Meet the strong woman of the Vikings
- Do you dare?
Researchers at the National Museum of Denmark have selected a number of sensational finds and given them new life and interpretation.
See them in the exhibition.
The smile of the Viking Sorceress
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... is the very unusual female grave from the Viking Age at the ring fortress Fyrkat. Among the 30 or so graves at the site, it is distinguished by mysterious grave goods - including a metal rod and seeds from the euphoriant bulbwort. In the 'Völva's omen', something as spectacular as a piece of the woman's mouth is on display. Pictured here is a lump of earth and an X-ray image in which you can make out a row of teeth. It's Völva's mouth!
National Museum researchers believe that she was a royal Viking sorceress from the entourage of Harald Bluetooth himself.
The treasure of the Viking Sorceress
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... On Zealand, a Viking buried a unique treasure just over 1000 years ago – unlike many other treasures from the Viking Age. The treasure contains 392 items, including silver cups, a large suit pin, a silver bangle and a large bronze suit buckle. But what is quite unusual are the 53 amulets and 300 glass beads, as well as amber, rock crystal and a braided silver chain. This leads researchers to wonder whether the treasure belonged to a sorceress and had a ritual function.
The Fenris wolf
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... quality depicting the Fenris wolf with the hand of the god Tyr in his mouth. According to the myths, Tyr sacrificed his hand to have the ferocious beast chained. The wolf later kills Odin himself at Ragnarok.
Magical amulets
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... a Dane made an interesting find at a church on Funen. The hollow contained a small gold pendant measuring 4.1 cm. The jewelry depicts a man with outstretched arms like Christ on the cross. It turned out to be a crucifix from the 10th century. Christian crucifixes appeared in Denmark in the same century that Christianity was formally introduced by Harald Bluetooth. For the Vikings, the crucifix was probably just another amulet to add to the many others. Archaeologists have excavated a grave on Als that has many similarities with that of the Fyrkat Viking Sorceress, where the dead woman had both a crucifix and a Thor's hammer in her grave.
The fashionable Viking valkyrie
A hair bun and a pleated spencer. It's hot fashion today, but maybe it was in Viking times too.
Here's a Valkyrie - and she's extraordinary!
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Not just because of her fashionable look. But perhaps especially because she's three-dimensional - unlike all the other Valkyries we've found.
The small woman with a shield and sword emerged from the frozen ground in Hårby in the southwestern part of Funen in 2012 when detectorist Morten Skovsby found her.
She is only 3.5 cm tall, but made of pure gold-plated silver.
The Valkyries were some kind of demigods who predicted the outcome of battles and chose which warriors should fall in battle.
After the battle, the valkyries led the dead warriors on their horses to Valhalla, where they took care of them in Odin's hall.
We know many small valkyrie statues from a small number of female jewelry from the 9th century.
See this incredible find in the exhibition.
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Her grave was discovered in the 1950s during the excavations of the Viking king's ring fortress, Fyrkat, near Hobro. The woman in the grave lived in the 900s, side by side with occult powers and supernatural beings.
Humans have always worshipped the spiritual. In the Viking Age, the spiritual and magical played a crucial role and women who understood the spirit world were considered holy. This episode of "Varbergs Danmarkshistorier" is about Viking sorceresses - the magical Vikings.