Sagastad Vikingsenter | |
![]() The Sagastad Viking Center building | |
![]() | |
Established | 10 May 2019 |
---|---|
Location | Nordfjordeid |
Coordinates | 61°54′31″N5°59′05″E / 61.9086°N 5.9847°E |
Type | Knowledge Center |
Accreditation | University of Bergen |
Collections | Myklebust Ship |
Visitors | 120 000+ (2023) |
CTO | Jacob Bredesen |
CEO | Eli Førde Aarskog |
Chairperson | Kjell A. Storeide |
Architect | Arild Wåge |
Employees | 3 in administration |
Nearest parking | On site (no charge) |
Website | sagastad |
Sagastad Viking Center ( Norwegian: Sagastad Viking Senter) is a knowledge center situated in Nordfjordeid in Western Norway. It is considered a landmark in the town, and is the most visited attraction in the area. The center is the home of the full-scale reconstruction of the largest Viking long ship ever discovered; the Myklebust ship.
The center also houses an exhibition on the Viking history of the town of Nordfjordeid. [1] The center was opened in 2019. [2] The center focuses on the Viking age, mainly the mid to late 9th century. It also presents the story of King Audbjorn of the Firda Kingdom whom ruled from Nordfjordeid.
The building also serves as a cultural center hosting concerts and other events. [3]
The Sagastad Viking Center is located in the town center of Nordfjordeid, next to the Sagapark. The building sits on the shore, with a slipway for sea launching of the Myklebust ship. It is a 1.1 km walk from the port where cruise tourists disembark. [4] The closest airport is Sandane Airport, Anda. The closest bus station is the Nordfjordeid Bus Station that is situated 1km from the center.
The centers entrance conditions are varied dependent on season. From May to August the center is open to the public throughout the entire week. During the Autumn and Spring it is usually closed on weekends, however during cruise days it will open for cruise guests regardless of seasonal variation. [5]
The use of cameras and video recorders is permitted inside, including flash photography.
Cruise tourists can also enter the museum through the zero emission bus tours offered at the docks, that include entrance in the ticket. [6]
The center houses an interactive exhibition that presents the history of the Viking age in the region. It is divided into three main sections, "Nordfjordeid in the Viking Age", "The findings of Myklebust" and information about the Myklebust ship itself, including further information about long ships and the construction methods used [7]
The content presented in the center is rooted in research in collaboration with the University of Bergen, ensuring historical accuracy in the exhibition.
Main Article: Myklebust ship
The most important exhibit at Sagastad is the reconstruction of the Myklebust ship, the largest viking ship ever discovered in Norway. Visitors are able to board the 30 meter long ship inside the center. The entire ship is accessible from a boarding ramp. The ship is situated in the middle of the center, surrounded by interactive exhibitions that are mainly connected to the ship and the other burial sites at Nordfjordeid. [8] [9]
The rear of the building features large rear doors and a ramp down to the fjord to facilitate launching of the vessel, something that happens on special occasions. [10]
The Myklebust gravemound known as Rundehågjen is both the last and largest cremation grave found from the Viking Age. [11] It was excavated in 1874 by Anders Lorange.
He came to Nordfjordeid from Bergen in 1874 to investigate the large burial mound that is locally called “Rundehågjen” or “Lisje Skjoratippen”. The mound stands on Myklebust farm which used to houses 5 burial mounds. But this very mound turned out to be unique.
The mound was about 30 meters in diameter, was almost 4 meters tall, and had a wide moat around it. The mound contained the remains of a unique Viking ship and a number of high-status objects from the end of the ninth century. The sumptuous burial remains in the mound and traces of the mysterious rituals performed at the burial, provided a fascinating insight into the way of life and worldview of the Norse society that lived in Nordfjordeid more than a thousand years ago.
The ship in the mound was named Myklebustskipet, after the farm name where it was found. Unfortunately, the ship came in the shadow of the Viking ships that were found some years later: the Gokstad ship in 1880 and the Oseberg ship in 1904. The reason was that the Gokstad ship and the Oseberg ship were found intact, while the Myklebust ship had been burned during the burial. There was therefore not much to see of the Myklebust ship. [12]
Main Article: Audbjorn Frøybjørnson
The exhibition claims that King Audbjørn of the Fjords final resting place was in the Myklebust grave. The King was mentioned in the Sagas and died in the battle of Solskjell in the year of 876. The colossal size of the Myklebustship suggests it was owned by a powerful chieftain and the ship is also dated to the late 9th century. Nordfjordeid was the center of power in the old kingdom of Firda during this period.
The center offers a Virtual Reality experience for visitors in the exhibition. The experience offers a 3D recreation of Nordfjordeid during the 9th century. Guests are able to teleport around the Viking village, examine artifacts, and test their archery skills. [13] The VR offering was launched in 2020 and developed in house by the centers CTO; Jacob Bredesen. [14]
Visitors at the center are able to use a companion app when visiting the center that provides an audio guide in French, Mandarin, Spanish and German. There is also a webapp that provides the same functionality.
