Just in time for Easter we´ve received great news from the Viking Ship Mueseum in Roskilde, Denmark: The Gokstad scale model 1 : 10 is finished.
The model has been made by ship reconstructor Vibeke Bischoff, based on new scans and measurements taken from the original Gokstad ship in Oslo. Vibeke has been working with Viking ships for decades, and made the model and drawings also for our Oseberg reconstruction ship during the years 2010 – 2012.
In the near future, Vibeke will also be ready with drawings for the Gokstad keel, so that the work can commence in earnest. The Gokstad stems represent a special problem, as they where not preserved when the ship was excavated in 1880. Most of today´s experts agree that the shapes decided upon when the ship was first reconstructed, was a wrong one. Thus, Vibeke and her colleague Søren Nielsen and our own boat builder Jan Vogt Knutsen will discuss several options before making a final decision.