This website is being developed as a companion to my comprehensive annotated A-Z global listing of all replica ships, Replica Ships A to Z.
Due to the complexity of the field, I have chosen to list separately the large number of Viking ship replicas, which have very different standards of authenticity.
A replica vessel is usually defined as a full-size authentic reproduction of a documented original. In the case of Viking era vessels this is more complicated, and so I also list smaller scale and non-authentic maritime replicas.
The site is intended a a gateway to the official ship websites, but these are often transient. All dimensions are approximate.
Please send any comments, corrections and contributions to the Editor, Richard Leveridge.
A small scale replica of a viking longboat. In 1994 and 1996 Aifur made a voyage from Sigtuna on Lake Malar in Sweden to the Black Sea port of Kherson in the Ukraine to test by archaeological experiment the reality of recorded viking voyages, in the well-documented Holmgard Expedition and the following Daugava 2001 Expedition.
Aifur
A replica of ???
Anund
Project to build a replica of Skuldelev 1 - the 16.5 metre Viking trading ship or "Knarr" known as "Skuldelev 1" found in the Roskilde fiord in Denmark. Project based on completely traditional tools and techniques.
Asgard
Skuldelev 1 replica built by (qv).
Bifrost
Skuldelev 1 replica built as a replacement for Saga Siglar (qv).
Borgunds Knarr
A full size replica of the Gokstad ship. Her name is the norse word for Dublin.
Dyflin
mailto:dyflin@dol.ie
Fyrdraca, is a reproduction of the Rugen II Viking longship wreck found off the island of Rugen, Germany in the Baltic Sea. She was formerly owned by The Longship Company Ltd., then replaced by Sae Hrafn
Fyrdraca
Fyrdraca
A replica of the Gokstad longship. "Sailing in the footsteps of the Vikings was one of Gaia's many assignments. Another was to highlight the world's environmental problems and to emphasize our responsibility for a better environment for our children."
Gaia
A reproduction of the small Gokstad faering boat with 4 oars.
Gyrfalcon
Havhingsten fra Glendalough ("Sea Stallion from Glendalough") is a Danish reconstruction of Skuldelev 2. A complete authentic replica project based on the Roskilde 2 Wreck, built at the Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, Denmark. This 30-meter ocean-going longship was built using the same methods, tools, and materials used by the Vikings nearly 1,000 years ago. This is the first time a ship of this type has been recreated, a feat made possible by a donation of DKK 10.5m from the Danish brewing company Carlsberg.
Skuldelev 2 was built in Dublin around 1040, 200 years after the town and others like it were founded by the Vikings. By that time Dublin had developed into a busy trading port linked to all parts of the Viking world.
In 2007 the ship sailed the open seas on the authentic route over the top of Denmark, across the North Sea, around Scotland to Dublin.
"Skuldelev 2 is a ship in a class of its own, a thoroughbred of the oceans. Building a full-size copy gives us an outstanding opportunity to explore and explain the knowledge that we have about the longships of the Viking Age and their accompanying culture," said museum director Tinna DamgŒrd-Sørensen.
Havhingsten fra Glendalough homepage
A two-thirds scale replica of the Gokstad ship. Havorn is Norwegian for Osprey.
Havorn
A replica of the Lapuri wreck from Finland. Heimlosa Rus is a replacement for Rus, destroyed in 1994.
Heimløsa Rus -- the project website
A replica of "Skuldelev 5" -- the Roskilde Fjord Wreck 5 viking ship.
We in the Vittfarne Association intend to test the possible route of Ingvar the Far-travelled through Transcaucasia with a Viking ship replica suitable for the purpose. The aim is historical research as well as creating international contacts between people. This expedition can be seen as a continuation of the earlier expedition with the Viking boat Aifur in 1994 and 1996.
Vittfarne Expedition website
A replica of ???
Hjemkomst
A replica full-size Viking longship constructed in 1949. Commemorating the landing of Hengist and Horsa to protect the kingdom of King Vortigern in 449 AD. Rowed across the North Sea to Denmark in 1949. Used by the Daily Mail for a publicity stunt, then given to "the people of Britain". Displayed mounted on concrete blocks overlooking Pegwell Bay.
Photo of Hugin See also
The ship is a reconstruction of the excavated Ladby ship from around the year 800. She sails in the summer season from the small island of Kalvø in Genner Bay, near Aabenraa in southern Jutland. Imme Gram was built in 1963 by Scouts in the town of Gram, southern Jutland.
Imme Gram
During 1980-85 the Swedish "Krampmacken" (a replica of a Viking ship, 8 m x 2 m,
with six oars and a crew of about eleven) made an expedition from the
Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic to the Black Sea, pioneering a revival of overland hauling between river ways. See "Vikingaskepp mot Miklagård" by Erik Nyhlén.
Krampmacken
Leif Erikson was sailed to Duluth in 1927 and is currently undergoing restoration.
Leif Erikson restoration project
Lille Draken is a 1/4 scale version of the Gokstad ship, built by furniture maker David Jones.
Lille Draken
A replica of the Skuldelev wreck 5.
