Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
Kerteminde is on Rte 165, 22km northwest of Nyborg and 19km northeast of Odense.
Buses 151 and 885 connect Kerteminde with Odense (Dkr41, 40 minutes).
Ladby
Denmark's only Viking Age ship grave, known as
Ladbyskibet
(the Ladby Ship, named
for the tiny village where it was found), is a captivating site. Around the year 925, a Vik-
ing chieftain was laid to rest in a splendid 21.5m warship, surrounded by weapons, jew-
ellery, clothing and other fine possessions. Archaeologists have ascertained that not long
after his burial the grave was plundered and the chieftain's body was removed. But what
was left behind is amazing: all the wooden planks from the ship decayed long ago, leaving
the perfect imprint of hull moulded into the earth, along with 2000 rivets, an anchor, iron
curls from the ship's dragon-headed prow, and the grinning skulls of sacrificed dogs and
horses.
The site of the find - under a turfed-over mound - gives an eerie sense of time and
place, compounded by a dimly-lit airtight chamber that holds the compelling relic. The
adult/child Dkr60/free; 10am-5pm Jun-Aug, 10am-4pm Tue-Sun Sep-May)
, does a great job re-
counting what is known of the story. It displays finds from the grave and a reconstructed
mock-up of the boat before it was interred, complete with slaughtered cattle, giving a vivid
sense of the scale and trouble taken over the burial of the chieftain.
In a neighbouring field, a group of boatbuilding enthusiasts is building a replica of
Lad-
byskibet
, using techniques from the Viking era.
Getting There & Away
By car or bike, follow Rte 315 out of Kerteminde, then the signs to Ladby. In Ladby vil-
lage, 4km southwest, turn north onto Vikingevej, a one-lane road through fields that ends
after 1.2km at the museum car park. The ship mound is a few minutes' walk along a field
path.
