Nov

Travels to the Past: Sweden’s Vasa Ship

by Meredith Mullins on November 5, 2019

A model of the Vasa, with full sails
© Meredith Mullins

The Shortest Maiden Voyage in History

She was as tall as a four-story building and weighed 1,300 tons.

She housed two gun decks with 64 cannons and could transport more than 450 crew members.

She was both inspiring and intimidating with her 700 intricate carvings decorating the ship.

Intricate carvings on every part of the Vasa ship
© Meredith Mullins

She was the most significant statement of power that King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden had ever created.

She was the Vasa—the mightiest warship of her time.

Inspiring and intimidating at the same time
© Karolina Kristensson/The Vasa Museum

The Maiden Voyage

The Vasa’s maiden voyage on August 10, 1628 was to be a triumph of innovation, firepower, and dominance.

The design and building process had taken two years and a hefty two percent of the total Swedish budget. She was meant to change the way of warfare, with her size and cannon power.

Alas, her legacy became history . . . in a different way.

The lion was a symbol of strength and lethal power.
© Meredith Mullins

She set sail from the Stockholm, with thousands of proud and jubilant Swedes watching (as well as a few spies from enemy Poland and Lithuania). She fired her cannons in a salute to power, and glided gracefully through the harbor.

There were no threatening icebergs that summer day, only an affable breeze, which filled the sails and sent her gently toward the Baltic.

A small gust of wind made her lean slightly, and the crowd gasped. But she righted herself, and all breathed a sigh of relief.

Two decks of gun ports—a warfare statement of power, but a tragic flaw in the end
© Meredith Mullins

Another gust of wind made her lean even further. This time, water came rushing through the gun ports. As quickly as her maiden voyage had begun, it ended. She sank to the bottom of the harbor.

In perhaps the shortest first (and last) voyage in the history of the sea, the ship was lost, along with the lives of thirty men and women. The journey had lasted only 20 minutes.

The Next Chapter

Attempts to salvage the ship were unsuccessful, but several entrepreneurs succeeded in recovering most of the valuable cannons. After that, the Vasa was forgotten.

One of the cannons that remained with the ship
© Meredith Mullins

Lost forever? No. A few attempts to find the ship over the years failed.

But, more than 325 years after that fateful day in 1628, Swedish shipwreck researcher, Anders Franzén, wrote a new chapter of history. With advanced sonar technology and a passion for locating the wreckage, he found the Vasa, more than 30 meters deep in the Stockholm harbor—a unique opportunity for travels to the past.

With several years of careful planning to protect the fragile vessel, the ship was partially raised from the sea on August 20, 1959 and fully raised on April 24, 1961—majestic even covered in mud.

Carvings of mermaids, tritons, and sea creatures survived the 300+ years under the sea.
© Meredith Mullins

Protecting the New Treasure

The ship was in surprisingly good shape. It had been preserved in the cold, brackish water and the oxygen-free mud. But, the more-than-three centuries at the bottom of the sea had taken a toll. Parts had come loose and floated away. The ship had to be rebuilt, like a complex jigsaw puzzle.

Piece by piece, the ship was reconstructed.
© Anneli Karlsson/The Vasa Museum

It also had to be protected from drying out too quickly, so the conservationists used polyethylene glycol (a chemical also found in lipstick and face cream) to keep the ship from cracking.

More than 40,000 items were found on the seabed, including 400 carvings—warriors, lions, emperors, and cherubs. Most of the original brilliant color had faded, but it was clear that the carvings represented the kingdom’s power, faith, courage, and lineage.

Research into the paint fragments has provided information on the original colors.
© Meredith Mullins

The sculptures faced both inwards and outwards on the ship to strengthen the crew’s fighting spirit and to show the world the power of Sweden. These pieces had to be assembled back into position.