Lindheim Sunds
Mjollnir ("Hammer of Thor") is a "replica" constructed from ice cream sticks, used for outward bound education by the "The Sea Heart Foundation".
Mjollnir homepage
A half size replica of the Gokstad ship.
Munin
A replica of the Gokstad ship. Nidhug is named after the dragon that gnaws at the root of Yggdrasil, the tree of the universe in Scandinavian mythology.
Nidhug
A 2/3 scale replica of a Viking longboat. During the Isle of Man's Millennium Year of 1979, a replica of a Viking longship was sailed from Norway to the Isle of Man by a mixed Norwegian and Manx crew. She was exhibited at the British Museum and South Street Maritime Museum, New York. See "The Voyage of Odin's Raven" by Michael Ingram (ISBN: 0952430487).
Odin's Raven
A replica of the Oseberg Ship built by Henri Houben.
Orm
Ormen Friske, a replica of the famous Gokstad ship from the 9th century, was at sea on 22 June 1950 sailing from the Elbe estuary in Germany to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, when it was caught in a storm on the North Sea and broke apart. All 15 crew members lost their lives. Faulty construction of a laminated keel caused a catastrophic failure.
Ormen Friske information site
(A controversial unverified alternative account is offered by Rune Edberg.)
A replica of Skuldelev 1.
Ottar
A replica of
Randaros
A replica of a viking coastal merchant vessel accurately based on "Skuldelev 3" - the Roskilde Wreck 3. Built using only copies of tools from Viking-Period finds and correct timber choices.
Roar Ege (Viking Ship Museum)
A replica of the Lapuri wreck from Finland.
Destroyed in 1994. The vessel was replaced by Heimløsa Rus.
An English language book is available on Rus and her voyages. The Rus Project by Fredrik Koivusalo. Available in English (1999, ISBN 952-91-0876-1). 116 pages. Richly illustrated. Price: 13 Euro (~$12) + postage.
The reader can follow in detail the building of a Viking ship, conforming to an archaeological find in the Gulf of Finland. Scientific reflections, craftsmanship and practical work are combined in an interesting way. In the subsequent voyage one is met with an amazing adventure and a dramatic shipwreck. Despite many problems and misfortunes, there is an unyielding go-ahead spirit and optimism, peronified in the project leader and author.
Sae Hrafn ("Sea Raven"), is a class B tall ship based on Skuldelev V and Ralswiek/Rugen II
Sae Hrafn website
The Sae Wyfling is a half-sized replica of the 27-metre Sutton Hoo longship 625-637 AD that was buried in Suffolk around 625-630 as part of a lavish royal burial. The Sae Wyfling replica was constructed by Anglo-Saxon enthusiasts Dr Edwin Gifford, his wife Joyce and boat-builder Geoff Bird. It handles well under oar, is very fast, and with a draught of only 12 inches can be used on all but the shallowest waterways.
Sae Wyfling
A replica of a viking ocean going merchant ship or "knarr" accurately based on "Skuldelev 1" - the Roskilde wreck 1. Lost in a storm off Barcelona in 1992
Replaced by Borgundknarren.
Saga Siglar
See Havhingsten fra Glendalough
Sebbe Als is a full size replica built with authentic tools of wreck no. 5 from Skuldelev.
Sebbe Als homepage
A replica of the Gokstad ship.
Sigrid Storråda
A replica of a viking ocean going merchant ship or "knarr" accurately based on "Skuldelev 1" - the Roskilde Fjord wreck 1. Built for a Greenland sailing expedition by Hodding Carter, writer and adventurer. The story of the boat and its expeditions is told in the book A Viking Voyage by W. Hodding Carter, New York: Random House, 2001, and in the documantary film "The Men who would be Viking", directed by Doug Cabot.
Snorri - mirror of official expedition website
A replica of the Lapuri ship find from Finland.
Sotka
Starkodder is a version of the Fotevik find no. 1. Starkodder was built during the winter of 1995-1996 at the huge Viking Age exhibition at Eriksberg in Gothenburg harbour, and it was launched on 17 March 1996.
Starkodder
"A replica built by taking the best parts from existing replicas to design a good performance viking trader as used of big farmer during the viking age and for raids of swedish vikings into russia. The boat has turned out as a well tucking vessel with high speed resources and proudly can be seen as one of the best cruisers in the fleet as demonstrated at L'anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, during the Leif Eriksson memorial sailings. The boat is also a test platform for studying the highly advanced rudder of a viking ship and its performance."
Vidfamne is replica merchant ship (a "knarr") - a version of the Äskekärr Ship, an archaeological finding of a shipwreck which was discovered in the clay banks of the Göta Älv, in a field belonging to the Månsgården farm south of Nol, a township some 25 kilometres north of Gothenburg, on September 15, 1933. The original find, an abandoned wreck from around 930 AD, can be studied at Gothenburg City Museum.
Vidfamne
A replica of the Gokstad ship, she sailed across the Atlantic under Captain Magnus Andersen to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 in 28 days.
The Viking
Yrsa is a six oar Viking-style lap-strake vessel
Yrsa photo
Yrsa
Version
2008-01-12
Mail to: leveridge@zoom.co.uk
Home page: http://pages.zoom.co.uk/leveridge/