Vikings at sea
COMPILED BY NIMI KURIAN
The Havhingsten fra Glendalough or the Sea Stallion from Glendalough left the harbour at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde on July 1. For six weeks the ship will carry out numerous trials in the North Sea, the Atlantic and The Irish Sea prior to the arrival at the Irish capital, Dublin.
The Sea Stallion from Glendalough is the world’s largest reconstruction of a Viking Age warship. The voyage will answer many questions; how long it took for a Viking Age fleet to do the distance from Denmark to Ireland, what was the maximum speed of the Viking Age warships and what was life on board most likely?
On July 1, 1957 the excavations began enabling scientists to save the remains of five Viking ships. The excavation was terminated in 1962. Apparently the five ships were deliberately scuttled nearly 1,000 years ago as part of the Roskilde defence. The five ships were placed in order to hinder enemy warships to carry out a quick attack from the sea. It took local knowledge to pass the defence. The largest of those five Viking ships was a 30-metre long warship. The Sea Stallion from Glendalough is a reconstruction of this ship.
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