Viking Farm
The longhouse is a reconstruction of a house found in Oma, Rogaland (Photo Svein Jakob Stensland)
The Viking Farm is situated a ten minutes walk from the Middle Age church at Avaldsnes. You will find it on a small, forested island, just inside the rocks where king Olav Tryggvason drowned a group of wizards one thousand years ago.
In the farmyard you will find a longhouse, a boat house for a Viking warship, a roundhouse and several smaller buildings. Outside the farmyard there are paths through the forest for those who will just seek some peace and tranquility.
In the summer season the Viking Farm is open for tourists. In the evenings and in weekends it is possible to rent the longhouse for guided tours and banquets, and while the fireplace sparkles and the flames cast shadows on the walls, you will be taken back to the 10th century. Each Year in June there is a Viking Festival at the Viking Farm. Then Vikings from many countries set up their tents among the reconstructed buildings.
During the period between March and October the Viking Farm is the focal point for a Viking-school for children.
THE VIKING FARM – A HOME FOR ORDINARY FARMERS
The kings had their royal manors where the Middle Age church at Avaldsnes is today. The Viking Farm, however, shows the home or an ordinary farmer. Farmers were the backbone of the Viking society. They could be craftsmen, sailors, traders or raiders, – but they were all dependent upon the land.
Viking women had much power because they were in charge of the household at the farm.
The longhouse at Avaldsnes Viking Farm (Photo Karmøy Kulturopplevelser)
AN EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMME
The Viking Farm was built as part of an experimental archaeological research programme in in co-operation with the Archaeological museum in Stavanger. The aim was to gain new knowledge about pre-historic building techniques, how to use different tools, how to prepare the timber, which material our forefathers used etc
Archaeologist and building engineer Jochen Komber has done the research and designed the reconstructed buildings. The design of details is done in co-operation with the craftsmen.
THE VIKING FARM SEEN FROM THE AIR
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