The
Dragon Harald Fairhair is nearing completion in the shipyard at Vibrandsøy in
Haugesund and will soon be dragged out into the air. She will stand on the quay
to be tarred and then will be launched in June. The woodcarvers who have
designed the dragon's head have been back and are now putting the finishing
touches to their work. The dragon's head design will be kept a secret until the
ship is ready to set out on her maiden voyage at Easter 2013. There will be a
special naming ceremony that will be held then and the dragon's head will be
revealed for all to see. At the moment all you can see is the ‘tail’ design
that will sit on the stern post. For an update go to http://den.vikingkings.com/
The
Vikings themselves did not reveal the dragon's head on their ships when in their
home port or waters. It was an emblem that they preferred their enemies to see!
Jørn Olav Løset recently posted this picture and text on our Facebook page
"The carved pin from Bergen with ship stems that
has been mentioned here lately in the discussions about the weather vanes of
the Viking ships. The 25 cm long pin of densely grown juniper (no. 'einer') is
dated to origin from the 13th century. 48 ship prows in all are carved side by
side, which may depict a contemporary leidang fleet, the royal naval force,
possibly the fleet of King Hákon Hákonsson, who ruled Norway 1217 - 1263. Three
of the ships have a weather vane on top of the stem, two ships have dragon
heads, while the rest appears to have variants of pointed stems without any
decoration. One ship also carries a pennant in the foreship, a royal banner or
standard that was known as 'merki' in Old Norse. Several of the ships of king
Hákon are mentioned by name in his saga and may very well be among the ships
that are depicted on this pin. Interestingly, one of the longships in his fleet
in 1226 was named 'Draken'!"
All this
got me thinking about dragon heads and figureheads on ships. They were common
on most wooden ships of long ago, but we do not use them now. This seems a
shame as I think they give character and a personality to the ships that had
them.
On returning
from Norway I visited the Forge Studios and Art Cafe in our little village in
Allendale and what had pride of place in a new exhibition........this dragon
head !!
A dragons head by sculptor Pete Graham, inspired
by the massive stone heads that stand guard outside the National Trust’s
Wallington Hall near Morpeth in Northumberland.
Perhaps
I should think of having a figure head on my narrowboat?
A quick google on my computer found
virtually no examples of anyone who had decided to put a figurehead onto a
narrowboat on the canals.
Last
week we spent a few days on our narrowboat cruising up the Shropshire Union
Canal to Chester and Ellesmere Port. As we cruised past a row of moored
narrowboats I suddenly spotted one with a figure head......it was even a
dragons head.....though it was on the front of the cabin roof rather than on
the bow, but it still counted!
I had found a narrowboat with a figurehead!
The next
day we arrived at the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port, a wonderful
place to visit. And that is where I found it........my figurehead.......in the
museum shop.......for sale.......I thought I must have it.
It is
not very big.
It is
not on the front.
It is a
tiller pin that holds the tiller to the rudder...so it is at the stern
.
It is
now on my narrowboat....... so now my narrowboat has a figurehead.......sort
of......!!
What do
you think?
