The "Long Ship" of the People of the Midnight Lands...
An 8th-century Viking "Runestone" depicts Slepnir (the eight-legged horse of the god Odin) at the top and a passing ship below. Discovered in Tängivd, Ahlskog, Gotland, Sweden.
The waves crash against the menacing rocks with a roar,
And spinning with white foam, they run back,
But the grey cliffs are firm
They endure the pressure of the waves over the sea standing up.
From those stone rocks we, the Varangians, have bones,
From that sea wave the blood-ore flowed in us,
And thoughts are secrets from the fogs,
We were born at sea, we will die at sea.
The Varangians have damask swords and sharp arrows,
They inflict death without failing the enemy,
Brave people of midnight countries
Their God Odin is great, the sea is gloomy.
Aria of the Varangian Guest from N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "Sadko." Words by V.I. Belsky.
And spinning with white foam, they run back,
But the grey cliffs are firm
They endure the pressure of the waves over the sea standing up.
From those stone rocks we, the Varangians, have bones,
From that sea wave the blood-ore flowed in us,
And thoughts are secrets from the fogs,
We were born at sea, we will die at sea.
The Varangians have damask swords and sharp arrows,
They inflict death without failing the enemy,
Brave people of midnight countries
Their God Odin is great, the sea is gloomy.
Aria of the Varangian Guest from N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "Sadko." Words by V.I. Belsky.
History and creativity. It's been a while since we've made anything here, and yet our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren certainly expect something unusual from us, especially for the New Year. So why not treat them to a beautiful toy, handmade to boot? And if that's the case, why not make a Viking ship, perhaps the most important technical achievement of the early European Middle Ages?
There's no need to guess what these ships of the northern peoples ("midnight countries," as they called them at the time) looked like: several well-preserved such ships were found during excavations of ancient burial sites as early as the 19th century in Gokstad and Oseberg, and in the 20th century, in 1962, not far from Skuldelev in Roskilde Fjord, five ships were discovered, sunk at the entrance to the harbor to block its entrance. Moreover, Viking ships are still being discovered today. For example, the most recent "ship grave" with a buried ship was discovered in Leka burial mound in Trøndelag, Norway, in 2023.
"The Tuna Ship." Photo: Viking Museum in Oslo
Let's remember that the most valuable finds are perhaps the "Tuna ship," as well as the Gokstad and Oseberg ships. The "Tuna ship" was built around 900 AD. It is not as well preserved as one would hope, but the strong mast support and the shape of the hull indicate it was a fast sailor. It was found in a cave in southeastern Norway.
The Gokstad Ship was a flexible and fast vessel designed for open sea travel. It ended its days as a burial vessel. Archaeologists discovered the remains of a tall man sitting on a chair on board, and doctors determined his legs were affected by arthritis. Photo: Viking Museum, Oslo
The Oseberg Ship is perhaps the best-preserved Viking vessel. It is richly decorated with carved animal motifs that extend along the bow and culminate in a spiraling snake's head. Analysis of its wood revealed that this oak ship was launched around 820 and was likely used for coastal navigation. After about 15 years of use, it was destroyed as a burial vessel. Photograph by the Viking Museum in Oslo.
There, archaeologists discovered the remains of two women of high social standing (25-30 and 50-55 years old), fragments of oriental silk fabrics, a well-preserved wooden cart covered in exquisite carvings in a typically northern style, and even... peacock bones. All of this points to the Vikings' lively trade with the East along the Volga and Dnieper rivers. Incidentally, DNA analysis revealed that both women were not European. They most likely originated from Iran.
Carved prow of the Oseberg ship. Photo of the Viking Museum in Oslo
The Oseberg Ship in the new building of the Viking Museum, where it moved at the end of November 2025. Photo by the Viking Museum in Oslo.
The largest Viking ship discovered to date was discovered only in 1996 in Roskilde, Denmark, entirely by accident. It was estimated that its construction, which took place around 1025, required approximately 30 man-hours of shipbuilding labor, plus the work of lumberjacks and transportation of materials to the construction site.
The ship is over 36 meters long, a full four meters longer than Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose, built five centuries later. The "Roskilde Ship," or "Roskilde 6," could carry 100 warriors, who took turns rowing 39 pairs of oars if the wind wasn't strong enough for its square sail. The ship was cramped, with sleeping quarters crammed between chests, and there was very little space for provisions. Therefore, supplies were kept to a minimum and only for one-way trips, as the voyage was short. Experienced voyages of these Viking ship replicas have proven that they can easily maintain an average speed of 5,5 knots, and in a fresh wind, they can reach speeds of 20 knots. Not much remains of this ship, but it's still possible to imagine what this truly super-drakkar looked like in its day!
The Roskilde 6 is the largest Viking ship to date. Photo courtesy of the Viking Museum in Roskilde, Denmark.
Thanks to all these discoveries, historians have learned that a clear distinction between warships and merchant ships among the Vikings only emerged in the 10th century. Moreover, "longships" such as the "drakkar" ("dragon") and "shneka" ("slender") were intended for military expeditions, while shorter, pot-bellied "knorr" ships were used for trade.
