{"id":394,"date":"2021-12-16T14:30:27","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T13:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/?p=394"},"modified":"2021-12-16T14:31:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T13:31:21","slug":"the-viking-ships-from-vestfold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/2021\/12\/16\/the-viking-ships-from-vestfold\/","title":{"rendered":"The Viking ships from Vestfold"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Three out of four preserved Norwegian Viking ships have been discovered in our county Vestfold. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Einar Chr. Erlingsen \u2013 Chair of the Oseberg Viking Heritage Foundation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"From
From the Klastad ship excavations in 1970. The Klastad was a knarr \u2013 built for carrying cargo. (Photo: Unknown).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Viking ships did not appear out of nowhere, but were the results of a development over thousands of years. Even so, until 1880 AD we had only vague perceptions of what they had actually looked like. In pre 1880 art we see them depicted in rather fanciful ways, including ducktail sterns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answers to what the Viking ships had actually looked like were buried in Vestfold\u00b4s rich soil. Even before the excavation of the Gokstad ship some clues had been detected, namely the Borre ship<\/em> (1852) and the Tune ship<\/em> (1867). However, not enough of either ship was preserved to offer any real insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only with the Gokstad<\/em> (1880), Klastad<\/em> (1893 \u2013 excavated 1970) and Oseberg<\/em> (1904) did the world get solid facts. It\u00b4s no exaggeration that the finds from Vestfold alone have meant more for our understanding of the Viking ships than all the world\u00b4s other Viking ships combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We learnt a lot more as well. This is especially true regarding the most impressive find of them all; the Oseberg. It is not possible to exaggerate its importance; it ranks among the very top of the world\u00b4s most important archaeological finds \u2013 ever. The Oseberg is as important for the understanding of the Viking world as the detection of Tut-Ankh-Amon\u00b4s untouched grave a few decades later was for the understanding of ancient Egypt. For the very first time we got a glimpse into a hitherto unknown female world \u2013 attached to ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oseberg and Gokstad are renowned for their splendour and were undoubtedly built for showing off. They had room for large crews \u2013 but little for cargo. This is reversed on the Klastad, which was built for carrying huge quantities of cargo and livestock, but with a crew of perhaps only six or eight. Oseberg and Gokstad could both be rowed or sailed, while the Klastad had to await favourable wind before setting off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norway was in the middle of a nationalistic upsurge when the Gokstad and Oseberg were excavated. The country was getting ready to leave the forced union with Sweden. It was important to demonstrate that also we had a proud history. So it made sense to locate the great ships in a museum in the nation\u00b4s capital. In 1970 however, it was no longer considered of national importance to move the Klastad to Oslo, so she was allowed to remain in Vestfold and can be seen today at the Slottsfjell Museum in Tonsberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Klastad, along with a.o. the five Skuldelev ships from the Roskilde Fjord (excavated 1962) in Denmark, added to our understanding that there were many types of Viking ships, each type with their specific use, construction and characteristics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n