VIKINGS. Beyond the Legend. More than 1.5 Million Visitors

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1 VIKINGS Beyond the Legend More than 1.5 Million Visitors 1

2 Table of Contents Wanderer, Warrior, Friend or Foe? Exhibition Highlights Floor Plan The Exhibition Structure Meet the Vikings Family Community / Homes Colourful and Bustling More Than Just Worship The Living and the Dead Norse Crasmanship Away on Business Over the Sea Vikings Challenging the Stereotype Museums Voices Facts and Figures The Team

3 Imprint Photography Swedish History Museum Museumspartner Cover viking vessel Copyright Australian Maritime Museum, Sydney NSW. To license the viking vessel image please contact Text Written by Stanton Warwick Ltd., London/Berlin and revised by Museumspartner Graphic Design Museumspartner 3

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7 Wanderer, Warrior, Friend or Foe? The latter, feverishly whispers the subconscious of the Western mind. Our concept of the Vikings is one of awe we perceive them as daring but dangerous, curious but usurping, conquering but introvert. Yet were the Vikings merely predators in search of prey or were they simply hunting for the unknown and influential thought? Vikings: Beyond the Legend offers a fresh, modern view on the secrets and facts behind the stereotype. The visitors will go on a fascinating journey into the Viking Age on which they will encounter the people behind the name, their gods, ethnics, traditions, artistry and domestic life to find out what the Vikings drove to embark for other shores, how they really lived and what they contributed to modern-day culture, ethnics or social behaviour. Goal The exhibition aims to overthrow outdated and wrong-headed Viking clichés to replace them with a more accurate view on Old Norse culture. 7

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9 Exhibition Highlights Bringing a diverse collection of over 500 original Viking artefacts on display, this is one of the largest Viking touring exhibitions. Viking jewellery, silverware, pottery, funeral caskets, swords, coins, game pieces, clothing, cookware, tools, a full-size funeral boat and an over 1,000 years old Viking bread loaf are synchronized to a thrilling display to immerse the visitor entirely into Viking culture. Key artefacts include a rare and intriguing cross of bronze and tin, an exceptional silver Thor s hammer pendent, an original skull of a Viking that bears evidence of trepanation, a particularly beautiful embellished iron and silver spearhead, and a true-to-scale reconstruction of the Viking ship Eik Sande with additional film footage and recordings of routes and sites of Viking journey. Young and old alike can wander through the exhibition space, explore the unseen of Viking culture and engage with original Viking artefacts in a way that transcends traditional installations. Visitors should be prepared for a vibrant symphony of light, sound, interactives and hands-on elements, combined and amplified to take them on a multisensory journey through Viking history. The latest archaeological discoveries will shed new light on the Viking Age, challenging commonly held conceptions of this key period in European history. 9

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11 Exhibition Structure Artefacts and information material are carefully grouped together as the following overall themes Meet the Vikings Family Community Homes, Colourful and Bustling More Than Just Worship The Living and the Dead Norse Crasmanship Away on Business Over the Sea Hosting venues are free to add a special local exhibition section as reference to cultural influence and environmental impact in their region. The Belt of Sources serves as an overall point of reference throughout the whole exhibition. This way meandering through the exhibition space are archaeological and written sources of information, thematically and visually connecting the exhibition s themes. Staring point is an introductory zone with general information on the exhibition and Norse saga telling. 11

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13 Meet the Vikings In the Norse sources, ordinary Viking people are referred to as Norroenar menn ( Norse men ). When introducing themselves, they would probably have used the name of the farm, estate, village or area where they lived. The word Viking was already used during the Viking Age, sometimes with reference to things people did: being out on a Viking or acted like a Viking. At other times, it seems to have referred to person s surname. Most commonly, Viking is defined as a person from Scandinavia involved in plundering, trade or colonisation. This is why, the Viking Age is o!en seen as being synonymous with Viking raids. Traditionally, the raids are shown as being conducted only by men, o!en wearing horned helmets. Although horned helmets are only igments of our modern imagination, they are probably the most well-known Viking Age stereotype. However, the mythical Viking raider is not purely a figment of imagination as long as we do not realise that most Scandinavians during the Viking Age never acted like the stereotypical Viking. 13

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15 Presentation Form A table shaped like a ship with five prows symbolises the possibilities of navigating into every direction. On the table the word Viking is engraved in large letters. Projections show pictures, illustration and maps to illustrate the Scandinavian exchange with other countries; screens for texts and showcases are on the sides of the table. Corresponding Belt of Sources Maps Start date of the Viking Age, 750 AD: Anglo Saxon Chronicle Norse sources: ordinary people are referred to as Norraenner or Norraenner men (Norrön men). 15

