The historical museum here in Oslo has an exhibition at the moment on Viking artifacts. Things like swords, brooches, helmets, spears, coins etc. I was expecting a much larger collection, but the items they had were oh so precious. I had dragged my son along with me to see, he had never been to this particular museum before. I might head back at a later date and spend more time just staring at these items.

If you would like to see them you can. The magic of the internets! Just head over to this site here, and check the video. The video is in norwegian, but even if you do not understand – the images are breathtaking. In the video, at around the 2:00 mark she is talking about the large treasure found in 1834. “A tenant farmer was working on Nedre Hon Farm in Øvre Eiker, Buskerud. He was digging drainage ditches when he suddenly unearthed Norway’s largest gold hoard from the Viking Age.” From the leaflet.

The shop has some interesting and fun items as well. I just could not resist, and bought a handful of handmade glassbeads that are copies of beads found in Viking graves. I wanted to buy more, but they were quite costly – it has to wait. I want to use them as pendants I think, in some simple necklaces with leather cords. Stay tuned, I will post whenever one is ready.