The Viking Ship Museum ( da, Vikingeskibsmuseet) in

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

's national ship museum for ships of the prehistoric and

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

period. The main focus of the museum is a permanent exhibition of the

Skuldelev ships The Skuldelev ships are five original Viking ships recovered from the waterway of Peberrenden at Skuldelev, north of Roskilde in Denmark. In 1962, the remains of the submerged ships were excavated in the course of four months. The recovered piece ...

, five original

Viking ship Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia from the Viking Age throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as bein ...

s excavated nearby in 1962. The Viking Ship Museum also conducts research and educates researchers in the fields of maritime history,

marine archaeology Maritime archaeology (also known as marine archaeology) is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, s ...

and

experimental archaeology Experimental archaeology (also called experiment archaeology) is a field of study which attempts to generate and test archaeological hypotheses, usually by replicating or approximating the feasibility of ancient cultures performing various tasks ...

. Various academic conferences are held here and there is a research library in association with the museum.

Original Viking ships

View of Viking Ship Museum from Roskilde Fjord

Around the year 1070, five Viking ships were deliberately sunk at Skuldelev in

Roskilde Fjord Roskilde Fjord is the fjord north of Roskilde, Denmark. It is a long branch of the Isefjord. Cities The cities Frederiksværk, Frederikssund, Jægerspris, Jyllinge and Roskilde (including Himmelev), (home to the famous Roskilde Festival), all ...

in order to block the most important fairway and to protect Roskilde from an enemy attack from the sea. These ships, later known as the

, were excavated in 1962. They turned out to be five different types of ships ranging from cargo ships to ships of war. The Viking Ship Museum overlooking the inlet of Roskilde Fjord was built in 1969 with the main purpose of exhibiting the five newly discovered Skuldelev ships. The original Skuldelev Viking ships are the main focus of the museum, but a small exhibition about the Roskilde ships and various temporary exhibitions with a broader scope can also be experienced here.

Roskilde ships

In the late 1990s, excavations for the shipyard expansion of the Viking Ship Museum uncovered the remains of a further nine ships, the ''Roskilde ships'', from the

period. It is the largest discovery of prehistoric ships in Northern Europe. Most of these are from the period just after the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

, 1060-1350 AD, but ' is from 1025 AD and is the longest Viking ship ever found; about long. All except ''Roskilde 8'' have been excavated and their remains are at the

National Museum of Denmark The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøget ...

(''Roskilde 6'' on display, remaining in storage).

Reconstructed Viking ships and historical boats

Viking ship museum Roskilde Denmark 201172962

The Viking Ship Museum has a long tradition of Viking ship reconstructions and boat building and also collects boats of interest from all over Scandinavia. The boat collection at the museum now comprise more than 40 vessels and the associated ship building yard is constantly building new ships by original methods as part an

learning process. It is possible to follow or engage in the ship building process here. The shipyard is located on a small isle known as ''Museumsøen'' (Museum Island), connected to the main museum exhibition buildings by a drawbridge. Every summer, a handful of boats are launched for extended sea voyages to accumulate more knowledge about the seafaring techniques and conditions of the Vikings.

Gallery

Vikingeskibsmuseet 15.jpg, A look down the halls. Viking-ship at roskilde-museum, denmark.JPG, Silhouette of an original Viking ship. Vikingeskibsmuseet 12.jpg, Small scale replicas. Bridge-to-the-Viking-Ship-Museum-Roskilde-island.jpg, The bridge to the shipyard of ''Museumsøen''. Vikingeskibsmuseet 3.jpg, The reconstruction of ''Skuldelev 5'' (1991). Roskilde 020.JPG, Boat building at the workshops. RoskildeVikingWorkshop.jpg, Preservation of archaeological remains. Roskilde 012.JPG, Fullscale navigable reconstructions of original ships are built at ''Museumsøen''.

References

External links

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Picture Gallery

Many high resolution photos
"Rebirth of the Viking warship that may have helped Canute conquer the seas"

Maev Kennedy Maev Kennedy (born 1954) is an Irish journalist. She has worked as a staff news writer for ''The Guardian'' and writes regularly for the ''Museums Journal''. At ''The Guardian'', she edited the diary column and been the arts and heritage corresp ...

, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...