Draken Harald Harfagre Part 1

The author, wearing a very appropriate shirt to tour the Draken Harald Harfagre. #vikings #vikingship #drakenharaldhårfagre

A photo posted by Linnea Hartsuyker (@linneaharts) on Sep 20, 2016 at 12:36pm PDT

In September, the replica Viking Ship Draken Harald Harfager came to Manhattan. I went out to meet it when it came in, and later got to walk around the deck. The Draken Harald Harfager is a re-creation of a viking war ship (“draken”), and was the first re-creation made and designed by traditional boat-builders rather than archaeologists.

A beautiful day for a Viking Invasion! Draken Harald Harfagre comes to NYC. It is named after the first king of Norway, my ancestor, and a major character in The Half-Drowned King. #Vikings #vikingship #drakenharaldhårfagre

A video posted by Linnea Hartsuyker (@linneaharts) on Sep 17, 2016 at 9:10am PDT

The crew on board all had interesting things to say about what it was like to crew the ship. Many were from Norway and other Scandinavian countries, but a few were from the US and other countries. I learned that it took all hands to raise the sail and took twenty minutes, for without pulleys, the crew have very little mechanical advantage. The sail, which was silk, plus the yard, weigh over 2 tons.

Here are pictures from my tour of the deck. As soon as I got home I bought the official book about the making of the Draken Harald Harfager, which was fascinating, and which I will review in more detail in my next post later in the week.