Viking Ship Replica

Moorhead, Minnesota

This 76-foot-long exact replica of a Viking dragon ship, built by some Minnesotan who just couldn't let go of a crazy idea, sits at the Heritage-Hjemkomst Interpretive Center.

It's the improbable creation of Robert Asp, a junior high school guidance counselor. He dreamed of sailing such a ship from Duluth to Norway, studied Viking history and ship design, then hand-built the "Hjemkomst" in a potato warehouse. The seaworthy replica was modeled on a 9th century burial ship, pulled out of a funerary mound in Norway.

Asp managed to sail his completed dragon ship on Lake Superior, but he died of leukemia in 1980. Two years later, family members and friends proved the ship could go the distance by sailing it from Duluth to Bergen, Norway in 72 days.

The exhibit recounts the saga, worthy of a Norse legend.