1 Jul 2008 – Viking Ships

The earliest signs of human settlements here were dated 9000-8000 BC. The Viking Age was from 800-1050 AD, and marks the end of the prehistoric period in Norway. This period is mainly based on archaeological finds. The Sagas are based on tales passed down verbally from one generation to another but no doubt the finds reveal that the Viking Age was the richest of the prehistoric period in the North. The website below provides an interesting and informative write-up by Tor Dagre.

http://www.norway.org.uk/history/upto1814/viking/viking.htm                                    

Vikingshiphuset/The Viking Ship Museum located at Bygdøy, Oslo displays the large Viking ships Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune, as well as founds from the chief grave at Borre in the Vestfold district. The three ships are the best preserved Viking ships known, found in royal burial mounds in the Oslo fjord. As burial ships, carrying the dead over to the “Other World”, the ships were equipped with unique treasures such as wagons, horses, textiles etc. Like many other cultures, the beliefs and hopes of the “Other or Next World” here again reminds me of my own mortality!

God alone knows the future, but only an historian can alter the past – anonymous