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17 Family Community / Homes, Colourful and Bustling For the Vikings, owning land was very important. It determined one s social positon, history and destiny. The large family was the basic community on the farm (or later in towns and cities). Being a person meant first and foremost that you belonged to a family collective, with responsibility for the family s actions. An individual s social status was dependent on his or her position within the family. The greatest divide was between those who were free and those who were not. In contrast to an unfree person, a free person was allowed to carry weapons and talk at the Thing, that is a decisionmaking assembly within a specific geographic area. In the Icelandic sagas, women appeared to have acted in the societal background, whereas men would occupy society s official sphere, represent the family at the Thing and would settle disputes and conflicts or trade with others. Archaeology, however, has revealed that both men and women could be rich and powerful and free women enjoyed greater equality than the Christian women of later generations. 17

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19 Presentation Form Showcases combined with graphic elements give insight into ancient Scandinavian society. The chain-like set-up of displays mirrors the intricate link between individuals, who each played a distinctive role. A screen wall display of a Scandinavian long house is accompanied by a film about the famous and well-studied historical town of Birka. A mosaic-like multimedia show offers impressions of life in a Viking house, together with illustrations and sounds of people working or cooking, barking dogs and children singing and laughing. Interactive Element: Dyed Fabric Scandinavian textiles were colourful. Specific plants were used to dye the wool red, blue or yellow. Visitors will see and feel plant coloured yarn and learn which which plant produces the appropriate colour. They will learn how colour is created by attaching a rope of yarn coloured with plants onto the right hook. The chosen colour lights up and paints the surrounding. Interactive Element: The Wardrobe Visitors will see, feel and learn how people dressed and how the different objects were part of the personal outfit symbolizing different roles in society on a touch screen. Replicas of clothes of women, men and children of the Viking Age hang on the wall. When one pushes a button, lights start to appear that help to identify the clothing. Here, the visitors can also dress up as free people or thralls and attach objects that represent their different identities, such as a housewife, warrior or farmer. The objects depicted on the touch screen can be viewed in the display cases in original form. Interactive Element: Runic Inscriptions Small bricks with a carved rune on each of them can be combined to form words and names. On a graphic panel the rune alphabet is explained and translated to show how they are connected to other, for example Latin, letters. Visitors have the chance to write words in their own language to learn how to write words, names or a simple message using runes. Corresponding Belt of Sources: Maps Archaeology about settlements Rigstula, the social structure of the Vikings 19

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21 More Than Just Worship Old Norse religious tradition cannot be compared with a religion in the conventional Western sense of the word. Instead, the expression used in the sources is forn siðr, which means old custom. This old custom is related to all aspects of life and death and thus meant a great deal more than just the worship of deitis. During most of the Viking Age, however, people in Scandinavia sometimes, consciously or subconsciously, combined their Old Norse tradition and Christianity into a kind of hybrid and probably, even aer official conversion to Christianity, never really perceive themselves purely as Christians. Traces of this syncretism can be found in both the Old Norse written sources and artefacts. Then by the end of the Viking Age, Christianity was dominant in Scandinavia and by 1100 it had become the only official religion. 21

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23 Presentation Form The circular interactive multimedia station uncovers the secrets of Old Norse religion in connection with Christianity; the religious transition between the two religions is emphasized through the background. Interactive Element: Mythological Characters Eight small turnable discs show signs and images characteristic of four goddesses and four gods of the Old Norse belief. Visitors can turn the discs to find the matching name and presentation of each deity. Interactive Element: Old Norse Sagas At two listening stations visitors can listen to the sagas and stories about Norse mythological characters, such as Balder, Idun Skadi, Thor or Loki the visitor will be as excited as the Norse Men were a thousand years ago. Interactive Element: The Days of the Week By turning four small discs around, the visitors learn that four weekdays are still named aer Viking Age Gods. Interactive Element: Old Norse Cosmology A touch screen gives a graphic description of the complex Old Norse cosmology and of the religious system of the Vikings. The roles of giants, dwarfs, goddesses and gods, Valkyries and other mythological character can be explored. Corresponding Belt of Sources: Maps Written and archaeological sources: cemeteries, Snorres Sturlasson s The Prose Edda 23

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25 The Living and the Dead The dead continued to be part of the household. Thus, cemeteries were considered to be living places near family settlements and were used for many other purposes than burials. In contrast to the Christian approach, which was clearly individualistic, Old Norse mentality was more centred on the collective. You could count on a good life in the hereaer, if in earthly life you had embraced values that benefited you own family, kinship or the warrior collective. 25

