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Norwegian Vikings, Old and Not So Old

October 20, 2001

Oslo, Norway

Dear Friends and Family,

In Olso, we saw boats of intrepid Norwegian seafarers.

The oldest were in the Viking museum, where the contents of three royal Viking burial mounds are on display. The mounds were dug up about a century ago and yielded examples of royal boats and household goods from a thousand years before. The boats and some of the contents were reassembled and the display is truly remarkable.

The grandest boat honored a woman whom the museum called "The Viking Princess," although there is no record of her beyond what can be derived from the burial artifacts. Reportedly, the boat had been a functioning, seafaring vessel and material in the mound reflected the results of trade with lands far away from the Oslo valley where the mound was found. My Norwegian relatives called it trade but my Irish ancestors probably considered it plunder. I think the dichotomy between terrorist and nationalist may have always been with us.

The burial mounds included food, horses, and servants for the journey after death. There were even small boats and a small "house" included to make the royalty comfortable. This seemed much like the royal burials of Egypt but obviously much, much simpler. The Viking Princess had a remarkable cart with her. It was elaborately carved and gave some indication of just how special she must have been. And to think, she could have been a relative.

Before I started this trip, I read a book called "Farthest North" by the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen. This is a fascinating story about Nansen's quest in the mid 1890's to explore the Arctic ice cap and, hopefully, to reach the North Pole. Based on pieces of Asian driftwood he had found on the coast of Greenland, Nansen postulated that the Arctic ice cap flowed from west to east. To prove his theory, he appealed to Norwegian pride and got backing and a willing crew for the multi-year journey. In 1892 he had the ship Fram designed and built strong enough to remain locked in the Arctic ice for the drift of three to eight years.

The Fram sailed in 1893 and went east along the Russian coast as far as possible. He then headed north, straight into the polar ice cap, where it would remain locked for almost three years. Nansen's theory proved correct and the Fram did free itself from the ice in the North Atlantic. However, by this time Nansen and a crewmember had gone off on their own on an unsuccessful attempt to reach the North Pole. One of the most fascinating parts of "The Farthest North" is the record of this incredible two-man journey first north, but not to the Pole, and then south over ice, rocky islands and open seas. Nansen and his companion returned to Norway in 1896 barely a day or two ahead of the Fram and the rest of his crew. He was, and is, a Norwegian icon.

The Fram made one more trip to the Arctic and then one to the Antarctic under Roald Amundson, another intrepid Norwegian explorer, as his base for the first successful trip to the South Pole in 1911. And now, inside the Fram Museum, Marianne and I could walk on the same deck . We could see the massive frames that held out the arctic and antarctic ice. We could tour through the salon where Nansen, Amundson and brave crews gathered to record their pioneering studies of the arctic and antarctic and, apparently, play a piano tune or two. For anyone interested in true Viking sea adventure, I recommend both Nansen's book and a walk through the Fram museum.

And that's not all. Next door to the Fram Museum is the Kon Tiki Museum. I think we have all read of how Thor Hyerdahl built his balsawood raft, the Kon Tiki, and demonstrated that such a raft could make it from South America to Polynesia. Like Nansen, Hyerdahl put his money - and his life - where his theory was and made a remarkable voyage. In Oslo, the original Kon Tiki is on display along with various pieces and records from the three-an-a-half month journey on the very small vessel.

After the success of the Kon Tiki, Hyerdahl went on to try similar demonstrations, including the reed boats Ra and Ra II, with which he demonstrated that such craft could make it from Africa to South America. This time the first attempt, with the Ra, failed. Stubborn Norwegian that he was, Hyerdahl simply increased his study of ancient drawings of reed boats and produced the successful Ra II.

Ra II now rests in Oslo next to the Kon Tiki, next door to the Fram and down the road from the ships of the Viking Princess and Princes. This should be a required visit by all Norwegians or by anyone who has a love of the sea and ancient seafarers.

Take care. Write and remember that explorers can't always write back but they do want to make it home again.

John and Marianne

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Created October 28, 2001

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