The Kanhave Canal, Samsø

Not all of the important Viking Age monuments were built during the reign of Harald Bluetooth; one very large Viking-era complex can be seen on the island of Samsø: a manmade canal across the island, constructed in the year 726. The canal bisects Samsø from Stavns Fjord in the east to Mårup Vig in the west. Stavns Fjord fulfils all the requirements a king might have for a natural gatheringplace for the fleet. In the written sources, we read that Samsø occupied a position of importance for the Royal House, due to its geographical location in the country. The canal is 500m long and 11-14m wide. Along its sides were bulwarks made from wooden planks, which have been dendrochronologically dated to between 724-29. The canal did not quite reach all the way to the sea on the west side, so here the ships had to be pulled over land, but this was still much faster than sailing south or north around the island. The idea of the canal was to create a shortcut for the fleet, but archaeological traces of ship maintenance have also been found, so it may be assumed that it also served as a harbour facility. There are no indications that trade took place here – this was purely a military harbour. The canal was designed to accommodate boats of the snekke type – a small, lightweight kind of vessel mostly used as a warship. At the site, you can see a model of this ship type. There are still lots of place-names all over Denmark which include the word "snekke" – places where there may have been a harbour in the Viking Age, or where they kept a watch for snekke-boats. Just south of the Kanhave Canal was an ancient burial mound called Snekkehøj. The canal was only in use during the 700s; after that it fell into disrepair and silted up. Samsø is associated with one of the Danish kings, Angantyr, from the beginning of the Viking Age. According to one written source, the missionary Willibrord visited him around 710 to try to convert him to Christianity, but without success – which may be why the missionary wrote that “he was more savage than any beast and harder than stone.” According to Saxo, Angantyr and his 11 brothers fell in battle on Samsø in 728 – just around the time the Kanhave Canal was being dug.