“Viking Ship ho!”
Draken Harald Hårfagre is Coming! The World’s Largest Viking Ship Sailing in Modern Times.
BACK TO VINELAND: Viking ship Draken Crosses Atlantic to America
I grew up in Atlantic Canada, with a few years spent in Yorkshire, England. I have trodden where Vikings once went.
Yorkshire was once a Viking daneland. Which is reflected in many old place names and the ice-blue eyes of old families, including my own. I have walked Atlantic Canada shores where Viking dragonships may have pulled up in Vineland times.
Always had a fascination with that Norseman connection. Their fierce love of sea adventure, warrior’s sense of honour, passionate Northern attachment to the deep forest-lands.
Farley Mowat’s WESTVIKING: The Ancient Norse in Greenland and North America was an essential book. Hal Foster described in word and art how narrow dragonships once wandered up forest-edged rivers in the place that would one day be called Canada.
And now: “The Vikings are coming!”
Norwegian Viking ship, Draken Harald Hårfagre, will soon be on the next leg of its North American tour. It’s called Expedition America: East Coast Tour 2018. And slated to commence in summer of 2018.” [1]
Draken Harald Hårfagre is a clinker-built Viking longship. A modern day reconstruction of what the Norse Sagas refer to as a “Great Ship.”
As the builders explained, “Archaeological findings of Viking ships show that they were beautifully decorated. The ship’s ornamentations are inspired by patterns and figures from Viking ships found in Norway.
“Draken Harald Hårfagre has a traditional dragon’s head and tail and is richly ornamented with patterns found in excavations. The dragon’s head on the historic vessel protected the ship and her crew on its open sea the voyage. It was not mounted until departure from home port.”
“The Vikings are coming!”
In 2016, the Draken successfully crossed the North Atlantic Ocean. Thus recreating one of the most epic, mythical explorations of all time in the wake of the Viking Explorer, Leif Ericsson.
The ship visited numerous ports and encountered thousands of people along her Trans-Atlantic journey. The Draken Harald Hårfagre emerged as a pillar of culture, education, and enrichment. Bringing the illustrious Viking age of exploration to life in today’s modern age.
Following the overwhelming response and great show of interest and support from the public, the next leg of the Draken Harald Hårfagre North American tour will consist of 16 stopovers across the U.S. East Coast. The states of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia. The final tour schedule and all stopover ports are yet to be announced and will be made public in late-spring 2018.
“Final Tour”
“Each Draken stopover offers a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for visitors to relive history in a way never before experienced,” explained Captain Björn Ahlander.
“We offer guests the opportunity to not only marvel at this stunning Viking ship on guided deck tours. But also to interact with the crew. They will share their personal experiences of the thrill, fear, and exhilaration felt from having relived one of the world’s most mythological sea voyages. It was the first transatlantic crossing and the Viking discovery of the New World, more than a thousand years ago.”
After initially setting sail from historic Haugesund, Norway, the “world’s largest Viking Ship sailing in modern times” traveled to the Shetland Islands. Then on to the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, before its arrival at Newfoundland. And subsequently the Canadian waterways St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes. Followed by a return to the Atlantic, past Nova Scotia and down the coast to New York City. The ship then arrived in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut, where she has been docked since the conclusion of Expedition 2016.
The crew on board Draken is a team of 35 people. Men and women from all over the world, representing a diverse mix of age, gender, nationality, and background.
The Draken is now inviting members of the public to take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity. You can apply for professional and volunteer crew positions.
A spectacular re-creation of the Viking Age in North America.
“Live Free, Mon Ami!” – Brian Alan Burhoe
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UPDATE: May 8, 2023. As of this update, the Draken Harald Hårfagre is docked at the world-renowned Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. “The ship can be seen from the quayside.” Plans are for the Draken to “head out on a new expedition in 2024.”
[1] To learn more about the Viking ship Draken, please visit: drakenhh.com/join-the-crew
Draken Harald Hårfagre, the world´s largest Viking ship sailing in modern times. Photo Credit: Peder Jacobsson
Title: BACK TO VINELAND: Viking ship Draken Crosses Atlantic to America
Source: Draken Harald Hårfagre/Viking Kings Inc, PR Newswire & Civilized Bears. T Lund, Viking ship Draken 2023, Viking ship Draken 2024.
