Videoer av vikingskip og båtbygging
Viking ships and boat building videos around the world
My videos

"Habjaas" dug out boats in Estonia.

These videos shows bronze age technology alive today. In Estonia the log boat traditions never died, but continued to coexist side by side with more modern boats as a cheap and low-tech alternative for building small boats and canoes. These amazing videos demonstrates the common origin of all lapstrake boats. They lack strakes, but display how the log is dug out and then expanded under heat by wooden sticks. After the expansion process is completed, permanent ribs are mounted on internal cleats on the inner walls of the log. The ribs are lashed to the cleats, just like in the earliest viking ships. The Habjaa is the direct link between the unexpanded logboat and the first lapstrake boats. The videos here are from the National Park of Soomaa.

The danish Sea Stallion longship at the norwegian ancient viking harbour at Spangereid in 2007

The Sea Stallion sailing from Kirkwall in Man in 2007

The Gokstad replica Gaia from Norway at her voyage across the North Sea in 2005

Gaia presentation, with a commercial touch

Viking ship find at Meol, Wirral, England
A viking ship is buried under a pub in Meol, western England. The ship is not yet excavated, but its existence is comfirmed by geo-radar analysis. The ship is clinker built like a viking ship and is probably a transport vessel, possibly a knarr of norwegian origin. It is buried in a deep layer of clay, so it may turn out to be well preserved. Interesting video of high quality with a large section from the Viking ship museum in Oslo as well.

Update about the Meol ship on BBC, 2007

Burning longship, recreation of a Viking funeral
Burning dead chieftains inside of their ship was part of the viking funeral traditions in the 10th century.

Movie trailer "The Vikings" by Kirk Douglas in 1958
The ships in this movie were built at a shipyard in Stavanger, Norway. They were actually well built replicas, which could be sailed for real. But the dragon heads were far too big and heavy.

"The Vikings" - the 1958 Kirk Douglas movie, part 1, 2, 3, 4
This movie is a comedy mixing facts and stereotypes, quite Hollywood-like. The first part contains many boat scenes.

Viking battle re-enactment in Poland - Festiwal Slowian i Wicingów na Wolinie

I can't resist including these two videos from the viking festivals in Wolin.Very impressive! The vikings were not only from Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but also from the shores of Poland, were Jomsborg at Wolin was their main base.
If viking festivals draw your attention, go and have fun, but don't get too carried away. Be there for cultural reasons, and not for political objectives. I have written a short reminder about this in my preface to these pages. I must also add that the actors in these videos are well trained, and that the weapons have rounded edges to prevent injury. But still it looks quite dangerous, don't you think?