Press releases

In the exhibition, we present the Viking worldview. It is this worldview that is replaced by the Christian worldview. In this way, the Viking Age (and especially the period we focus on in this exhibition) is the transition that forms the basis for our current worldview. We find this both important and relevant.

It's also the first time the National Museum of Denmark has created a Viking exhibition that centers on women in the main role.

In addition, the Viking Age is a controversial period in Danish history that is sought after by both our Danish and international visitors to the museum. Therefore, we have chosen a flexible exhibition format where our unique permanent collection of objects from the Viking Age is now presented in a new scenography with a new research focus and a new narrative layer.

We are used to thinking about what the Vikings were, but rarely who they were and what they thought. In this exhibition, we mirror the Vikings' attempts to understand their place in the world - with the help of the Viking Sorceress. In doing so, we hopefully gain an understanding that other people in other times do not experience the world the way we do. This is a crucial insight to have in order to navigate the world as a modern human being

The Viking world was different from ours. The Viking Sorceress is an interesting figure to understand this world and the Vikings' relationship with the past, future and magic.

In the exhibition, we shed light on the Viking worldview based on our interpretations of the Viking sorceresses. These interpretations are based partly on the eddic poem "The Prophecy of the Viking Sorceress" and partly on the objects we have found from the Viking Age.

In the Eddic poems and sagas, there are numerous mentions of Viking sorceresses. Although the eddic poems and sagas were written down after the Viking Age, linguists believe that the texts contain elements that originate from older oral storytelling traditions and may therefore have their roots in the Viking Age.

At the same time, a number of special graves from the Viking Age have been found that may be graves. of Viking sorceresses. Many of them with staffs in their graves. In Old Norse, völva means "staff-bearer".

The "Fyrkat Grave", which we will be showing in the exhibition, is a woman buried with a staff, a can of white lead, various animal bones and the euphoriant bulbous herb. We therefore believe that the woman in the grave had a spiritual role.

The Fyrkat Woman is buried in the burial site of the Fyrkat Ring Castle and may therefore have been part of Harald Bluetooth's entourage.

A Viking sorceress is both a mythological figure, as in the prophecy of the Viking Sorceress, where she is brought back to life by Odin, but also women with special abilities to see into both the future and the past.

In the sagas, Viking sorceresses are both mediums who can see into the past and future. They are wise women, some earn gold and riches from fortune telling, and there are also male practitioners of seid. Some can cast curses and use magic.

The word "seid" appears on several Viking Age rune stones. Seid is a special form of magic in pre-Christian Norse religion.

The Fyrkat Grave, which we will be showing in the exhibition, is a woman buried with a wand, a can of white lead, various animal bones and the euphoriant bulbous herb. We therefore believe that the woman in the grave had a spiritual role.

Speculation that she is a royal Viking sorceress from the entourage of Harald Bluetooth himself comes from the fact that she is buried at one of Harald Bluetooth's ring castles.

We sometimes use Vikings as a term for people who lived in Scandinavia during the period we call the Viking Age, from around 793-1050, because it indicates the age. However, we also make a point of explaining that not all people in the Viking Age were Vikings in the original meaning of the word. Viking probably means pirate or sea warrior, and not everyone went on a raid.

Many historians dispute that there is a specific age that can be called the Viking Age because it is a term that was created in the 1800s as a reaction to our defeats in several wars. We believe that 'Viking Age' is known even before the Schleswig Wars, so there is no direct correlation with the defeats

We believe that the Viking Age is the established term that best conveys the period from approximately 793 to 1050.

We have created the exhibition to create an immersion in the Viking Age and an understanding of how the Vikings lived, and therefore the exhibition focuses primarily on what we know about the Viking Age and not on the use of history. But the exhibition does not stand alone, and in guided tours, lectures, publications, etc. we dwell on how the Viking Age as a concept originated and how it has been misused by Nazis, for example.

Kasper Holten has staged the exhibition with scenography by Steffen Aarfing. Together, the two are known for creating opera productions all over the world, including an acclaimed production of the opera "Ragnarok" at the Royal Danish Theatre. Marie Carsten Pedersen from Zetland has contributed as the exhibition's dramaturge, and archaeologist and museum curator Peter Pentz and exhibition editor Mette Boritz from the National Museum of Denmark have been the professional team behind the exhibition.