The Viking Age

Intro to the Viking Age

Who were the Vikings? Get an overview of the time period.

Selected articles about the Viking Age

Women in the Viking Age

Many people believe the Viking Age was a male-dominated era: armed men in warships ruling and commanding, founding kingdoms and plundering monasteries, while women stayed at home on the farm spinning. So was not the case.

Who were the Vikings?

The world of the Viking Age was different from our own. Kingdoms and states, as we understand them today, did not yet exist. Nor were the Vikings a distinct ethnic group. A thousand years ago, eastern Scandinavia was home to a wide array of smaller “peoples” and “lands”.

When Sweden became Sweden

Sweden has had kings and queens for a very long time. Below you can see a line of monarchs stretching all the way to the present day. But when did Sweden become a country? The answer is not straightforward, but during the Middle Ages it emerged as a unified kingdom.

When Scandinavia became Christian

Christianity arrived gradually to Sweden, and the process of conversion was a complex historical transformation. Christianity encountered different traditions and social settings in different regions, since pre-Christian religion had never been uniform.

What does an osteologist do?

An osteologist is a specialist in skeletons, both human and animal. The word "osteology" comes from the Greek osteon, meaning bone, and logos, meaning study – so it literally means "the study of bones."

What does an archaeologist do?

An archaeologist is a researcher who studies humanity’s past through material remains. This can include buildings, objects, graves, settlements, or other traces left by people. The purpose of archaeology is to understand past societies, their structure, ways of life, economy, beliefs, and technology.

Viking Age Ice Skates

Did Vikings know how to ice skate? Before the 17th century, people travelled across ice using bone skates, rather than metal-bladed skates. The oldest known examples of bone skates date back to the Viking Age and there are examples in the collections of the Swedish History Museum.

Unna's stone

Runic writing was the first form of writing in Scandinavia. It was developed sometime during the early centuries AD and continued to be used to some extent even after the Viking Age.

Thor's hammer rings

In the cremation graves of the Mälaren Valley, small Thor’s hammers are frequently found threaded onto larger iron rings, so-called Thor’s hammer rings. These are often placed at the top of the burial urn, suggesting they were intended as grave offerings or played a role in the funeral ceremony.

Thor – God of Thunder

Thor is the mighty god of thunder in Norse mythology. He is often called “the Thunderer”, for he commands thunder and lightning. Thor is also the god of farmers and free men. He is known for his fiery temper, his red hair and his thick, bushy brows.

Exhibition

The Viking World

Join us on a journey to the Viking Age. See 2,500 original artifacts, learn about trade, travel, and beliefs – and discover how the Vikings really lived.

Viking Age deep dive

Read exciting articles and see objects from the Viking Age in the museum's History hub.

To the History hub

History hub

Search for articles and objects in the History hub. Sort and filter by time period and theme to find what's relevant to your specific interests.

To the History hub