Warships varied greatly in size. They were classified by the number of rowing benches (seats) or the spaces between the crossbeams ("seats"). The smallest vessel in the 10th century was one with 13 benches (seats) on each side or 26 oars. Raids on England in the late 9th century involved ships with 16-18 benches. The ship found in Gokstad clearly dates from around this time and had 16 rowing benches. The Vikings also built larger ships with 30 benches, but in very small numbers. Giant warships with over 30 benches began to appear only at the very end of the 10th century. Such a vessel was, for example, King Olaf Tryggvasson's "Long Serpent," built in 998 and with 34 benches for rowers, becoming the first such ship and the most famous. King Harald Hardrada's "Great Dragon", built in 1061-1062, had one more row of benches, and the "Roskilde ship" had five more.
Oddly enough, none of the Viking ships were found to have rowing benches, leading to the assumption that Vikings rowed while sitting on their chests (the chests from the Osseberg ship were the right size for sitting). The oars themselves were typically 5–6 meters long. One person usually rowed the oar, but there could be a second person, or even more!
Viking warships and merchant ships typically had two small raised decks, one fore and one aft. Between them was a deck covered with loosely attached planks that could be raised to load the hold. When at anchor or in harbor, the deck was covered with a large awning stretched over X-shaped struts to protect the crew from the elements. One poetic sagas described 12 ships anchored in the harbor: "All covered with black awnings. From beneath the awnings, light shone through, where men sat and drank."
Crew members' shields were typically hung along the gunwale, which ran along the side of the ship, although some scholars claim this was done only "in special cases," and that rowing was impossible. Interestingly, on the Gokstad ship, the shields were indeed tied with straps to a wooden batten, obscuring the oars. But on the Oseberg ship, the shields were attached to the outside of the gunwale, so they didn't interfere with rowing at all. Furthermore, according to sagas, shields were attached this way on ships engaged in battle. For example, the saga of the "Battle of Gafrsfjord" explicitly states that the ships' gunwales "gleamed with polished shields," and the "Battle on the River Nissa" of 1062 reports that "the warriors made a fortification of shields hung along the gunwale."
On long voyages across the open sea, when the wind was favorable, the Vikings used enormous square sails. They could reach speeds of up to 11 knots or more, meaning they could travel from the port of Bergen to Newfoundland in just 28 days! It's believed they were made of wool. Wool, especially when wet, stretches, so a "lattice" of leather straps was sewn onto the sails to maintain their shape.
Scandinavian sagas describe Viking sails with blue, red, green, and white stripes. Remains of a sail found on the Gokstad ship were found to be white with red stripes. The mast was half the length of the ship itself. In battle, it was usually lowered, and oars were used exclusively for propulsion. This is likely where the shields along the sides were needed, as they protected the rowers from enemy arrows and spears. A large steering oar with a removable handle was attached to the starboard stern. The bow and stern were traditionally decorated with carved dragon heads (the bow), and the stern, in this case, was crowned with a dragon's tail. The bow and stern could also be decorated with simple elegant curls, as was the case, for example, on the Gokstad ship. Ships' prows were often adorned not with dragon or snake heads, but with carved weathervanes covered in runes and, again, images of snakes and dragons. These were made of gilded bronze, and if such a weathervane adorned a ship's prow, it was a sign of its special significance!
Dragon head from the Oseberg ship burial. Photograph by the Viking Museum in Oslo.
"The Söderal Weathervane." This gilded bronze plaque is decorated with images of three intertwined beasts, along with other purely decorative elements such as spirals, in a style similar to mid-11th-century Swedish tombstones. The main decorative element is a typical Viking Age dragon with wings, its forepaws and neck extended like a rearing horse. Another creature is coiled around the dragon's forepaws, and a third, legless one, is coiled around its body. Stockholm Historical Museum.
The ship played a crucial role in the lives of the Scandinavians, so it's no surprise that they often celebrated their ships in their sagas, giving them pompous, poetic names: "Sea Horse," "Wave Foamer," "Steed of the Seagull's Path," "Bear of the Sea Currents," "Bear of the Slipways," "Sea Deer," and even "Wolf of the Ship's Rollers"! Accordingly, the ships the Vikings sailed on were also given similarly pompous names—"Sea Serpent," "Great Dragon," "Steed."
"Overseas Guests." N.K. Roerich. Series "The Beginning of Rus'. Slavs." 1901. State Tretyakov Gallery
It's also worth noting that all of this suggests that Viking Age ships were very beautiful, both in their silhouette and their bright, eye-catching colors. And don't they look elegant in the famous painting by Nicholas Roerich in our Tretyakov Gallery?
So, we'll make a model of such a "beautiful ship," and it's within the reach of almost anyone, and it looks very impressive thanks to its precise imitation of the planking. The fact is, Norse ships had overlapping planks, meaning one plank overlapped the other, like roof tiles. This type of planking is heavier than flush or butt-jointed planking, but also stronger. The Vikings had plenty of suitable timber for building their ships, so they had no problem finding the wood for their construction. But how do you imitate this type of planking on a model?