The center was opened in 2019, [15] by the Minister of Research and Higher Education, Iselin Nybø. [16] [17] Prior to the official opening the famous reconstruction of the Myklebustship was christened, by the Minister of Culture Trine Skei Grande, on the Eidsfjord. [18]
A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as the tomb for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave. This style of burial was practiced by various seafaring cultures in Asia and Europe. Notable ship burial practices include those by the Germanic peoples, particularly by Viking Age Norsemen, as well as the pre-colonial ship burials described in the Boxer Codex in the Philippines.
Vestfold is a county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the largest city is Sandefjord. With the exception of the city-county of Oslo, Vestfold is the smallest county in Norway by area. Vestfold was until 2019 the only county in which all municipalities had declared Bokmål to be their sole official written form of the Norwegian language.
Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia from the Viking Age throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as being slender and flexible boats, with symmetrical ends with true keel. They were clinker built, which is the overlapping of planks riveted together. Some might have had a dragon's head or other circular object protruding from the bow and stern for design, although this is only inferred from historical sources. Viking ships were used both for military purposes and for long-distance trade, exploration and colonization.
Tønsberg, historically Tunsberg, is a city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about 102 kilometres south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The city is the most populous metropolis in Vestfold county. Tønsberg also serves as the administrative centre for Vestfold county and the seat of the County Governor of Vestfold og Telemark.
The Gokstad ship is a 9th-century Viking ship found in a burial mound at Gokstad in Sandar, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway. It is displayed at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway. It is the largest preserved Viking ship in Norway.
The Oseberg ship is a well-preserved Viking ship discovered in a large burial mound at the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg in Vestfold county, Norway. This ship is commonly acknowledged to be among the finest artifacts to have survived from the Viking Age. The ship and some of its contents are displayed at the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy on the western side of Oslo, Norway.
Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th centuries. Viking art has many design elements in common with Celtic, Germanic, the later Romanesque and Eastern European art, sharing many influences with each of these traditions.
Nordfjordeid is the administrative centre of the municipality of Stad in Vestland county, western Norway. It is located at the end of the Eidsfjorden, an arm of the main Nordfjorden, west of the large lake Hornindalsvatnet. The village of Stårheim is located about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) to the west, the village of Mogrenda is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the east, and the village of Lote is about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the southeast.
The Viking Ship Museum is located on the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo, Norway. It will be temporarily closed from September 2021 until 2027.
Gabriel Adolf Gustafson was a Swedish-Norwegian archaeologist. He was responsible for the excavation and conservation of the Oseberg Ship (Osebergfunnet).
Viking is a Viking ship replica. It is an exact replica of the Gokstad ship recovered from Gokstadhaugen, a Viking Age burial mound in Sandefjord, Norway in 1880. Viking was featured at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.
Viking ship replicas are one of the more common types of ship replica. Viking, the first Viking ship replica, was built by the Rødsverven shipyard in Sandefjord, Norway. In 1893 it sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Chicago in the United States for the World's Columbian Exposition. Formerly located in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois, the Viking is currently undergoing conservation in Geneva, Illinois, United States.
The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research is a cultural heritage research institute based in Oslo, Norway.
MV Viking Sky is a cruise ship that was launched in 2016 and entered service in 2017. She is operated by Viking Ocean Cruises. On 23 March 2019, she suffered an engine failure off the coast of Norway. A partial evacuation by helicopters took place.
The Oseberg tapestry is a fragmentary tapestry, discovered within the Viking Oseberg ship burial in Norway.
The Myklebust Ship is the remains of a burned Viking ship that was found in the burial mound Rundehågjen on the farm Myklebust in Nordfjordeid, Norway. In terms of total volum the Myklebust ship is the largest Viking ship that has been discovered in the world to date.
The Gokstad Mound is a large burial mound at Gokstad Farm in Sandefjord in Vestfold County, Norway. It is also known as the King's Mound (Kongshaugen) and is where the 9th century Gokstad Ship was found.
Audbjörn Frøybjørnsson was the King of the Kingdom of Firda. One of the petty kingdoms of Norway during the Viking age. He lived approximately between 840 and 870.
The Nordfjord Opera house is the home of Opera Nordfjord and is the second opera house in Norway. The building is situated in the town center of Nordfjordeid in Western Norway, north of the Sagastad Viking Center. It is operated by Vestland County Municipality and Stad Municipality. The building also houses Eid Upper Secondary School. The structure is 9,132 m2. The main auditorium seats 530 while the cinema seats 105. The main stage is 14 m (46 ft) wide and 10 m (33 ft) deep.
Jacob Jansen Bredesen is a British-Norwegian technologist and politician for the Liberal Party (Venstre).