Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
from the 10-kr guidebook and the informative attendants stationed in build-
ings throughout the park.
▲▲Viking Ship Museum (Vikingskiphuset)
—In this impressive museum,
you'll gaze with admiration at two finely crafted, majestic oak Viking ships
dating from the 9th and 10th centuries. Along with the well-preserved ships,
you'll see remarkable artifacts that may cause you to consider these notorious
raiders in a different light. Over a thousand years ago, three things drove Vik-
ingsontheirfar-flungraids:hardeconomictimesintheirbleakhomeland,the
lure of prosperous and vulnerable communities to the south, and a mastery of
the sea. There was a time when most frightened Europeans closed every pray-
er with, “And deliver us from the Vikings, Amen.” Gazing up at the prow of
one of these sleek, time-stained vessels, you can almost hear the screams and
smell the armpits of those redheads on the rampage.
Cost and Hours:
60 kr, daily May-Sept 9:00-18:00, Oct-April
10:00-16:00, Huk Aveny 35, tel. 22 13 52 80,
www.khm.uio.no
.
Visiting the Museum:
You'll see two ships, starting with the
Oseberg,
from
A.D.
834. With its ornate carving and impressive rudder, it was likely a
royal pleasure craft. It seems designed for sailing on calm inland waters dur-
ing festivals, but not in the open ocean.
