This Viking Longship Crossed the Atlantic Before Starring in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ as Odysseus’ Greek Galley

Hollywood stars including Matt Damon went to rowing camp to learn how to operate the vessel for the new film

Sonja Anderson | Daily Correspondent

July 16, 2026 4:27 p.m.

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In Christopher Nolan’s new film adaptation of the Odyssey, Calypso is played by Charlize Theron, Odysseus by Matt Damon, and his ancient Greek sea vessel by Draken Harald Hårfagre—a completely functional Viking longship.

The wooden ship, commissioned by Norwegian entrepreneur Sigurd Aase, is about 115 feet long and 25 feet wide and equipped with square sails and 50 long oars. Most importantly, it can actually traverse the sea—a necessity for Nolan’s loyalty to practical effects.

“There is something on board that cannot easily be faked: the weight of the oak, the sound of the rigging, the movement of the sail, the crew working together in real wind and water,” Emanuel Persson, Draken’s CEO and expedition director, tells Artnet’s Min Chen. “When you put a real ship in real conditions, it brings a different kind of truth to the image.”

Boats play a hefty role in the Odyssey, the epic poem written by Homer and dated to the eighth century B.C.E. It tells the story of Odysseus, Greek king of Ithaca, who fights in the Trojan War. After the Greeks destroy Troy—with the legendary Trojan Horse trick—Odysseus and some 600 of his countrymen load onto 12 ships, aiming for home. But Odysseus’ route to Ithaca is interrupted and blown off-course many times, sending him on a 10-year tour of islands and seas.

According to legend, the Trojan War was fought in the 12th or 13th century B.C.E. Art depicting Odysseus’ journey often shows the king and his men aboard long, wooden boats equipped with oars, one tall mast and a square sail.

In need of a setting for the Odyssey’s seafaring scenes, Nolan recruited the Draken. Though it is built in the style of the medieval Vikings, the longship proved visually similar enough to ancient Greek boats to be cast in the film.

“We needed something wooden-hulled, built with ancient technology that could be out there in open ocean water, in giant swells,” Nolan tells the Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan. “And the Draken has crossed the Atlantic.”

Scenes were actually shot on board, with the longship rocking in the water. “I don’t have to pretend I’m on a boat,” recalled Zendaya, who plays the goddess Athena in Nolan’s film, in a behind-the-scenes interview. “I’m on the boat, you know? Like, we are at sea.”

The Draken is composed of overlapping oak planks, tar, iron, hemp and silk. In 2016, the ship sailed from Norway to North America, crewed by 32 sailors.

Persson tells Artnet that Draken’s long voyages allowed him to grasp its “technology as a living system”—a machine of many moving parts that the crew must work together to steer. Persson and his fellow ship operators educated Nolan’s production team about the ship’s movement, sail, rig and oars.

The Odyssey | Fantastic Voyage

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“From our perspective, the most important thing was that the Draken was treated as a real vessel,” Persson tells Artnet. “She has her own character, limitations and strengths, and when you respect that, you get something much more powerful than decoration.”

Indeed, during the filming of the Odyssey, the ship’s crew handed the oars to Hollywood stars. As Damon tells the Associated Press’ Lindsey Bahr, “We went to a rowing camp. We had to really move this hundred-ton ship. That’s not a standard acting job, right? You’re playing a role, but you’re also really serving a real purpose on the ship and moving it around.”

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Sonja Anderson is a daily correspondent for Smithsonian magazine who covers art, archaeology and culture, from newly discovered artifacts to the latest art heists.