarr had one mast with one square wool or linen sail. It was stitched in the typical cross-hatched pattern. Like the drakkar too, it was equipped with oars although they were fewer in number. Unlike the longship, however, the knarr’s mast could not be taken down and stored. It was permanently fixed to the keel. Also different from the drakkar, was the knarr’s bow. It did not have a decorative prow. The last thing a trader needed was to scare away paying or trading customers with a dragon-headed ship.

The members of the knarr crew included the same kinds of sailors as the drakkar except they were fewer rowers. Crewmen were needed to steer the ship, furl and unfurl the sails, watch for shoals and row when docking. The remaining people were likely passengers, traders and merchants.

The Vikings used the knarr to haul cargo over long distances. It was well suited for ocean travel and because it was shorter, it was a better ship in rougher seas than the drakkar. Lief Erikkson and other Viking explorers used this type of ship on their voyages to North America.

Farm animals and other cargo for sell or trade were placed in the middle of the knarr, sometimes under protective tarpaulins. For these reasons, oarsmen could not row from amidship. Rowing was done nearer the bow or stern and only when docking or when steering into the wind during a storm. Sometimes ballast rocks were stored in the midship area too.

Living on board a knarr meant sailing rough sea, being constantly wet from the spray of crashing waves and putting up with the smell of the animal being traded or sold. The Vikings must have relished this hardy life. It certainly did not stop them from travelling all over Europe at the turn of the first millennium.

The knarr had triangular shaped spaces under the deck at both ends of the ship. They were used by passengers and crew for protection against unpleasant weather. Despite being wet, dark and not very roomy, these quarters were better than being on deck and sharing sleeping space with the animals.

Like all Viking ships, the crew of the knarr bailed a lot of water. There were no watertight decks or housing to make sea spray flow directly back into the ocean and no pumps to keep the water levels low. Instead, the water collected in the bottom of the ship and had to be constantly bailed out to keep it from sinking. Bailing was done by two crewmen, one on either side of the ship. It was mainly the job of children, if any were on board.