The Voersaa Rudder

The journeys of the Voersaa Rudder

In the Viking Age the rudder was used for maneuvering a merchant ship that may have sailed between Denmark, Norway and Sweden. At some point the rudder ended on the seabed where it lay hidden for 1,000 years. The rudder had been covered by sand on the sea bed which is important as it has preserved the natural condition of the rudder.

One day in the early summer of 1958 Riis Sørensen, a skipper from Læsø, caught a big wooden object in his trawl while fishing approx. 2 kilometres from Voersaa. He realized that it was not just an ordinary piece of driftwood and brought the object ashore. After a few days in Læsø it was sent to Bangsbo Museum (now The Coastal Museum of Bangsbo) as a gift. Here they realized that it was an exceptionally well preserved copy of a side rudder from the Viking Age. The rudder was dated back to the middle of the 10^th century where Harald Blåtand and Knud den Store lay claim to Denmark and Norway.

The journey from Læsø to Bangsbo is only a small part of the total adventures of the rudder. In 1980 the rudder was on exhibition in both London and New York, at The British Museum and The Metropolitan Museum respectively.

In 2006 the rudder once again was lent out – this time to the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen and later to Bayeux in Normandy, France. In both places the rudder was exhibited together with the Bayeux Tapestry, which is a 70 metres long tapestry depicting the strife about the English throne. The Voersaa rudder was exhibited along with the Bayeux Tapestry because we see the same type of side rudder in the tapestry.

After many and long journeys the Voersaa Rudder returned home again. The rudder found its stationary place in the hall of the Ellingaa ship at the Coastal Museum of Bangsbo where it has been on exhibition for many years. However, new times meant new worries about the safety of the rudder. Therefore the rudder has received a new mounting which protects the rudder and communicates its history in a far better way. The new mounting of the rudder was made possible with support from the Spar Nord Foundation.