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27 Presentation Form Interactive Element: Boat Burial At a touch table the visitor can excavate a spectacular Viking boat burial. By taking part in an archaeological process of digging, finding and interpreting artefacts, visitors will find out that scientific research is dependent on cooperation. Just like an archaeologist, the visitor discovers, layer by layer, the skeleton of a body and its rich funerary goods, such as weapons, gaming pieces, household tools, animals. Photos of the artefacts can be enlarged and details examined. Short descriptions give information about the historical and archaeological background. An accurate reconstruction shows the burial as it presumably looked like about 1000 years ago and rewards the visitor s excavations efforts. Interactive Element: Board Game Hnefatafl Hnefatafl was not just for passing the time, but was used to influence the fate of the players. The original gaming pieces can also be seen on display in the exhibition. On a touch screen, visitors are encouraged to learn the rules and to play the game on a touch screen. They will learn that this aristocratic board game of the Viking Age is based on military strategy and they will need to cooperate when playing this fun game with a partner. Corresponding Belt of Sources: Maps Ibn Fadlān s report about the burial ceremony of a Rus-Viking chief The Poetic Edda and literature: aristocratic realms of the dead Picture stones of Gotland 27

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29 Norse Craftsmanship The well-esteeemed Viking crasmen were highly artistic and had great knowledge when it came to the best way of working up their raw materials. Their skills were the result of traditions going back several hundred years. Part of their tradition was not only the creation of a variety of beautiful artefacts made from many different materials, such as textiles, metal (wrought iron, steel and precious metal), wood, bone and horn, leather, glass or pottery but also the transformation of artefacts which were originally acquired from foreign countries. They too deciphered runic inscriptions and carved them on large stones, on various portable wood or bone objects. Generally speaking, cra!, especially metal cra!, was of mythological significance. It is stated in Völvan s Prophecy that the Aesir (gods) forged The World. Forging in this context means creating or making. The gods were regarded as cra!smen in one sense or another and refinement of metal as a way of changing the world as created by the gods. For this reason, cra!smen also had to master the rituals that controlled certain forces in the world. 29

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31 Presentation Form Here, visitors encounter the cra!smen and their resources (tools, raw material, myths) and the results of their work (objects, originally Scandinavian or transformed). Interactive Element: The Sword Visitors can pick up an accurate replica of a Viking Age sword and experience the weight and balance between sword handle and blade. They understand that it is difficult and skill-demanding to handle a sword. Corresponding Belt of Sources Maps Archaeology Myths about cra!smen 31

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33 Away on Business The Norsemen s trade networks expanded considerably during the Viking Age and new cultural influences as well as exotic luxurious goods, fabrics and probably most of their silver flowed into their towns and citites. If affordable, one would buy or barter to obtain a necklace with rock crystal from South-Eastern Europe or an Irish cross. Although a substantial number of the traded goods are not preserved today, various exhibit pieces provide evidence for how much of Viking culture was result of the cultural exchange between the norræner menn (Norsemen) and other people. 33

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35 Presentation Form A skeleton of an abstract ship with both front and back symbolises the ability to navigate in two directions, i.e. to go on a Viking and come back home. Screens, including texts, showcases and graphic elements, inform about the Vikings shipbuilding skills. Interactive Element: The Trading Hub Goods such as silver, wax, fur, glass, pearls and slaves were exchanged in the trading hubs of the Viking Age. Visitors will learn that the trading routes were more complex and not only geared towards export-import. A turnable disc with various pictures on it invites the visitor to go on a search for highly valuable goods. 35

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37 Over the Sea The Vikings could navigate through uncharted seas without any navigation tools only relying on their senses and the knowledge passed on by generation from generation about the winds, tidal currents and weather phenomena. Ships were the key to the Vikings journeys over the seas and a strong symbolic element of the age, and this is also borne out by the many kennings poetic paraphrases for ships that occur in Norse poetic literature: Havets häst (Sea horse), Våghäst (Wave horse), Segelhäst (Sail horse) and Havets skida (Sea skis) are some common examples. 37

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39 Presentation Form Interactive Element: The Ship Rope Visitors have the opportunity to touch, feel and smell a replica ship rope made of lime bark, leather and horse hair and tie a traditional knot. Interactive Element: Shipbuilding The building of a Viking Age ship required a vast amount of materials. On a touch screen, visitors are encouraged to collect the materials necessary to build a true Viking ship. They learn, among other things, how many trees had to be cut, the quantity of iron needed for thousands of ship rivets, and the amount of flax or wool that was used for the sail. They will learn that environmental issues were important during the Viking Age and their life-style had an enormous impact on the environment. Corresponding Belt of Sources Maps Runes, rune stones, picture stones of Gotland Greenland Saga, Ingvar Saga Viking shipbuilding 39

