Ormen Friske

Ormen Friske – the Swedish Viking ship

Ormen Friske was a Swedish-built copy of the famous Norwegian Gokstad ship , a Viking ship from the 9th century that is located in Sandefjord, Norway. The copy was built in the spring 1949 at the Frisksportförbundets course center in Stensund, Södermanland , and was launched there in June of the same year.

The vessel was built according to the original archaeological drawings from the Gokstad ship but with materials and methods that were common at a small boatyard in the 1940s. Instead of oak and traditional hand-forged rivets, pine, wagon bolts, and wooden dowels were used, which gave Ormen Friske a different construction design compared to its historical counterpart.

The last voyage

After the launch, Ormen Friske took a tour of the Baltic Sea and was noted at, among other things, a sports exhibition in Stockholm. The following year, in the summer 1950 , the ship set out on a planned voyage to Europe with the aim of participating in maritime exhibitions. The ship left the mouth of the Elbe and sailed across the North Sea but encountered a sudden storm in the German Bight . During the night of June 22, 1950, the vessel broke up in rough weather and all 15 on board were declared dead – no one survived .

After the tragedy, wreckage and several bodies were found along the coast near the North Frisian Islands. Memorial stones for the deceased rest both at Stensund Folk High School near Trosa and on the island of Pellworm in Germany. A replica of such a memorial stone also stands at the cemetery by Kalmar Church in Uppland.

Ormen Friske has retrospectively become a tragic vessel and a fascinating chapter in the story of modern constructions of ancient explorations and how experimental archaeology and maritime craftsmanship can meet the harsh trials of reality.