The Viking Ship

The Viking Ship

America, burial, Canada, J.O. Dawdson, Leif Eiriksson, Leif Ericson, Gokstad, grave goods, Morning Bulletin, Norsemen, Norway, QLD, Queensland, recreation, replica, Rockhampton, ship, ships, boat, ship, vessel, Viking, vikings

An article on page 3 of the Rockhampton, Queensland newspaper, Morning Bulletin on January 31, 1894. The article by J.O. Dawdson acts as a popular history of Norway during the Viking Age. It provides the meaning of the term ‘Viking’ (inlet-men) and how they were pirates, although it notes that at the time piracy was also common in other regions. The article also, somewhat speculatively, describes the training of young Norsemen in sailing and the use of weapons. Much attention is given to the ship burial of the Gokstad ship which had been excavated in 1880, with the ship, skeleton, and grave goods all described in some detail. The article also mentions the claim that Leif Eiriksson/Ericson was the first European to reach America (specifically the east coast of Canada), and that a replica of the Gokstad ship had been built (The Viking) and sailed to America in 1893, proving that the voyage was possible. The article concludes by noting that unlike the first Vikings to reach America, the replica ship was met by welcoming crowds, and that the new iron warships in the harbour with the Viking ship were ‘greater and more terrible than the viking ever dreamt of’. The discovery of Viking artefacts at L’Anse-aux-Meadows on Newfoundland, Canada in 1960 proved that Vikings had reached America.

Anon.

National Library of Australia

The Bulletin

31 January 1894

No Copyright

PDF; Newspaper Article

English

PDF; Newspaper Article