The ship
The Knarr - the Viking trade ship
Just around the year 1000, a Knarr, probably overtaken by a storm, stranded in shallow waters in the Klåstad bay close to Larvik in Norway. The ship was loaded with wetstones and probably also sheep, from the inland of the Telemark County close by.
Due to the land rising the shipwreck was found in a field about 900 years later
In 1970 the shipwreck was excavated under the supervision of professor Arne Emil Christensen and is now to be seen in Slottsfjellsmuseet in Tønsberg, Norway
Build again after a thousand years
The Oseberg Viking Heritage Foundation, building archaeological replicas of viking ships, decided to take on the task of building the Klåstad ship. This Viking ship has never been rebuilt, in contrast to the more famous Oseberg and Gokstad, both of which have been replicated multiple times since the late 1800’s.
Based on the findings and use of proven re-engineering methods, a cardboard scale model became the basis for new construction drawings of the ship - and eventually a whole new ship was built and given the name Saga Farmann
Reconstruction of a viking ship
It is a time-consuming job to reconstruct an only partly preserved viking ship. About forty procent of the original ship was found in the field.
The planks that still exist give valuable information about the hull shape. But as these planks only cover the middle part of the ship, the lines have to be extended to give information about where the ships bow and stern are.
Bow and stern
As the bow and stern were not perserved, it was decided to add these based on what was traditional for the Norwegian viking ships.
And finally, complete drawings could be made for the ship builders to use in order for them to create what today is our proud ship Saga Farmann