A long black boat, floating a red flag with a large black raven upon it, glided through the fjords and out to the open sea. At its prow stood a dragon’s head; at its stern was the animal’s tail. Along its sides, which looked like the body of a huge beast, were rows of big round shields painted red, black, and white. Behind those shields, on each side of the long boat, sheltered from the sprays of water, sat forty men who rowed the boat.

So the old ship of the sea kings which now stands in the museum had glided in the long, long ago.

Those old kings of the seas who sailed such boats are sometimes called Vikings. They got that name from the waterways which are now called fjords, but which were called viks in the early days. The Northmen who kept their boats along the viks were called Vikings.

Nearly every Northman in those early days had a boat. They needed boats to go about on the fjords, but they also loved the open sea and sailed out upon it. Finding the material with which to make a boat was an easy task, for many great trees grew on the mountainsides of their lands.

Some of the ships that sailed on the seas reached the shores of other lands. In those lands the Vikings saw shining gold and silver and sharp weapons of bronze. The Northmen had no such treasures in their land. After hearing about such riches, the Vikings were not content without them. Some of the braver ones said, “We will sail our boats to those lands and take the rich treasures for ourselves.”

So the Vikings became sea rovers, or pirates, as sea robbers are often called. Those early Vikings believed that the riches of the world belonged rightly to the people who were strong enough to take them for themselves.

During the long winters, the Vikings stayed at home. In the daytime, they mended their boats, or built new boats. In the evenings they gathered around the feast table and listened to tales of adventures at sea. But when the warm days of sunshine came, they hastened to plant their crops and then to sail away to rob their neighbors.

The Vikings had no instrument with which to tell the direction they were sailing. They had no glasses through which to sight land. They took big birds, called ravens, with them on their boats to help them. When they wanted to find land, they would turn loose one of the birds. The raven would fly to land. By following the bird, the seamen too found land.

When one of the dragon-like ships came near the shores of another land, the people on the shores were filled with fear. Sometimes they tried to keep the robbers from landing on their shores. Then the Vikings would get their battle axes and their shields and fight their way into the land. They were cruel fighters. Often they left whole towns in ruin—people dying, and homes and crops in flames. For years the Vikings kept up their life as sea robbers.

After a time, some of the Vikings thought, “We will take our families and build new homes for ourselves in the rich lands we have visited.”

So Viking boats sailed away from the northland carrying whole families. Some went to nearby lands where the English live. Others went to live on lands that belong to the French. But many others sailed farther away and built homes on an island which is called Iceland. Other families followed them to Iceland. Before many years there were more than a thousand Vikings living on the island.

Some of the Vikings who had gone to live in Iceland still liked to sail the seas. Stories say that one of them, a very daring seaman called Lief Ericsson, sailed and sailed a very long way from his home. He found a land with many green trees and green grass and grapevines loaded with fruit. Lief called the land Vinland because of the grapes. But now people believe that the shores which Lief Ericsson found were really the shores of our land, America. Lief’s voyage to Vinland was made about five hundred years before Columbus found the new world.

Some people have said, “The story that Lief Ericsson found America cannot be true. A Viking ship could not have crossed the big ocean.”

But there was still a “Viking” living in Norway. He was a young Captain Andersen. He believed that the old Viking ships could cross the ocean. Even as a boy he had dreamed of how fine it would be to cross the ocean in a real Viking ship like those of the old Viking days.

About the time Captain Andersen was dreaming his dream, one of the old Viking ships which now stands in the museum was found buried deep under ground. Captain Andersen saw that ship. A few years later, the young captain heard of a World’s Fair to be held in Chicago, a city in America. Then he got an idea. He thought, “I’ll build a ship that will be a true copy of the old Viking ship—I’ll build it the same size as that old ship and will sail it with the same equipment across the Atlantic Ocean to America. I’ll sail the ship through the waters of North America to Chicago and show it to the visitors at the World’s Fair.”

And the young captain set about the task of building the ship. Of course he had difficulties. He had to have money, but he got it. Finally the ship was built. It was named the Viking and Captain Andersen was made its commander.

The Viking set sail on April 30, 1893, with a crew of twelve men. On June 13, it reached America. Captain Andersen’s dream had come true.

The Viking was taken to Chicago. Thousands and thousands of visitors at the World’s Fair saw the old ship.

The Viking was left in Chicago. It still stands under a shelter in Lincoln Park. On the old ship is a message which says that the ship came across the ocean under its own sails. It came to carry a message of good-will to the people of the United States of America.