When Storm Amy swept across southern Norway in early October, it tore away the tarpaulin covering the slipway where the new Gokstad ship is being built. A major setback for the boatbuilders, of course — but it also revealed something extraordinary: the ship’s graceful, powerful lines.
Text: Einar Chr. Erlingsen
Photo: Willy Fredriksen
A Viking ship is more than just a vessel. It’s a sculpture — a masterpiece of rhythm, harmony, and craftsmanship. Every curve carries a sense of poetry. Look at the row of frames: flowing and perfectly balanced, almost like a series of waves. Each one looks similar, yet none are exactly alike.
Back in the Viking Age, there were no blueprints. The shipbuilder used his own body as a measuring tool — the foot, cubit, and inch — methods still familiar to our master builder, Jan Vogt Knutsen, and his team today.
Of course, this reconstruction also relies on detailed drawings, carefully measured and drafted by Dr. Vibeke Bischoff, ship reconstruction specialist at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde. Her work, commissioned by the Oseberg Viking Heritage Foundation, ensures every detail matches the original.
The builders in Tønsberg and Sandefjord are now fitting the 12th strake (plank row) of a total of 16. Most of the frames are already in place, but some are still missing — and finding the light oak is no simple task. Here, nature lent a helping hand: Storm Amy brought down thousands of trees, including many fine oaks.
These days, Jan and his colleague Roger Pande Løvall from our Sandefjord workshop are driving through the countryside with wooden templates, looking for the perfect pieces for frames, knees, and beams. Each piece must have grown in the right shape — splicing timber would only weaken the hull.
And the missing tarpaulin? Fortunately, it looks like the insurance will cover it.
Because even storms can have a silver lining — especially when they reveal the beauty of a Viking ship in the making.
Translated by Chatgpt