Day trip to Birka, a Viking island museum two hours west of Stockholm
There are no actual viking structures still standing on the island, because they were all made of wood a thousand years ago. However, the museum has a lot of recovered artifacts and reconstructive models.
This part was my favorite, the guy hanging off the building roof. The craftsman’s intentions here elude me, but I imagine this depicts a punishment of some sort.
I forgot to fix the chromab on the skylight in this next photo, but I’m too lazy to do it now 😛
I think these next two shots are the most beautiful I took from a nature point of view, if simply for the water’s texture.
Finally our tour started, led by Jesus.
In the background you can see a monument on the top of a rock, the highest point on the island. We walk around to it later.
At our first stop we learned that all these mounds are burial ones, and the Vikings used to bury their slaves with themselves sometimes so they could be served in the afterlife (lol). Of course in true Swedish fashion, the slaves were also well treated and able to gain their freedom through good work.
Probably the most eye-opening thing I learned was that Vikings don’t actually wear helmets adorned with horns as commonly thought; it’s just a misconception that began when the first Viking graves were discovered with horns buried near skulls. Tour Jesus said the horns were just for drinking and buried alongside other artifacts they wanted to take with them to the afterlife, but once Wagner started writing operas sung by fat horned-helmet wearing women the damage was done.
This beautiful field is where the main settlements were established, and archaeological work is ongoing. While the group gathered around Jesus to listen, I climbed up the hill a bit to get a better vantage point.
I took this panorama. Our good luck with the weather was starting to run out as rain clouds loomed overhead, but fortunately our tour was soon over.
Next we walked up the side of the hill where the cross overlooks the ocean, and I again snuck away to beat the crowd and snap some photos.
Although because I couldn’t listen, I have no idea what this thing actually represents.
Here’s a pano shot taken next to the cross and looking out over the harbor. You can see the dock in the bottom left where we started. Our tour ended with literally perfect timing, as it just started to rain lightly. We walked back towards the museum, and went to investigate some reconstructed buildings representative of the Birka settlement.
They built these using the same materials, tools and styles that the Vikings would have used.
