It was constructed in accordance with Árnason's enlarged full-scale drawing of Sun Voyager and was overseen by his assistant, the artist Kristin E. Hrafnsson.
The engineering of the sculpture was supervised by the technologist Sigurjón Yngvason, in close cooperation with Árnason himself, the construction was carried out by Reynir Hjálmtýsson and his assistant.
I have discovered the history of their migration to Iceland, which runs as follows: Many centuries ago, a mighty warlord, let’s say it was Alexander the Great, was living in the centre of the known world.
He dispatched his bravest and most experienced warriors, along with some women, scribes and other followers, on an exploratory expedition to the cardinal directions, the north, west, south, and east, in order to discover and conquer new, unknown territories.
I remember endless pine forests, mountains and waterfalls, lakes, islands, rivers and seas before we eventually reached the ocean.
As a result of this vivid experience of my participation in this expedition while on the island of Bockholm in the Finnish archipelago, I carved a picture of a sun ship into a granite rock by the sea.
Árnason's original idea had been for the ship to be placed on Landakot hill, the prow facing the centre of Reykjavík and the stern to Christ the King Cathedral (Icelandic: Landakotskirkja).
In the end, the final decision was taken (with Árnason's consent) that Sun Voyager should be located on Sæbraut on a small headland (which the artist jokingly called Jónsnes: Jón's Peninsula).
Its irregular form with the ever-flowing lines and poetic movement which are a distinctive feature of so many of his works make it seem as if the ship is floating on air.