Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets.

Today we went to Borg to visit the site of the longest Viking age longhouse ever discovered. The first thing we saw was a full scale replica of the chieftains house. It reminded me a lot of the North American Indigenous longhouses I have seen, with multiple areas defined for various purposes. This site had been inhabited for at least a thousand years, and we saw glassware, ceramics, beads and various weapons. What impressed me most was the sheer size of this house (83m x 12m), and that it had stood at this site for so long. We also were able to take a ride on a replica of a small Viking ship for a tour around the harbour. The nearby church caught my eye, as it stood out in stark contrast to its surroundings.
I’m the evening we went for a hike in Svolvær, where our guide told us folklore stories of how Norwegians use to believe that trolls were responsible for things like boulders in the middle of fields.
Finally, the most important things I learned today is that the term Viking does not describe a cultural group, but rather only the activity of raiding… also, Viking helmets NEVER had horns on them.Read more