Ottar

1999 - 2000

We try to force ourselves to think: " How did the Vikings do it?" Its just too easy to go and get modern tools...
Birger Andersen, boatbuilder, 2012

In 1999, work on Ottar begins, a reconstruction of the large ocean-going cargo ship from western Norway. The ship is built of heavy pine planks, and has a rounded form that gives it a high loading capacity and great seaworthiness in the North Atlantic.
Unusual and unidentifiable axe marks found by the boatbuilders on a biti are recognised by a Norwegian as "sprett-teljging". This is a special carving technique also found on the Viking Age Oseberg ship in Norway, in Norwegian stave churces and in houses from the Middle Ages, and in Denmark on the medieval 'Roskilde 5' ship.
The technique is especially used when working with pine, and requires special axes. It leaves a particular pattern of axe marks, and is different from any technique that the boatbuilders have previously used. With this technique, the axe enters the wood at a slightly obtuse angle; the boatbuilder then relaxes his arm and lets the axe bounce back out of the wood.

Building Ottar mad the boatbuilders more interested in exploring the cutting techniques and tool marks found on the original ships. We learned more about how tools can be shaped, ground and used in different ways. Today, the museum has a fine collection of copies of Viking Age axes, planes, drills, profile scrapers, knives, chisels and hammers from all over the Nordic region.