(For voyage and event details click on "Schedule" on menu near bottom of this page.)
(The Fyrdraca depicting Arthur's funerary ship sailing to Avalon in The Quest for King Arthur on The History Channel, June 2004)
The Longship Company, Ltd. is a non-profit educational organization devoted to increasing understanding and knowledge of the medieval life, culture, technology, seafaring, and exploration of the northerrn Europeans known as Vikings, and those with whom they came into contact. (We are an all volunteer organization -- the "Company" in our name refers to a ship's company of its officers and crew.)
(Sae Hrafn under sail November 2006)
Central to the activities of the Longship Company are authentic reconstructions of Viking ships. The Sae Hrafn (Sea Raven), is a 39' (12m) class B tall ship which is based on similarly sized coastal raiding and defense vessels (i.e. Skuldelev V & Ralswiek/Rugen II ), with the sweeping lines of the classic longships. She was launched in September 2005. The Sae Hrafn replaced the Fyrdraca ( Fire Drake), a lap-strake, 32' (10m) class B tall ship based on a 9th century warship excavated in Germany, which had been the organization's primary vessel for nearly 25 years before she was retired. The other vessel currently in use is the Gyrfalcon - so named for the hunting falcons of the far northern regions. It is based on the small, 21' (6.5m), faring boat found in the Gokstad Viking ship burial, and serves primarily as a teaching tool easily transportable overland for exhibits, educational demonstrations, and historical reenactments. In addition to the activities of sailing, maintaining, and exhibiting/demonstrating the vessels, the Longship Company participates in living history events, contributes to ongoing international archaeology-by-experiment efforts relative to medieval seafaring and technology, produces educational materials, and supports artistic and scholarly efforts related to the Vikings and their era. In the manner of a Scandinavian smorgasbord-style feast, Longship Company members can partake of all those activities, or pick and choose among them.
(Local college students aboard the Sae Hrafn, 2007, examining a Viking navigation device for maintaining course on a line of latitude, one of
several reconstructed by Longship Company members based on archaeological finds from Greenland and the Baltic area)
In recent years the organization has taken part in an international gathering of replica and reconstruction Viking ships at the Norse archaeological site at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, participated in several parades of tall ships in the harbors of the Mid-Atlantic region, served as consultants to the Smithsonian Institution and the New York Museum of Natural History, provided a Viking exhibition for the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, DC, and produced a video adaptation of the medieval poetic account of the Battle of Maldon. Pushing a bit beyond both ends of what is usually considered the classic Viking age for filming of a 2004 History Channel program, "Quest for King Arthur", on the historical basis of, and the later romantic legends about, King Arthur, the Fyrdraca underwent a temporary makeover to become a 6th century Saxon ship. Later, converted back to its more usual appearance, the Fyrdraca became a funerary ship for the Arthur of legends set in late medieval times in which the three mysterious women carried his body off to Avalon, in some stunning sunset shots which were also used to depict the flight of Celts to Brittany. Even further beyond the Viking age, a few of our members and the Gyrfalcon portrayed the reputed landing of the 1398 Sinclair/Zeno expedition in Nova Scotia, for a May 2006 History Channel program -- the Scottish craft in use as ships' boats and general rowboats in that era having been almost identical to Norse boats such as the Gyrfalcon.
(The Fyrdraca depicting a 6th century Saxon ship invading Britain, in The Quest for King Arthur on the History Channel, June 2004)
Some of the members of the organization have attended courses at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark on the history, operation, and preservation of single-square-sail ships. Other members have contributed articles on various aspects of Norse history and technology, as well as the Longship Company's efforts to increase understanding of medieval sailing vessels, to journals and magazines around the world. Closer to home, some of those involved pursue traditional Norse techniques and/or styles of blacksmithing, woodworking, textile arts, etc., and lend their expertise in these areas to the activities of the Longship Company. (A few of our members have also been seen explaining and demonstrating medieval blacksmithing and wood working tools and techniques in the History Channel's "Tool Box" series segments.) In any given week some members may be lecturing at a school, museum, or cultural festival; others taking part in living history reenactments of medieval encampments and battles and others attending a scholarly conference on historical subjects or taking an advanced Coast Guard boating course -- providing a continual two way flow of knowledge from and to the organization. Yet like the independent, free-spirited Vikings of old, this diverse group still manages to work together as a team in the formidable tasks of keeping medieval-style wooden vessels in seaworthy condition -- and in experiencing the unique thrill of moving such ships gracefully across the water by oars and sail in the same manner as would have been done 1000 years ago.
