Shortly we will start building our reconstruction of the Gokstad ship. The work will be based on the measurements, calculations, model building and drawings made by Vibeke Bichoff, the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark.
Vibeke laid the framework for our reconstruction Saga Oseberg as well, and she qualified for her doctorate shortly before Christmas, based on the Oseberg ship.
Her 1 : 10 scale model has now reached the 10th ship plank, the so called meginhufr – where the ribs end and the knees begin. During her work she discovered that almost all ribs and knees had been cut on the original ship.
This raised doubts as to whether the ship´s width today is identical to what it was originally. The problem was solved by consulting drawings of the ship´s burial chamber made in 1931 and 1890 respectively, and comparing them to the present width. She found them identical.
- They were perfect matches, exclaims a pleased Vibeke Bischoff, who is confident of the original ship´s width when finishing her model and drawings.
- Based on this, I expect to find the correct curves of both keel and stems, she says.
