Icelandic sages tell us that human sacrifices
were lashed to the ground over which launching rollers would travel as a ship
made its way from land to sea for the first time. More commonly, the blood
of animals was used to christen a ship, the animals being sacrificed to the gods
to invoke their protection. In medieval times a bottle of red wine was
substituted for the animal blood, and later champagne was used because it was
more expensive than red wine. The Japanese custom is to release a flock of
doves when a ship is launched.