langhus Avaldsnes viking rekonstruksjon vikinggard vikingtida grindbygd førhistorisk relikvieskrin storfamilie vikinggraver storfamilie

Longhouse

Text: Marit Synnøve Vea

The Cammin Shrine. From Claus Ahrens: Früe Holzkirchen im nordlichen Europa, 1982

The longhouse is a reconstruction, based on a house found through archaeological excavations in Oma, Rogaland, and it dates approximately from 950 AD.

The 24-metre longhouse, reconstructed at Avaldsnes in 1997, is of a trestle construction with curving walls and a double curved roof which gives a very stable construction.

The framework is made of oak. The walls are made of pinewood. The wooden plugs are made of juniper or birch

The large stones outside the walls leave a small gap between themselves and the wooden walls and help to insulate the house and give a smooth airflow in high winds.

The roof is covered in layers of small wooden shingles – over 100,000 in total. Pieces of Muscovite in the small window frames allow a little daylight into the building.

Evidence for the curved walls and roof comes from shaped gravestones (hogbacks) found in England and Scotland, from relic shrines like a curved wooden box found in Sweden that represents a Viking house and from houses pictured on tapestry.

Etter Holger Schmidt. Building customs in Viking Age Denmark 1994

Gravestone (hogback). From Holger Schmidt. Building customs in Viking Age Denmark 1994

hogback

INSIDE
The longhouse is divided into several sections. The central part has a large fireplace in the middle and benches fixed in along the sides. The benches would be used for seating during the day and for sleeping at night.

Furs and tapestries cover the walls and help to insulate the house and keep it warm inside. Smoke from the central fireplace escapes through small covered holes in the roof above.

The furniture and equipment inside the house is copied as accurately as possible from archaeological finds or from saga records. The lamp dishes set up in the posts are filled with fish oil and the wicks are made from reeds with the green outsides striped away. These help to give some light inside the house in the evenings.

The spaces at the ends of the house are used as work rooms and storage rooms. These can be heated by taking hot stones from around the main fireplace and placing them in large sand filled metal trays on stands. The house would have been home for an extended family of children, parents and grandparents

viking — Vikings

The Viking Age was the years between 750 – 1100 when people from Norway, Sweden and Denmark made a name for themselves and became a political force to be reckoned with throughout Europe. From their travels in Europe, they adopted new ideas, cultural impulses and a new religion – Christianity.

The Vikings are best known as pirates and warriors, but they were also sailors, merchants, craftsmen, farmers, fishermen, poets, explorers and nation-builders. The Scandinavian national states were founded during the Viking Age. And it is now the Northerners develop a vessel that better organized and wealthier societies on the Continent don’t have; The Viking ship. It was the seaworthiness of the Viking ships, together with the sailors’ knowledge of navigation and seamanship, which made it possible for them to conquer the ocean .
Read more here

vikinggard — Viking Farm

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 in 998 drowned a group of wizards.

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. All year in the evenings and in weekends it is possible to rent the longhouse for guided tours and banquets. 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.
Read more here

The sagas tell that king Olav Tryggvason opened several burial mounds at Avaldsnes. (Photo Ørjan Iversen) — History Centre

Nordvegen History Centre tells the story about how Avaldsnes became The First Royal Throne of Norway. Harald Fairhair, the king who unified Norway into one kingdom, will present you for princes and kings who ruled the “North Way” from Avaldsnes.

Some of these rulers we know from the sagas of the Norwegian kings, the heroic sagas and old skaldic poems. Others have become known to us through archaeological digs.
You will also get a glimpse into the magic world that people once believed to be true and meet sorcerers, shield maidens and Norse gods.

At the Nordvegen History Centre, we tell these stories of old using films, sound clips, lights, figures and objects. WELCOME TO AN EXCITING VISIT!
Read more here

Longhouse

Vikings

Viking Farm

History Centre