LADBY SHIP

Where?   Funen, Denmark

What?     Buried Viking boat that once carried a king

HE MUST have been distinguished indeed, to be buried in such style. No coffin carried this Viking chieftain into the afterlife. For him, a great warship – almost the length of a blue whale – served as a sarcophagus, with a wealth of treasures for his final voyage stashed inside: food and drink, jewellery and weapons, sacrificial dogs and horses. The send-off would have been spectacular: a lengthy bacchanal of feasting and chanting, dancing and trances, maybe sacrifices, suicides, sex. And then, the whole precious pyre would have been set alight, sending a thick plume of smoke swirling skyward, lifting the nobleman’s spirit into the next realm, while the charred remains were piled with soil, raising a mound to his memory to last for centuries ...

For Vikings, those greatest of medieval travellers, the most significant journey of all was the last – the journey into the hereafter. To be buried in the proper way was to give the deceased the smoothest passing into either the hallowed realms of Valhalla (for the bravest warriors) or Helgafjell (for non-warriors who’d lived a good life). All Norsemen and women would be interred with their key possessions and then cremated to release their ashes directly into the heavens. But for those of highest rank, the rituals would be all the more elaborate. Such as at the ship burial of Ladby.

There are other Viking ship burials across the Norse world; many are more impressive, with fine vessels that are displayed in high-tech museums. But the one discovered near the small town of Kerteminde in 1935 is the only such site to be have been found in Denmark, and it is the only such site where the ship – or at least what’s left of it – can be viewed exactly where it was placed, over 1,000 years ago.

Ship burials are commonly found on higher ground, near water. The Ladby ship is true to form, located atop a rise by the shores of Kerteminde Fjord. In around AD 925, following the death of the King of Ladby, the ruler’s wooden ship was hauled from the water, probably with the aid of rollers, to form his tomb. Little is left of the boat, its wooden planks long since rotten away. But its outline remains imprinted in the earth, the shadow of a longship measuring 21.5 metres (70.5 feet) long and 3 metres (10 feet) wide, built to seat around 30 rowers and equipped with mast and sail. It was possibly brightly painted, as during the original excavation traces of yellow and blue pigment were found. The prow is shaped like a dragon’s head, the aft like a dragon’s tail, both with manes of decorative iron curls. Other pieces of metalwork have survived, including the original anchor and chain, the rings for the rigging and around 2,000 rivets, which indicate where the decayed planks once sat.

No Viking would be buried without their grave goods – the provisions for the afterlife that would indicate their earthly status. In the belly of the boat lie the teeth and bones of at least 11 horses as well as several dogs, which would have been slaughtered before being placed by the king. Some 600 objects were uncovered during the excavation, including a silver belt buckle, a gilded dog lead, a bronze platter, stirrups and spurs, and some kind of board game. Unfortunately, the grave appears to have been plundered at some point, with precious items stolen and the chieftain’s remains mutilated – perhaps the work of a rival clan seeking to assert their own might.

Now, the remaining treasures can be seen in a small museum, along with a reconstruction of the burial showing the chieftain laid out in a full-scale replica, surrounded by his grave goods. The ship itself remains in situ, now beneath a mound of concrete rather than earth and grass. And though rotten and crumbling, it still speaks across the centuries, an enduring symbol of Viking power.