Sculptures had to be placed back in position during the reconstruction process.
© Meredith Mullins

Oh I See: Preserving History

The discovery and preservation of the Vasa brought the 17^thcentury back to life—an “Oh, I See” moment of opportunity coming from tragedy.

The Vasa, for a few minutes, had been a ground-breaking floating community. Now, the ship’s remnants were providing a more in-depth picture of that era.

The clothes, food, and tools were all an important insight into life of the times. Divers found shoemaking materials, which indicated the sailors expected to have time on their hands to entertain a second trade.

Carvings often mirrored renaissance art.
© Meredith Mullins

Clothes were preserved in the cold water, showing the working class fashion of the day. And, a block of butter was recovered and now sits in the Vasa Museum freezer. No one dares to taste this nearly 400-year-old delicacy, but it’s an astounding feat of science that it exists.

Even some well-preserved skeletons were recovered, giving researchers information on what the people of the time ate and what illnesses might have been common.

Continuing research on the paints of the time enables colorful replicas
of the faded wood carvings.
© Meredith Mullins

The Work Continues

Even now, the conservation techniques continue. The Vasa museum is kept at a constant temperature of around 65 degrees F. (18.5 C) and 53% humidity. The space is unusually dark, since light would continue to degrade the wood. Even so, the ship shrinks a bit each year.

No one knows just how long this ship can be preserved. For now, we know that the Vasa Museum is a treasure—a way to travel to the past and learn from this opportunity that history has given us. And . . . it is the only museum in the world that has masts emerging from its roof and centuries-old butter in its freezer.

The Vasa Museum stands proud, with masts emerging from the roof.
© Meredith Mullins

For more information, visit the Vasa Museum.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

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Sweden/Travels to the Past

Jul

What IS That Thing?

by Meredith Mullins on July 29, 2019

It’s beautiful . . . but what IS that thing?
© Meredith Mullins

The Nyckelharpa: Rooted in Swedish Cultural Traditions

On Olov Johansson’s first journey to America, he remembers clearly that he stared into the eyes of wildness.

The Swedish musician was on his way to teach in a music camp in Mendocino— winding his way on a dusty, dark, dirt road in the California hills.

Suddenly the driver stopped the car. A mountain lion was commanding the center of the road.

Caught in the headlights, the animal stared curiously into the car for what seemed like, on this moonless night, a very long time.

“What IS that?” the mountain lion wondered.
© iStock/Ben Masters

Olov was certain that it was because the creature had never seen a nyckelharpist before. (In fact, surprisingly few people—or animals—have ever encountered a nyckelharpa.)

The mountain lion held his gaze into the car until, as Olov tells it, he had mentally checked off the nyckelharpa box. Then he wandered away, presumably to the next thing on his bucket list.

Olav Johansson with his nyckelharpa, showing the cultural traditions of Sweden. (Image © Sarah Thorén.)

Olov Johansson
© Sarah Thorén

The Art of Introducing the Nyckelharpa

Olov is a nyckelharpist—one of the contemporary Swedish masters of this medieval stringed instrument.

The instrument is not yet well known, as it is deeply rooted in Swedish cultural traditions. Only within the last 40 years has it become better known outside of Sweden.

Artistry and craftsmanship at its best
© Meredith Mullins

Olov brought the nyckelharpa to this year’s summer Bach Festival in Carmel, California, performing in two concerts featuring Nordic music.

At each event, even with a musically sophisticated audience, the phrase of the moment was “What IS that thing?”

Olov says that response is common. His band, Väsen, calls it the five-legged dog syndrome. They even thought of naming one of their tours the “What is that thing?” tour.

Oh, I see. Sometimes instruments steeped in local tradition take time to reach the rest of the world.

A 1350 stone carving of the nyckelharpa at the Källunge Church in Gotland, Sweden
© Olov Johansson

Cultural Traditions

The nyckelharpa story begins in the Uppland region of Sweden. The folk instrument is even pictured in a stone carving from 1350 on the Källunge Church in Gotland and in a painting from 1498 in a church outside of Uppsala.

