Geirfuglen

Geirfuglen

Faroe Island seksæring built at the Viking Ship Museum boatyard, 2008

Geirfuglen was built at the Museum’s boatyard for the Museum’s Sailing Service. The boat has six pairs of oars and is rigged with a 17.5m² trapeze-shaped square-sail. Faroese boatbuilder, Hanus Jensen, built Geirfuglen together with boatbuilder Ture Møller, within the framework of the Faroese boatbuilding tradition.

The boat’s name, Geirfuglen (EN: Great Auk), refers to a type of alcid, which was known as ‘the Nordic penguin’ because it couldn’t fly. Great Auks could swim like lightning but were clumsy on land and therefore easy to catch. The were commonly eaten on ships and died out during the 19^th century.