Oslo: Vikingskiphuset … the Vikings

Friday, 15 July (Part II)

Across the street from the Frammuseet is the Kon-Tiki Museum where Thor Heyerdahl’s balsa-wood raft of the same name and reed boat Ra II are displayed.  Though the museum was not on our list, we figured it’s proximity made it worth a quick look-see.  Didn't happen.  Seeing the packed-like-sardines conditions inside, we made an about face seconds after walking through the door.  So, we moved onto what was on our agenda instead.

Hopping on the #30 bus, we went to the Vikingskiphuset (Viking Ship House [or museum]).  The ride was short — would have been even shorter had we not gotten on the bus going in the opposite direction!  Oh well; we got a private tour of a small portion of Bygdøy before the bus dropped us off in front of the museum.

(A note about the website link inserted above: the list in the sidebar links to pages in Norwegian; click the British flag for the translated version.)

The parking lot was crammed with busses and cars, and it was quite crowded inside.  Watching the action from the balcony of the entrance hall, it looked like visitors came in waves and there were moments when one could see the ships without a crush of people around them.  So, we paid the NOK60 (~ $10/person) admission fee and waded in.  We’re so glad we did; the price of admission was absolutely worth the treasures we found inside.

The museum is home to three Viking ships and the artifacts found in the burial mounds for the same.  It wasn’t until the third ship — also the best-preserved — was excavated in 1904 that plans were made to build a special museum to display the finds.  Construction began in 1926 and was completed in 1957 with the addition of the last wing, giving the museum its current cross shape.  The Oseberg ship (photo to the right), which was the impetus for the museum, is prominently displayed in the center axis, giving visitors a first glimpse that can only be described as a jaw-dropper.

I’m going to break this post into two sections — this one to provide a little background on the Vikings; the next one to describe the museum visit itself.

The banners at the museum’s entrance provide brief information about the Viking Age, which lasted from 800 to 1050 AD, a period during which Norsemen were considered to be the lords of the seas.  Much of the information that follows is from those banners.

From Scandinavia, the Vikings sailed west over the North Sea to the British Isles
and thence over the Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland, and North America.  Others sailed
south down the coast of Europe and entered the Mediterranean, and still others
sailed east down the great rivers of Russia to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
[photo from one of the banners]

The Vikings came from Scandinavia — from the countries that are now Norway, Sweden, and Denmark (below; center photo).  These countries show great variation in their landscape, climate, and agricultural conditions.  In good farming country, crops and animal husbandry were the main means of livelihood, while in other parts, people relied more on hunting and fishing, which were profitable activities.  Considerable quantities of iron were also produced in the Norwegian mountain hamlets, and found a market both at home and abroad.

The Vikings were excellent shipwrights and sailors.  Their ships were fast and well built, and suitable for long sea voyages.  This enabled them to make long journeys over most of the northern hemisphere.

Though Norsemen sacked and looted churches and monasteries and whole towns, plunder and conquest were not the only reasons why the Vikings took to the seas.  Many of them journeyed abroad in order to trade, and others to find a new country in which to settle.  As merchants, they sold their goods in towns and marketplaces, and established trading colonies in Ireland and Russia.  Many settled down as farmers in the lands they invaded.  They settled in Iceland and Greenland and were the first Europeans to reach North America.

The museum’s three Viking ships — from Oseberg, Gokstad, and Tune — were all found in burial mounds in the Oslo Fjord area (right; top photo).  Excavated between 1867 and 1904, they were built during the 9th Century AD, and later used as burial ships for wealthy men and women.  In the Oseberg ship lay a woman and her slave girl, who had been buried in about 850 AD.  Each of the other two ships held a man; they were both buried in about 900 AD.

The dead were placed in a burial chamber which was erected in the stern of the ship (right; center photo).  They were buried with a good supply of food and drink, horses and dogs, and both useful and decorative objects.  When the three ships on display at the museum were excavated, the graves were found to have been robbed, and the jewelry, weapons, gold, and silver were gone.  The objects made of wood and cloth were left behind.   Because the ships had been buried in blue clay and covered with stones, clay, and turf, these items were well-preserved.

(Click either of the photo strips and select XL from the size options at the top to see the details.  The images were photographed from the banners in the entrance hall.)

And so, armed with some background information, let’s visit the museum …