A Viking ship hull plan (keel length 24 cm), covered with coffee stirrer sticks, from the keel to the sides. Photo by the author.
We'll make our ship's hull using a simplified design—cutting it out of paper, gluing its ends together, and then spreading its sides apart. The contours won't be the same as those on a real ship, of course, but this way we can easily show the overlapping planking on the sides of our model! Only an experienced modeler will figure out the contours, but anyone will notice the overlapping planks!
Coffee stirrers are best used as planks for the sheathing, gluing them to the paper body pattern with PVA glue. Once all the sticks are in place, the body blank is dried under a press, and a strip of thin fabric is glued to the inside of the blank along the entire fold line, after which it is thoroughly dried again.
The inside view of the case blank with a strip of fabric glued along the entire fold line. Photo by the author.
Now carefully bend the body blank and glue it with superglue at the ends, making sure to secure them with paper clips or at least clothespins. Once the glue has set, thoroughly pour hot tap water over the body and pull it apart, pressing the edges with a hot iron. Secure the body in this position with spacers made from stirrers. The narrower you open the body, the more hot water you'll need to pour on it and, correspondingly, the more pressure you'll need to apply with the iron. Some of the paper backing will peel off, but that's okay. In fact, it's no longer needed.
The finished hull of a Viking ship model, glued together at the ends and secured from the inside with struts made from stirrer sticks. The keel and ends of the bow and stern will also need to be glued to the hull using square-section slats, and then bent accordingly using a hot iron. Photo by the author.
This is what your final body profile should look like! Photo by the author.
The decks on drakkars weren't continuous. They were laid out of relatively short planks that weren't firmly secured, as can be clearly seen in the photograph of the "Oseberg Ship" in the Oslo Museum. This made it easy to remove them and pile a whole pile of sacks or barrels in the hold above deck level!
A deck made of 3mm wide slats glued to a paper backing. Photo by the author.
The carved ends, cut from lamella, are the dragon's head and tail. Note the carved hatching depicting scales. This is a good idea because it will make both these details look more impressive after coloring. Photo by the author.
After installing the deck, glue the carved extremities—the dragon's or snake's head to the bow, and its writhing tail to the stern. They are painted first with red paint, then with a semi-dry brush using "Antique Gold" acrylic paint. The "teeth"—the tips of those same Chinese toothpicks—should be carefully cut off, glued to the dragon's upper jaw, and painted white.
A fully painted dragon head. Incidentally, the drakkar's hull should be painted with matte black acrylic paint, as the Vikings tarred the hulls of their ships, and theirs were black. Photo by the author.
The dragon's tail and the steering oar at the stern. Photo by the author
Now we'll begin making some very important parts: the rowers' seats. If Vikings rowed while sitting on their chests, then to make them for this model, we'll need a 3x3 mm wooden slat, which we'll cut into 5 mm long "bars" and paint brown. We'll need 22 of these "chests" in total. Moreover, they'll need to be placed alongside the deck, not across it. After all, our ship will be sailing, so why should the chests take up extra space? So, we've moved them to the side and placed them alongside it, rather than across it, so they don't interfere with the passage.
Accordingly, there should be an equal number or slightly more shields, which should be secured along the sides so that there are gaps between them for the oars. Incidentally, 22 oars will also be needed, and they should be stored on Y-shaped "rostra" to the right and left of the mast.
Oar storage racks. A gangway runs along the deck for descending to the shore. Photo by the author.
A sail made of striped fabric is tied to the yard, then soaked in PVA glue and dried with a hairdryer in the “wind-filled” position... Photo by the author
The weathervane for the mast is a complex detail. It should be drawn on thick paper and then carefully cut out with a sharp craft knife. Round holes are best drilled with a micro-drill. The finished weathervane is painted with acrylic paint to resemble bronze or antique gold.
The finished weathervane. Photo by the author.
Weather vane on the mast. Photo by the author.
Viking shields were brightly painted, and each one was typically painted in a unique style. In the center of each shield was a metal hemisphere—a boss—that securely protected the hand holding the shield. This could be imitated on shields using appropriately sized upholstery tacks, the heads of which were painted to resemble "dark metal" or "bronze." The easiest option is to place a drop of PVA glue in the center of the shield, let it dry, and then paint!
The finished model with warrior shields glued to the sides. Photo by the author.
The stand was purchased at Leonardo's and stained with wood, just like the stands for souvenir wooden eggs with the cup cut off.
P.S. If you'd like, you can complete this model in one workday, from sunrise to sunset, with a lunch break. So, one Sunday would be plenty.
*A "rune" or runestone is a boulder or stone slab (less commonly, a fragment of a stone structure) with a runic inscription carved into it (often accompanied by an image). Runes are an ancient Germanic alphabet that was used beginning in the 1st century AD.
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