History Museum : Viking Exhibition

29 July 2017 

The museum hunt continues to History Museum. It is free entry. I decided to go because there was a Viking exhibition going on and there is a free tour guide too. So, why not? By the way, the 2nd photo is the doorknob or door handle of the museum. I like to look at door knobs in museums or old buildings. They are different. And oh, ceilings too! 

There was a Viking activity going on outdoors. It was a sunny summer. I got to try a type of bread  (made on the spot) made in the Viking era, put on a heavy helmet to look like a Viking-wannabe but forgot to put on the chainmail, tried archery and realised how weak my arms are, saw traditional chess which I did not understand its instructions because it was in Swedish (can't read Swedish then), and sat on a Viking boat where I got my self-timer camera to take my picture. 

My free Viking tour starts now. What I have learnt from David, the guide who is also an archaeologist, is that Viking is a profession, a job. Only 2% of the people are Vikings during that era because it was expensive to build boats which tells that only the Elite can become Vikings. The perception that Vikings wear horned helmets are untrue. This started from an opera show in the 19th century where the producer wanted to depict the Viking as evil and created horned helmets to portray that image. The Viking job died because the Vikings become Christians (from their pagan beliefs) and among the 10 commandments said - thou shall not steal, thou shall not kill. 

David is standing next to a rune stone that illustrates on the resurrection of Christ. He read the characters and I thought that archaeologist is such a cool job!

This is how a burial boat looks like for the man. They even buried their pets (i.e dog or horse) together with them. If you scroll down my post, you can see a skeleton of a horse and there is a hole in its skull where the horse is being struck by something to kill it. 

This is for the lady. The lady of the house is buried with the house key to signify her importance in the family. And the house key is huge in those days. Scroll down my post to see how big and ancient their house key is.