Other early pictures have been found in countries outside of Sweden, but historians seem to agree that the instrument’s heritage is in Uppland. Nyckelharpas have been played and built in this region for the past 300 years.

The instrument was a central part of the dances, celebrations, and ceremonies, especially the Midsummer Festival.

Its lilting music was an integral part of the popular polska dances in the late 1600s and early 1700s, a tradition that continues into today’s Sweden.

Traditional dancing to the nyckelharpa at the Midsummer Festival in Sweden
© iStock/Falun

Careful Crafting Makes for Beautiful Music

This odd looking folk instrument has many names besides nyckelharpa. The simple name is keyed fiddle— to give people a visual clue— (or, literally translated, key harp).

The body of the instrument is made of spruce wood, often with fast and slow growing trees for different parts of the body (for softer and harder wood). The keys are made of birch, and the sides and pegs are maple. Each type of wood provides special characteristics for the sound and for the performance of the instrument.

There are also sympathetic strings, which resonate when their melody string is played. The same frequency vibrates in the bridge, and the sympathetic strings say “Hey, that’s me. I’ll join in.” This provides a resonance or reverberation that makes the nyckelharpa sound unique.

The keys, played with the left hand, operate like the frets of a guitar to change the pitch of the melody strings.

A Nyckelharpa World Champion

So, how does a young musician get interested in playing such an unlikely instrument?

For Olov Johansson, it was the clever work of a musical family. Everyone was a musician. “Family gatherings always turned into jam sessions,” Olov remembers.

When his uncle, a nyckelharpa player, had to go to the hospital for surgery, he loaned his nyckelharpa to the Johansson household. Shortly thereafter, a permanent nyckelharpa became part of the family. Olov was 14, but he knew he had found his instrument.

In 1990, the first Nyckelharpa World Championship took place in Sweden, and Olov was invited to compete. He was young and not favored to win, but the jury was awed by his talent. He became the first World Champion Nyckelharpa Player.

At the same time, his band Väsen was becoming known. It was a good start to his musical dream.

Another chapter in that dream was to find the best nyckelharpa sound.

Olov had worked in a nyckelharpa museum and had been able to play many of the historic instruments, studying what specific designs and materials worked best.

He made drawings, did research, and ultimately requested the “perfect” instrument from an expert maker in the region, Esbjörn Hogmark.

Esbjörn rose to the challenge, even selecting and chopping the trees himself for the wood and creating a prototype first to make sure the design fit Olov’s body, hands, and playing style.

The new nyckelharpa takes “the best of old knowledge and traditional design together with function, modern ideas, needs, and desires,” says Olov.

He was very moved when it was completed and presented to him. Inside, there was a tiny note that said it was a gift for his 50^thbirthday.

The Importance of Music

Music is an important part of any culture. It tells the story of a place in a way that can be understood universally. Listening to the music of a country or a region or a city forges a connection that resonates within.

Because music is so universal, it is rare that an instrument and its origins are connected strongly to one country.

The bagpipes are part of Scottish culture. The harp is part of Irish culture. The balalaika is part of Russian culture. And the nyckelharpa is part of Swedish culture.

Even though there is little debate about the nyckelharpa’s cultural traditions, it is difficult to describe its personality.

Some say its sound is haunting and celebratory at the same time. Some say it merges the past and the future.

For me, there is a Celtic feeling, with a touch of bluegrass, blending distant cultures in a modern way.

Olov says the timbre is bright and deep at the same time. The nyckelharpa has a wide sound . . . that reaches out, as if you are playing in a cathedral (when it’s in tune, he jokes).

But, most of all, especially if you are in Uppland, it sounds like Sweden.

Listen . . . and decide for yourself.

If video does not display, watch it here.

For further information, visit he websites of Olov Johansson, Väsen, the Bach Festival, and the American Nyckelharpa Association.