The vikings are coming for you again! Remember the last time they showed up? That didn't work out so well, did it? You have until next summer to beat those plowshares back into swords, so you'd better get cracking!
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Dozens of volunteer sailors will follow in the wake of the Vikings next summer, crossing the North Sea to Ireland in a 100-foot (30-meter) replica of a Norse warship, museum officials said Friday.
The slender long ship, named Havhingsten, or Stallion of the Sea, is one of the most ambitious Viking ship reconstructions to date, experts said. It has been modeled after a nearly 1,000-year-old vessel that was excavated in the Roskilde fjord, west of Copenhagen, the Danish capital.
On July 2, the vessel will set sail from Roskilde with a crew of 65 who hope to learn more about Viking seamanship on a seven-week, 1,000-mile (1,700-kilometer) journey to Dublin — a city founded by Vikings.
"We will not sail dressed as Vikings, but we will try to understand how the ship and crew coped," said Martin Brandt Djupdraet, curator of the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.
The volunteer crew from Britain, Ireland, the United States, Germany, Australia and Scandinavian countries has been testing the ship off Denmark since Queen Margrethe christened it in 2004.
Don't believe that innocent act for a moment. Viking blood runs strong! (Original post here about the Stallion of the Sea. Pictures of it are linked there.)
These brave men have my respect and my admiration. What they intend isn’t easy, and it isn’t fun.
These guys are going to learn a lot about themselves and about the kind of men their ancestors were. But mostly they’re going to learn what it’s like to be bored, wet, cold, sick, and scared to death. And, they’ll also learn what it’s like to test themselves in ways most men can’t even imagine. I’d like to go along.
The Irish should be grateful. Their boggy little island wasn’t worth spitting on until the Vikings came and started building towns like Dublin, Waterford and Limerick. We also generously donated large quantities of genetic material, making the Irish better looking.
I figured you’d comment on this one, Lars!
Yes, everybody knows about how Europe overflowed with Viking seamen, er, well, however you spell it.
Lars neglected to mention several other of the Vikings contributions to the Irish: a penchant for strong drink, affection for red-headed women, a love of music and poetry, and a marked tendency to fiestiness.