Monday, 13 August 2012

Vikings at St Katharine Dock

Vikings in LondonHelge Ask Viking warshipViking ship Helge Ask, Lego Windmill and Dicken's Inn, old warehouse"Dragon head" on reconstructed Viking shipDemonstration Rowing (use back not arms)Stern with steering oar
Prow and instructionMuseum info boardRoskilde Ship Museum on tourVisitors to Helge Ask reconstruction Viking Royal BargeDanes take over St Katharine DockLego Models
Pink Pig, Lego Wind Turbine at Dickens Inn (former warehouse)

Vikings at St Katharine Dock, a set on Flickr.

As part of general Olympic fun, along with Lego and Pink Pigs, the Danes brought over the Helge Ask, a replica of the Skuldelev-5, Viking longship. This small vessel was thought to be for fast coastal defence and had a crew of 30.

Viking Ship Museum - Helge Ask

  It underlines tho' an important north-sea connection and the Thames maritime role. The boat dates from around 1040, near to the death of King Canute (Cnut the Great) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnut_the_Great  and to around the time the Vikings were expelled from the towns they founded in Ireland by Brian Boru http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Boru

As a consequence of both the conquest of |England by Canute, and expulsion of Vikings from Ireland, the Danish and Norwegian influence in Britain increased (Canute also held the Isle of Man, Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland). The influence can be seen in placenames (eg force = waterfall) and archaeologically by "Hogsback Graves" and/or stones decorated with Ringerike-style decoration  such as the slab found near St Paul's below

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