Learning by doing … and Vikings
We often learn best by doing things. We need knowledge and data but we need to do something useful with it too. If we don’t act on our knowledge, we limit our learning. A recent visit to the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde highlighted that learning by doing teaches us more.
The last stop on our trip to the Baltic and Nordic countries was Denmark. The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde is a short train ride from Copenhagen. It houses 5 Viking ships about 1,000 years old, salvaged from the fjord there. Over decades, experts have conserved the ships while gleaning knowledge. They know where they were built, their purpose, how they were built and lots of other things.
Learning what you don’t know
Importantly, the experts also knew what they didn’t know. They chose to use experimental archaeology. This involves testing hypotheses by recreating and testing objects to see which ideas about the past stand up to real-life use and what else can be learned. The experts sourced materials, studied techniques, built a boatyard and created replicas of all five ships in the museum. They then sailed them – a lot.
Expert analysis showed that the biggest ship, named Skuldelev 2, was built in Dublin in 1042. It was a 30 metre ocean-going longship so they tested the reconstructed ship – by sailing it from Roskilde to Dublin. Lack of wind, storms, space for only 3 days food and water and crew hypothermia all impacted on the plan and the plan was adapted as they met different conditions and experiences. They did make it to Dublin in August 2007, and back again the next year.
Years after the original ships were recovered, experts continue to learn more about the ships and the people who sailed them and people from all over the world come to sail the replicas and work on them. The learning is continuous, including how to maintain ships built using materials and tools from 1,000 years ago.
Key lessons
Some of the key points I noted from visiting Roskilde were:
- Planning is key to such a big endeavour but plans need to be flexible
- So many experts from different disciplines contributed to success
- A broad group of stakeholders and donors enable the work
- Initial hypotheses were often disproved and everyone is still learning
- Knowledge is shared widely and openly
- The collaborative approach has been tremendously successful
- Indulging a passion for things Viking can be educational as well as fun!
Rebuilding a 1,000 year old ship using traditional materials and tools is impressive but the real test is if it can complete a open ocean voyage. The crew couldn’t just sail and hope. They had to hug the coast and maintain provisions while waiting for the right conditions to cross the ocean. Preparation, planning and patience were just as important as the ocean voyage itself.
Our trip was a holiday but experiences like this show how much we can learn from other places and people. Closer to home in the Pacific we can learn much from the Polynesian seafarers of the Pacific who crossed far bigger distances and settled uninhabited lands. They did so in a deliberate way, informed by oral history, knowledge of winds, currents, stars, birds and the swell of the sea. Sea People by Christina Thompson is a great read.
Hague Consulting helps you act to achieve strategic success. Don’t take us sailing but we can help you stay on track on your voyages of discovery. Give us a call.
Phil Guerin, Consultant/Director, Hague Consulting Ltd. © Hague Consulting Ltd 2025. If you like this content, subscribe to our blog – it’s free! Enquiries@hague.co.nz
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