A Viking Ship In North Dakota!

Golly gee!  What will we find NEXT?  This is so-o-o-o cool!

Isn't this amazing?  Especially to find it in Fargo, North Dakota!  It is magnificent - and a real ocean-going Viking (replica) ship - it's been sailed to Norway!  You know that remains of a Viking colony has been found in Newfoundland, Canada, proving the Vikings (not Columbus) were the first Europeans in the New World.  No wonder the Scandinavians up here are so (properly) proud of their heritage!

 Here is a photo of the Hjemkomst sailing into Bergen Harbor:

The Hjemkomst

It took 72 days to cross the Atlantic from Duluth, Minnesota to Bergen, Norway.

The Hjemkomst was built by hand Robert Asp.  Vikings from the Ninth century took only a year to construct one of these, but it took a whole team of skilled craftsmen.  It took Robert six years. The keel is laid first and only has an 11 1/2" drop from where the upward curves for the bow and stern begin.  (Has anyone ever heard the term, "keel-hauled?"  It's an old sailor's punishment.  He'd have a rope tied around his waist and be thrown off the bow of the ship.  If he survived being hauled under the water under the keel, he'd be hauled back on board.  I'm thinkin' I'd only need to be "keel-hauled" once... - what am I saying!  I'd only have to know what keel-hauling was and I'm thinkin' I would never step out of line!!)

Once the keel was laid, you'd begin adding on the strakes (or planks) that form the hull of the ship.  You can see that the strakes overlap and are fastened together with a "Ro."  THEN the Viking's would form fit ribs into the hull.  (Special Agent Gibbs on "NCIS" does it the other way around - ribs first then the hull.)  Ultimately this is what Robert Asp and the Vikings would end up with:

The Hjemkomst keel was laid in 1974 and she was christened in 1980 at the Hawley Shipyard in Hawley, Minnesota. 

Robert Asp based his design on the Gokstad, a ship discovered in 1880 by archeologists digging in a clay mound in Gokstad, Norway.  The ship was apparently buried along with its wealthy Viking chieftain, probably Olaf Geirstada-Alf, after his death.  The clay preserved it, and his bones, for these 1,000 years - awesome for us!!  They also buried 12 horses, 6 dogs, and a peacock - not so awesome for them.  (I understand the horses and dogs for the afterlife, but a peacock?)

This is impressive - but there is oh-so-much more at the Hjemkomst Center!