Viking Objects
Clench Nail (NLM-2FC690)
Clench nails were used in clinker-style ship-building from the 7th century to the 15th and also for domestic purposes, in which clench nails might appear where ship timber has been reused. Clinker ship-building involved building the ship’s hull first out of layered planks attached to the keel and held together using clench nails. Clinker-built boats and ships are particularly associated with the Vikings.
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Viking Names
Hjalp
Hjalp was recorded in West Scandinavia by the time of the settlement of Iceland (c. 870-930) and is found in a Swedish place-name. The name was originally a byname from Old Norse hjǫlp ‘help’. It is also the first element of the place-name Helperby, North Yorkshire. In the twelfth century, one of Earl Rǫgnvaldr of Orkney’s ships was called Hjalp, an early example of giving ships female names.