The Vikings are here (again)!

I recently visited the 'Vikings: life and legend' exhibition at the British Museum. It was with a bit of mixed feelings that I went to this exhibition.  Being Danish myself it was my ancestors who were the barbarians who pillaged, plundered and raped when they came to England. The exhibition tries to explain and show that the Vikings were so much more than cruel invaders of England.

The exhibition was opened by the Danish Queen Margrethe in March.

It takes place in the new Sainsbury Gallery that had to have its doors adjusted to welcome the large Roskilde 6 ship from Denmark. Unfortunately less than 20% of the timber remains from this ship and there is a new metal frame showing its original size. Even though this was the largest Viking ship ever  found in Scandinavia -  37-meter long, I think that it would have been nicer to have a whole ship on display.

There is a large display of items that were used in the daily life of a Viking, and also a large number of items that were worn on special occasions and by the very rich. The Vikings were very fond of “bling” and the jewellery and decorative items were worn by women and men alike. One of my favourite things from the

exhibition was the necklace found in Tissø in Denmark, made from solid gold and weighing an impressive 2.5 kg.

I have visited a number of museums in Denmark and Sweden with Viking items, but I still had some take-away from this one. The exhibition explains how the Viking art was influenced by all the countries they visited from Russia to the Muslim world. There is a display that shows how the Vikings used Muslim coins for jewellery. But from objects found in England it is very obvious that the Vikings also influenced the cultures that they visited and where they settled. This was absolute a new part of history for me.

Furthermore their religious beliefs are nicely explained in the London exhibition. During the Vikings era the Scandinavians went from cherishing  the Nordic Gods to becoming Christians. The influence of Christianity is also shown in the Viking art. This is evident in the replica of the 10th century Jelling Rune Stone that depicts a standing Jesus but without the cross.

There is also a display that shows how the Vikings influenced the English language in many ways.

Did I leave the exhibition feeling less humble and embarrassed to be a descendant of the Vikings? Well not really. But may be that is just me….

Bonus info: Did you know that there was never evidence found that the Vikings were using helmets with horns? This image was a misunderstanding from the 19th century when artists pictured Vikings with helmets with horns.

The exhibition closes on 22nd June 2014.

Written by Marianne Sloth, who is  FOCUS Director of Marketing. Marianne is Danish and has lived in London for 4 years.



For more information about FOCUS visit:  www.focus-info.org