The sea serpent Jormungand arches its back over the entrance to Viking Wetworld on the museum’s wharf. It looks as if Jormungand is talking with the red lightship called Carpentaria which is on display tied up at the museum beside Viking Wetworld.
Jormungand, the sea serpent in Norse mythology grew so large that it encircled Midgard (the earth). The Vikings believed it lived at the bottom of the ocean, a force to be feared and respected as it held the world together.
All things Viking are happening at the museum with the stunning exhibition Vikings – Beyond the Legend, which is in its last days and closing on 2 February 2014.
Below are some behind-the-scenes shots of Jormungand, the sea serpent being made here at the museum.
Jormungand’s scales go on with the use of a stencil in the museum’s workshop
Jormungand’s scales
Carpentaria is a floating lighthouse that spent most of its service life in the Gulf of Carpentaria, hence its name. It is one of four un-crewed lightships that were built at Cockatoo Island Dockyards in Sydney Harbour in 1916–1917. It stayed in service until 1985, and now it is part of the museum’s historic fleet of vessels which also includes a pearl shelling lugger and the WW11 commando raider MV Krait.
Adrienne Kabos
Designer
