From Stockholm, Sweden, to St. Petersburg,Russia; L’AnseauxMeadows, Newfoundland, to Chautauqua Lake. The Norseman’s journey hasn’t always been smooth sailing.
The 40-foot replica Viking ship nearly didn’t get the chance to set sail on Chautauqua Lake after the 1997 GMC 3500 truck that tows the vessel caught fire in Jamestown.
That setback didn’t stop Heldegard Lindstrom, membership chairwoman and events coordinator for Leif Ericson Viking Ship, Inc., and her Viking cohorts from plundering along the shores. The group was in the area for the Jamestown Scandinavian Folk Festival, and docked at Pier Club last Friday afternoon.
Members of the group mostly come from the Philadelphia area, Baltimore and New York City, and travel with the intent of educating people about the Vikings.
“They were not just plunderers and marauders,” Lindstrom said. “They were the first to have parliament; women were allowed to own land. They were far advanced for the era in which they were living.”
Steven Clarke gets ready to launch the Norseman, a replica viking ship, Friday, July 20, 2018, at the Long Point State Park Marina. BRIAN HAYES/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
