RudderPosts: We Were Vikings Once

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Today we were Vikings. We traveled overland to the Viking Museum at Borg, an hour or so south of Svolvær. The principal feature of this place is a reconstruction of a Viking chieftan's hall dating to about 500 AD. In modern times, there was a farm at the museum's site. The farmer noticed the soil was considerably richer in one contained area, and subsequent excavation revealed that a long house had stood there. The reconstruction was not built on the original site. Rather, it was built next to it, so visitors can view the depression in the earth that marks the original.
There's also a replica of the Gokstad ship at this place. The Gokstad ship dates to 900 AD; it was discovered in a Viking burial mound south of Oslo in 1880. It lies in state now in the churchlike Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, which we'll visit on Saturday. We rowed the replica--or most of us did, anyhow. I ran around taking pictures, and shirking my responsibilities at the oars. But the rest of the gang made up for my absence. That's David Williams at right, wearing the WooodenBoat cap, whose logo is, appropriately, inspired by the Gokstad ship. His wife, Karen Rasmussen, is behind him. They seem to be having fun. David's planning to compare the shapes of the logo and the actual boat during our Saturday visit.
Below is a replica Viking. He ably steered us through a big circle off the museum's docks, and deftly landed the boat upon our return. When everyone was ashore, he sped off with the crew in a replica Viking Toyota pickup truck--a small one, with a cap over the bed.
We, on the other hand, sped off to the dark and smoky Viking Hall, where we donned capes and sat down to a meal of lamb, chicken, carrots, and flatbread. We washed it all down with mead. A woman passing through the hall during our meal thought we were part of the exhibition. "Are you always eating?" she asked. "Always," one of us replied, patting his belly.