Viking Ship Museum – Oslo, Norway

The Viking Ship Museum just outside of Oslo, Norway, on the Bygdøy peninsula houses the world’s best preserved Viking ships and finds from Viking tombs around the Oslo Fjord.

It shows discoveries from the Gokstad, Oseberg and Tune ships, plus small boats, sledges, a beautiful cart, tools, textiles and household utensils.

Gokstad ship

Unearthed by two teenagers in 1879, the Gokstad ship was built around 900 AD and later used as a burial ship for a powerful man.  The ship was very seaworthy and well suited for voyages across the open sea.  The ship is constructed from oak timbers and is about 23 meters long and about 5 meters wide.  It was equipped with 32 shields hanging on either side of the boat and painted alternately in gold and black.  In the burial chamber lay the body of a man in his 40s.  Signs of cutting blows to both legs indicate he died in battle.

Grave robbers have long since plundered the grave; no weapons or jewelry were found among the burial gifts.  However, the finds included a game board with game pieces, a harness fitting of iron, lead and gilded bronze, kitchen utensils, six beds, a tent, a sledge, and three small boats.  Also buried in the grave were 12 horses, eight dogs, two peacocks, and two goshawks. 

Oseberg ship

Discovered in 1903, the Oseberg ship was built around 820 AD.  The ship is constructed from oak timbers and is decorated with beautiful carvings.  The ship is about 22 meters long and about 5 meters wide.  The ship was fully manned with a crew of thirty oarsmen, a helmsman, and a lookout.

The ship was used as a burial ship for two powerful women.  The elder of them was between the ages of 70 and 80 when she died; the younger was a little over the age of 50.  On their final journey to the realm of the dead, the two women were given a fantastic collection of burial gifts: including three elaborate sleds, a cart, five carved animal-head posts, five beds with various tapestries, along with 15 horses, six dogs, and two cows. 

Tune ship

The Tune ship was discovered in 1867, and that makes it the first Viking ship to be discovered and preserved in modern times.  The ship was clinker-built of oak and dates back to about 910 AD.  The Tune ship was probably a fast, ocean-going vessel.  The remains of a man’s body was found in the burial chamber.  Among the artefacts found in the grave were the remains of weapons and a suit of chain mail, pieces of a ski, and the skeletons of three horses.  This ship is exhibited as it was found as early archaeological digs did not preserve finds very well. 

Enjoy this 24-minute Virtual Field Trip at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo video with a narrative by a Norwegian archaeologist telling about the Oseberg and Gokstad ships and Viking history.  It was streamed live 24 January 2017.

A special interactive film exhibit opens beside the Tune ship in April 2017 as visitors experience the Viking Age in 3D projected on the ceiling and back wall.

The ticket for the Viking Ship Museum is actually good for two museums in one.  With this ticket you can also obtain free entry to the Historical Museum within 48 hours.