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Monday, November 6, 2006: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2006/11/06/viking-ship.html

Town sees tourist allure in film set's Viking vessel

A town on Newfoundland's west coast is hoping a leftover movie prop will help boost tourist traffic.

An 18-metre replica of a Viking ship was built for the film production Outlander. In October, several scenes were shot near Lark Harbour, in the Bay of Islands. 

Filmmakers gave the vessel to the town after the shoot.

However, the ship will need work: the mast and sail were burned as part of a scene depicting a Viking funeral.

A large monster's head and tail that belong on the vessel's front and back are currently in storage.

The town is considering fixing up the ship and installing it at nearby Blow Me Down provincial park.

"We're thinking that would be a logical place to put it — it would benefit both the park and the town if it were placed there," said Mayor Paul Keetch.

Resident Pauline Shepherd had never seen anything like the Viking ship.

"I think it should be left here," she said. "It's a great tourist attraction for the summertime, because we do get a lot of tourists … I'm sure that will definitely be an attraction."

The replica is currently tied down and sitting on massive blocks. The town is looking at ways to protect it from snow and rain during the winter.

Outlander, a science-fiction thriller film now being shot in Nova Scotia, is about a Viking community's encounter with an alien.

The filmmakers chose the Lark Harbour area for its mountainous backdrop. The community is about 500 kilometres south of L'Anse aux Meadows, where Norse explorers briefly settled around 1000 AD.

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