In 1880, sons of the owner of Gokstad farm, having heard of the legends surrounding the site, uncovered the bow of a boat while digging in the still frozen ground.

[5] As word of the find got out, Nicolay Nicolaysen, then President of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments, reached the site during February 1880.

[5] With his team, he began excavating the mound from the side rather than from the top down, and on the second day of digging found the bow of the ship.

The ship was steered by a quarter rudder fastened to a large block of wood attached to the outside of the hull and supported by an extra stout rib.

The stem is carved from a single curved oak log to form the cutwater and has one land for each plank.

[11] The lowest nine planks on each side of the keel up to the around the waterline are held to the frames by the archaic method of tying using withies.

The Viking's captain, Magnus Andersen, reported that the lightness and flexibility allowed the bottom to rise and fall up to 18 mm in heavy seas without leaking and the gunwale could twist up to 15 cm out of line.

While the ship was traveling in shallow water, the rudder could be raised very quickly by undoing the fastening.

The skeleton was that of a man aged approximately forty to fifty years old, of powerful build[15] and between 181 and 183 cm (5’11" to 6') tall; his identity is unknown.

In the Viking period, weapons were considered an important part of a man's grave goods, but again, none were found in the Gokstad ship.

After thirteen years of debate regarding a possible relocation, Education Minister Kristin Halvorsen stated on May 3, 2012, that the ship would not be moved from Bygdøy.

On May 17, 1991, it was sailed by Ragnar Thorseth to North America to mark the 1000th anniversary of Leiv Eriksson’s founding of Vinland.

In May 1993, the vessel was donated to the city of Sandefjord by Knut Utstein Kloster of the Gaia Ship Foundation and this remains its home port.

Gaia also sailed to the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit via the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and North America.