610 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 



work. Ill every case tbey are cut out of one jiiece of timber. The rep- 

 resentation given (Fig, 133) is from a boat built at Kannefjord, in the 

 Kordlands Amt, about latitude 66° north. 



They Jire called ''keiper," and the same term "keiper" is found in 

 old Icelandic Sagas.' The keiper consists of a piece of wood fastened 

 to the gunwale by wooden pegs, bearing an oblique prolongation at 

 one end, and furnished with a loo]> of wickerwork rope or leather 



TPig. 134. 

 RuDDEE OK Tune Ship. 



■TiK 



el r„i 



thr(mgh which the oar is i>assed, and which ]»reyeiits its slipping out 

 of the keiper while rowing. 



Of thwarts no trace was tVmnd and their luimber can therefore only 

 be estimated from the number of ribs. 



The rudder (Fig. 134), which was found lying across the vessel, is of 

 fir; its original position had been somewhere before the sternpost on 

 the right side of the shi]). It consisted of a plank in the shape of a 

 broad oar 4 feet 7 inches long and 10^ inches wide, the lower portion 

 of which, in the middle and 7 inches from the upper edge, was provided 

 with a round hole through which it was fastened to the side of the shij) 

 by means of a rope, while its short, round upper neck was caught by a 

 grummet. A small aperture in the opposite direction of the blade was 

 made in the upper part of the neck for the tiller, which stood perpen- 

 dicularly on the flat side of the blade. The rudder was mounted with 

 iron,' to which one or more cranii^s Avere added down toward the heel of 

 the rudder. 



One of the points of especial interest is the peculiar manner in which 

 the mast was secured. A large, square hewn oaken block (Fig. 135), 

 extending in uniform length over five frame timbers and live beams, is 



Forniiia-iiiiii Srniur: Siioi'vc's E<ld:i. 



- Bergcus Bylow, ix, ]>. 18. 



