''Odin's Raven'' is a 2/3 scale

replica A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without ...

of the

Gokstad ship The Gokstad ship is a 9th-century Viking ship found in a burial mound at Gokstad in Sandar, Norway, Sandar, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway. It is displayed at the Viking Ship Museum (Oslo), Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway. It is the largest pr ...

, which was sailed from

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Peel, Isle of Man Peel ( 'port of the Island') is a seaside town and small fishing port in the Isle of Man, in the historic parish of German (parish), German but administered separately. Peel is the third largest town in the Island after Douglas, Isle of Man, Do ...

, by a joint Manx and Norwegian crew. The project formed part of the 1979 Manx Millennium Celebrations, and was conceived and planned by local businessman Robin Bigland.

Technical details

''Odin's Raven'' is in length,

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

, and

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

, ( draft to

steering oar The steering oar or steering board is an over-sized oar or board, to control the direction of a ship or other watercraft prior to the invention of the rudder. It is normally attached to the starboard side in larger vessels, though in smalle ...

). She was built at Rød Båtbyggeri,

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

, Elingaardskilen, near the entrance to

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; ) is an inlet in southeastern Norway. The fjord begins at the small village of Bonn in Frogn, Frogn Municipality and stretching northwards to the city of Oslo, and then curving to the east and then south again. It then flows s ...

. Technical advice was obtained from Alan Binns of Hull University, who sailed for the first half of the voyage; Eric Rudstrom, a

fembøring A fembøring is an open, Clinker (boat building), clinker-built, wooden boat of the Nordland (boat), Nordland or Åfjord Municipality, Åfjord type, with similar proportions and appearance as smaller boats of the type (such as faerings). Fembørin ...

sailor; and Rolf Hansen, who had extensive experience of sailing traditional

square-rigged Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which a sailing vessel's primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars that are perpendicular (or square) to the median plane of the keel and masts of the vessel. These sp ...

boats. She is

clinker-built Clinker-built, also known as lapstrake-built, is a method of boat building in which the edges of longitudinal (lengthwise-running) hull (watercraft), hull planks overlap each other. The technique originated in Northern Europe, with the first know ...

of oak with galvanised iron fasteners, and her frames are lashed in place with nylon cord. A 20 HP motor was provided for safety reasons, but rarely used. The boat was skippered by Eddie Kaighin. Following sea trials on Oslofjord, ''Odin's Raven'' was shipped to

.Ingram, p. 43

Route of the voyage

Setting out from Trondheim on 27 May 1979, she was sailed by her crew of 16 via: *Kjorsvik *

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

*Honingsvag *

Ninian Central Platform The Ninian Central Platform is an oil platform in the North Sea. When constructed in Loch Kishorn, Scotland in 1978 the 600,000 tonne platform was the world's largest man-made movable object before being towed to its current position and sun ...

Brent oilfield The Brent field was an oil and gas field operated by Shell UK Limited. It was located in 470ft of water, in the East Shetland Basin of the North Sea, north-east of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The field was discovered in 1971 ...

Lerwick Lerwick ( or ; ; ) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred ...

Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...

Rousay Rousay (, ; meaning Rolf's Island) is a small, hilly island about north of Mainland, the largest island in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. It has been nicknamed "Egypt of the north", due to its archaeological diversity and importance. Like its ...

Sule Skerry Sule Skerry is a remote skerry in the North Atlantic off the north coast of Scotland. Geography Sule Skerry lies west of the Orkney Mainland at . Sule Skerry's sole neighbour, Sule Stack, lies to the southwest; the remote islands of Rona ...

*Sheshader Bay,

Eye Peninsula Point (), also known as the Eye Peninsula, is a peninsula some 11 km long in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The majority of Point is connected to the rest of the Isle of Lewis by a narrow isthmus, one mile in length and at one point barely 1 ...

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis () or simply Lewis () is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as if they were separate islands. The t ...

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

, Isle of Lewis *

Portree Portree (; , ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.W.H. Murray, Murray, W.H. (1966) ''The Hebrides''. London. Heinemann. Pages 154-155. It is a civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish and lies ...

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

(where the crew experienced a capsize during sailing evolutions for the camera) *

Kyle of Lochalsh Kyle of Lochalsh ( , "strait of the foaming loch") is a village in the historic county of Ross & Cromarty on the northwest coast of Scotland, located around west-southwest of Inverness. It is located on the Lochalsh peninsula, at the entranc ...

* Tobermory *

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

Gulf of Corryvreckan The Gulf of Corryvreckan (from the Gaelic ''Coire Bhreacain'', meaning 'cauldron of the speckled seas' or 'cauldron of the plaid'), also called the Strait of Corryvreckan, is a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba, in Argyll a ...

Port Ellen Port Ellen () is a small town on the island of Islay, in Argyll, Scotland. The town is named after the wife of its founder, Walter Frederick Campbell. Its previous name, ''Leòdamas'', is derived from Old Norse meaning "Leòd's Harbour". Port E ...

Islay Islay ( ; , ) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll and Bute just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's cap ...

(where she was met by HM Submarine ''Odin'') *

Portpatrick Portpatrick is a village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the historical county of Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway. The parish is about in length and in br ...

Mull of Galloway The Mull of Galloway (, ; ) is the southernmost point of Scotland. It is situated in Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, at the end of the Rhins of Galloway peninsula, also being the most southerly hill. The Mull has one of the last remain ...

, arriving at

on 5 July 1979 (

Tynwald Day Tynwald Day () is the National Day of the Isle of Man, usually observed on 5 July (if this is a Saturday or Sunday, then on the following Monday). On this day, the Island's legislature, Tynwald, meets at St John's, instead of its usual meeti ...

). As well as being followed by a film crew for BBC TV, the story of the project and the voyage was recorded in a book by Michael Ingram "The Voyage of Odin's Raven".Ingram, Op. Cit.

Museum exhibit

''Odin's Raven'' is displayed as a museum exhibit at the

House of Manannan The House of Manannan is a museum in Peel, Isle of Man, Peel in the Isle of Man. It is named after the "great mythological sea god" Manannán mac Lir, Manannan and covers the island's Celtic, Viking, and Maritime history. History The museum is ...

in Peel, in the former

Peel railway station Peel Railway Station ( Manx: ''Stashoon Raad Yiarn Phurt ny h-Inshey'') was a terminus on the Isle of Man Railway; it served the town of Peel in the Isle of Man and was the final stopping place on a line that ran between the city of Douglas an ...

References

Books

* {{refend

External links

Website for Rød Båtbyggeri
''roedbaatbyggeri.no'', Accessed 25 November 2018) 1979 ships Individual sailing vessels Rowing boats Ships built in Fredrikstad Replicas of Viking ships Ships preserved in museums