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41 Vikings Challenging the Stereotype Towards the end of the exhibition, the most widely known stereotype of the Viking Age - the helmet with horns - is deconstructed and visitors will learn that this stereotype did not exist until the 19th century. Interactive Element: The Helmet Without Horns A lever with two horns is positioned in front of a reconstruction of a Viking Age helmet without horns. Through the up and down motion of the lever, visitors can project the shadow of the cliché horns as a shadow on the wall. It will then automatically be removed to leave the helmet without horns. Quiz and Sharing Experiences At the end of the exhibition, visitors are encouraged to examine their newly gained knowledge about the Viking Age on a touch screen. Have any stereotypes been quashed? 41

42 Museums Feedback The VIKINGS exhibition was of great significance for the Maritime Museum Barcelona as it explains the history of a people through an excellent choice of representative objects while breaking the stereotypes all this has been made possible thanks to the cooperation with Museumspartner. Roger Marcet i Barbé Director General Consorci de les Drassanes Reials i Museu Marítim de Barcelona Vikings was enthusiastically received by Field Museum members and non-members alike, and brought many first-time visitors to the museum. Not only was the exhibition a great fit for our program, but the organizers were first-rate. Susan Neill Exhibition Planning Director of The Fields Museum We found Museumspartner and the Swedish History Museum both excellent organisations to deal with the exhibition project was very well organised and designed to a high standard and the process of delivery and installation was very professionally managed. It genuinely was a turn-key exhibition, with minimal additional design/development required from our end though as you may know we did redesign the marketing creative approach to suit our local audience, and were very pleased that our design was taken up by other museums as well! Michael Harvey Australian National Maritime Museum The Vikings has been our most successful exhibition. With more than 500,000 excited visitors we hope we will cooperate again with Museumspartner in the near future. Dr. Elisabeth Montgomery Director of Museu Maritim, Barcelona 42

43 Exhibition Details The exhibition s loan period per venue runs up to 5 months; additional months to be added on request. Size: From 7,000 to 10,764 square feet or 750 to 1,000 square meters of floor space; requested ceiling height 11,58 " or 3,53 meters Flexible modular design systems and display cases are included in the exhibition fee. All information on the artefacts is available in English plus a freely selectable second language (also the graphic design panels can be adapted for two languages). The exhibition catalogue (also available is a digital version) offers descriptive texts, illustrations, images, etc. Interactive elements, games, quizzes, teacher s guides, school material and workshop add further appeal and back the archaeological range of exhibits. Additional Pedagogical Material Turnkey delivery service, including content, artefacts, exhibition architecture, installation/ dismantling of exhibition, shipping and transport and necessary insurances, is included in the exhibition fee. Interactive children s trail with various attractions Infotainment character: games, interactive explanations and workshops Each venue is responsible for the following additional costs: Marketing and promotion Merchandise Gallery lightning Operational costs, such as ticketing, security, programming, etc. Maintenance during display Hosting venues are free to add a special local exhibition section as reference to cultural influence and environmental impact in their region. 43

44 The Team Museumspartner The Swedish History Museum In cooperation with international museums, Museumspartner has conceived a range of travelling exhibitions that are not only informative and engaging for a multitude of audiences but also easy to adapt to different spaces. We offer these exhibitions under a turnkey contract which ensures that our clients are guaranteed a secure investment customized for their own institution without any surprises. Drawing on our extensive experience in fine art transport, we provide full services to our partners and offer smart solutions to the challenges of project management, logistics and financial management we stand for standards and services at the highest level possible. Peter Elsaesser, CEO elsaesser@museumspartner.com Siegfried Brugger, CEO brugger@museumspartner.com Petra Rotthoff, International Affairs rotthoff@museumspartner.com Tel: It is one of Sweden s largest museums with a unique collection of archaeological artefacts from Sweden. The permanent Viking exhibition and the Gold Room display original objects from the Scandinavian Iron and Viking Ages, including many key objects from the periods and gold treasures from what is known as Scandinavia s Gold Age. Historiska Museet Narvavägen Stockholm, Schweden Tel: info@historiska.se Sophie Nyman, Director of Department of Exhibitions, Marketing and Visitors Services sophie.nyman@historiska.se Gunnar Andersson, Senior Curator gunnar.andersson@historiska.se Lena Hejll, Project Manager lena.hejll@historiska.se Heinz Reese, North American representative reese@museumspartner.com Tel: (250)