DK Eyewitness Books - Viking

HEAVENLY BED POST
A mass of everyday
objects was buried in
the Gokstad ship.
These included the
dead man’s clothes, a
cauldron, six wooden
cups, a bucket, six
beds, three boats, a
sled, tent frames,
plus the skeletons of
12 horses, six dogs,
and a peacock. One
of the beds had two
posts carved with
animal heads. The
dead man wanted
to take all his
belongings with him
to Valhalla, the
Viking heaven (p. 53).

Copper alloy

coated wit h gold

Carved tongue

Figure of a great beast,

like t he animal on t he

Jelling Stone (pp. 60–61)

Oak Lookout

Stern-post

Dragon head

Strakes

shown on

t he hull

Proud lion, which would always

point away from t he wind

Vane was probably

mounted on t he ship’s

prow along t his edge

BLOWING IN THE WIND

Weather vanes are used to tell the direction of

the wind. This one is from Söderala Church in

Sweden. It may once have swung from the

prow or mast of a Viking ship. When King

Svein Forkbeard’s ships left Denmark to

conquer England in 1013, a French monk said

they glittered with “lions molded in gold” and

“birds on the tops of the masts.”

CHANGING COURSE

The steersman held the tiller, a

wooden bar that slotted into the top of

the steering oar (p. 11). The Gokstad

tiller is decorated with a carved

animal head.

Tiller

Leat her strap holds t he

steering oar in place

BOAT BROOCH

A Danish Viking woman wore this brooch in the

9th century. It is shaped like a ship, with strakes

and shields along the side, dragon heads at the

prow and stern, and even a lookout up the mast!

Shield

Strakes are held

toget her by iron

nails (p. 25)

Keel stops t he

ship from sliding

sideways in t he wind

GOKSTAD SHIP, STERN VIEW

The Viking ship was steered by a large oar

with a long, flat blade. The Gokstad steering oar

is 10 ft 9 in (3.3 m) long. The steering oar was always

attached to the right side of the ship near the stern. In

English, a ship’s right side is still called starboard, after

the old Norse word styra (to steer). The Gokstad ship

is symmetrical—the prow is identical to the stern, except

that it has no steering oar. Steering oar