(Gyrfalcon under oars)
It is impossible to come away from even the briefest voyage on a Viking ship without a sense of connection to, and a much greater appreciation for, those medieval seafarers who ventured out in such vessels. Although operating primarily on the relatively sheltered waters of the lower Patuxent and Potomac rivers and Chesapeake Bay, Longship Company vessels and their crews experience many of the same problems and maritime dangers encountered by those who traveled in such ships in the Viking age. Even when the weather is fair and the winds favorable, sailing a longship is always a learning experience. In less ideal circumstances, such as making slow progress rowing for hours into a freezing headwind after having had to chip ice off the ship, it is an extraordinary education in the realities of medieval life and seafaring. In any event, whether out on a voyage or maintaining the vessels, there is usually no lack of exercise for one's mind and body, nor any shortage of hard working companions with an incredibly broad array of interests, skills, and knowledge.
(Sae Hrafn on shakedown voyage after first being rigged for sail, 2006)
The Longship Company, Ltd. is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in the state of Maryland and is run by a Board of Trustees. It has 501(c)(3) status, meaning that donations to the Longship Company are tax deductible under IRS regulations regarding donations to tax-exempt non-profit organizations. The Longship Company began in 1979, branching off from Markland, a Maryland medieval re-enactment group. However, in the last two decades as the Longship Company has grown and evolved, it has attracted members with a wide range of interests in, and approaches to, the various aspects of medieval European history, and particularly to the operation of oared and square-rigged ships of the period. The majority of members are from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, with additional members from the adjoining states, as well as a few in other locales as distant as Minot, ND.
If you are interested in learning more about the Longship Company or want to contact us, use the menu below (following the pictures and announcements) to access the complete website.
(Sae Hrafn -- She isn't really quite this light and well balanced -- but close...)
(interior of the Sae Hrafn,, looking aft)
The Sae Hrafn:
*Transporting the Sae Hrafn was a major logistical effort. The ship arrived in Maryland on in great shape, having turned heads all along the way. Steve Brown (SJB Delivery) of Converse, TX was the transporter who did a fantastic job for us. Contact him if you ever need someone dependable and conscientious to haul your boat or other large on-trailer cargo.
******* *******
For further information about the Longship Company, the schedule of voyages and events, how to become a member, more pictures, information on the ships, sailing, navigation, clothing, tools, etc. choose from the following menu:
SCHEDULE
ADDITIONAL PAGES AND COMPLETE MENU
JOURNAL
Call for papers/articles for a new online journal on Viking age history and square-rigged sailing vessels
****************
Want a Viking ship of your own?
Or if you don't have room for one in your garage, perhaps you'd like a smaller item of wood artistry of the Viking age?
The builder of the Sae Hrafn is an artist and craftsman working primarily in wood, and specializing in reproductions of items from the Viking era. Further information can be found at
RAVENKRAFT.COM
*****************
Your support is needed
If you can help with a donation of machinery or tools useful in maintaining wooden vessels, materials such as hardwood lumber, leather, fur, wool fabric, etc. suitable for use on the vessels or in making related reconstructions of medieval items), property (e.g. occasional use of a dock/slip and/or shore property on the Patuxent or Potomac or further up the Chesapeake Bay), or with a financial donation, please contact us.
Contact us to make a donation Donations to the Longship Company are tax deductible.Viking raiders, Viking traders, Viking merchants, Viking explorers, Vikings in North America, Viking exploration, Norse colonization of North America, transatlantic, Norse sagas, Icelandic sagas, Greenland, ( Did Vikings wear helmets with horns? No! ) sunstone, Viking navigation, medieval exploration, Viking weapons, medieval warfare, Viking women, Viking princess, Norse religion, Battle of Malden, ToolBox, Winland Wineland Vinland the Good, Helluland, Iceland, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Orkneys, Shetlands, Faeroes Faeroe Islands, Denmark, Danes Danelaw Danegeld Rus Varangians, Whiteman's Land Whitemans Land Great Ireland Odin Thor, Ynglinga saga, the Ynlinga saga tells of Odin and his followers coming from the area of the Don River in Ukraine and Southern Russia, Norway, Sweden Thule, Scotland, Hebrides, Isle of Man, Manx, Norman, Normans, Battle of Hastings, 1066, Norsemen Northmen Vikng Vikngs Vking Vkings longshp lngship North Atlantic, North Sea, sailing a Viking ship, rowing a longship, rowing a Viking ship, steering a longship, steering a viking ship, rigging a longship, rigging a viking ship, repairing a longship, repairing a viking ship, building a longship building a viking ship building viking ships Viking ship available for filming movie set stock photos of viking ships video replica viking ship reproduction viking ship , Viking ship similar in design to Cossack chaika Kozak chaika