Once more the Vikings arrive in our city, bearing swords, ships, and a great many farmers among their number. National museums across Denmark, Sweden and Norway are attempting to move past the standard picture of Vikings as sword-wielding male warriors. Instead, they wish to show that Vikings were farmers, traders, and even women. Yet the lasting appeal of the Viking legend means that exhibitions frequently balance historical accuracy with tales that mirror modern ideas about national identity and culture.
The Warrior Myth That Won’t Die
Museums across Scandinavia are devoted to the Vikings. Copenhagen has a major permanent exhibition at the National History Museum. Stockholm’s Swedish History Museum lays claim to the largest Viking Age display in the world. A new Norwegian Museum of the Viking Age is scheduled to open in 2027, promising to become the world’s leading Viking museum. Until then, visitors can see highlights of Viking Age archaeological discoveries at the Museum of Cultural History in a temporary exhibition.
The issue is that viewers keep demanding the familiar tale. They want a Viking to be a towering, wide-shouldered man brandishing a blade, sporting a modern hairstyle such as a skin fade or covered in many tattoos. That portrait is largely fabricated. Scholars understand that Vikings were actually a varied people, far removed from the exclusively male warrior legend. Still, the image of the male Viking fighter persists, pulling in spectators while lingering over gallery walls like a wandering spirit.
Three Exhibitions, One Stubborn Specter
The three exhibitions present the male Viking in multiple roles: as a warrior, a seafarer, and a merchant. He is also shown again and again as a farmer, his days spent working the land. These agricultural depictions enrich the picture, though the exhibitions’ arrangements generally give more prominence to the more popular image than to this fuller one.
The Swedish exhibition points out that many free men and women owned weapons, though only a few considered themselves warriors. Yet the displays put ships, swords and objects of trade and travel at the forefront, giving them the starring roles.
The National Museum in Copenhagen invites visitors to view “our Viking exhibition, where we’ll explore a world more than 1,000 years old – shaped by a warrior culture and the gods Odin, Thor, and Freyja.”, where the actual history meets the anticipated fantasy of Norse legends, warriors and gods.
Women in the Shadows
Curators experience a strain between satisfying audience expectations and showing real history. That strain also shows up in how they present female Vikings. These attempts to add women to a male-dominated picture of the Viking age often stop short when it comes to describing their actual lives or their social or cultural influence.
Only exceptional women of the Viking Age are usually shown, such as noble mistresses or shieldmaidens (female warriors), which makes ordinary women less visible. Elsewhere, depictions of women stick to narrow gender stereotypes about their domestic roles and dress. This Danish exhibition is one example, where it is stated that “guests were received by the lady of the house, who managed everything to ensure the occasion was a success. Women played an active role in running the farm, and also traveled widely.”, while another caption explains that “Jewellery and equipment in the graves of many wealthy and aristocratic women reflect the complex roles these women had.”.
The National Narrative
The curatorial approach likewise addresses the founding narratives of the Scandinavian states. Across all three exhibitions, the tale of the Viking era as a defining moment in the creation of nations and culture appears in various guises. That story holds that during this period, Scandinavia transformed into distinct, unified Christian kingdoms emerging from a collection of scattered and decentralized pagan tribes. Today, Scandinavians vary in their embrace of this narrative. Yet it continues to cast its shadow over how the period’s history is told.
Denmark’s sense of itself rests upon its past, which merges into its present identity. The country’s founding story centers on Harald Bluetooth, whose legacy has helped shape the nation’s self-image. Bluetooth fathered Sweyn Forkbeard and became the grandfather of Canute the Great. That ruler converted to Christianity after seeing the monk Poppo carry a piece of burning coal without burning his hands.
The Modern Use of Vikings
Several researchers have noticed since the 1980s that the Viking Age has been employed to build convenient contemporary narratives. These accounts tend to emphasize archaeological evidence of successful cultural encounters between Scandinavians and Muslims in the past. The motivation behind this appears to be a current wish in Sweden and Norway to establish a counterweight to the nationalistic use of the Viking Age, which is frequently aimed at Muslims.
A Delicate Balance
Museum exhibitions walk a fine line between popularized stories and accurate historical accounts. The national museums of Scandinavia’s fixation on the Vikings, however, can be attributed to their desire to show representations of the past that reflect current social conditions rather than what is actually known about the Viking world.
Whether the public prefers the genuine Vikings or the old tale is the central issue. Museums are working hard to offer both. Yet the picture of the male Viking fighter persists, pulling visitors in even as it haunts the halls like a restless spirit.
Key Dates and Numbers
- Danish exhibition: “our Viking exhibition, where we’ll explore a world more than 1,000 years old – shaped by a warrior culture and the gods Odin, Thor, and Freyja.”
- Swedish exhibition: Notes that many free men and women owned weapons, but only a few truly saw themselves as warriors.
- Norwegian Museum of the Viking Age: Set to open in 2027, promised to be the world’s leading Viking museum.
- Copenhagen National Museum: Permanent Viking exhibition.
- Stockholm Swedish History Museum: Largest Viking Age exhibition in the world.
- Oslo temporary exhibition: Highlights of Viking Age archaeological finds.
Source material: “Why Viking museums still can’t escape the warrior myth,” ScienceDaily.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.