Denmark Trip 2013
Over
the years, it is fair to say that visits to Denmark and North Germany
have become something of a regular pilgrimage. Crossing the North Sea
and stepping off the ferry, one gets a sense of re-tracing the steps of
ancestors, be they the brave pioneers who came in the 5th and 6th
centuries to settle, or the 'Vikings' who came to the British Isles
later in search of plunder, trade or conquest. Most Brits have a little
Anglian, Jute or 'Viking' blood, and thus it is fair to say that a good
chunk of our history resides in the original homeland of these peoples.
Over
the past 15 years, I, with my family, have visited Denmark no less than
10 times, and cannot recommend it more strongly. The Danes, perhaps
uniquely, value their Migration-Period and Viking-Age history and are
not afraid to be proud of it, nor to invest in it. This refreshing
mainstream enthusiasm is evidenced by the number of excellent modern
museums, reconstructed 'Iron-Age' and Viking-Age villages, and the
abundance of living history festivals which are popular both with locals
and with tourists.
Describing the many
fantastic places to visit in Denmark and North Germany, and the great
experiences we have had on our travels would take forever. However, we
thought it may be of interest to describe what we found this year; Ribe
Viking Festival, the Nydam Ship at Schloss Gottorf, and a reconstructed
Iron-Age Village at Hjemsted.
The reason for our visit in Spring of this year was to visit the fantastic Ribe Viking Festival.
The May festival has
now been going on for some years and includes groups and traders from
across Europe, selling everything from pottery to battle-gear. Taking
place within the largest reconstructed Viking settlement in Denmark, the
festival attracts visitors from across the world. A costumed event of
this scale, in such a location, really does give the feel of stepping
back in time. This year seemed a little quieter than previously despite
glorious weather, but was still a great opportunity to stock up on some
supplies, and gather inspiration to bring back to England.
As our ferry did not sail until Tuesday, we decided
to use the time after the Ribe Viking Festival to visit the new Nydam
Ship exhibition at the archaeological museum in Gottorp Castle,
Schleswig, across the border in North Germany.
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| Smaller boat from Nydam |
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| Inside of the reassembled Nydam Ship |
Representing
the closest we have to an example of the kind of vessel the Anglo-Saxon
tribes may have used to ferry them to England, the Nydam ship is of
huge importance to German, Danish and English history.
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| Preserved figurehead from the Nydam ship. A pair would have looked out from the edge of the hull. |
The exhibition (revamped since our visit in summer 2012) displayed additional material, including new models of the vessel and associated finds, and despite being annotated entirely in German was well worth seeing. Although smaller than the Sutton Hoo ship, the Nydam boat is still impressively large and its oak timbers are virtually intact.
Dendrochronological dating places its construction to around
310-320 CE. It is of oak clinker-built construction and over 75 feet
long, about 13 feet wide. It was designed to be rowed by 30 men but
could have carried many more.
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| Model of the ship, as it would have been in the 4th century |
Looking at this large and impressive boat, it was easy to see how a
fleet of a few dozen or so of these ships could have moved a whole
people from southern Jutland to the east coast of Britain, leaving
Angeln virtually depopulated.
Gottorf Castle also holds many of the 2nd-4th century finds from
Nydam Mose. The present bog was then a sacred lake, where folk
sacrificed weapons etc. to the gods in thanks for victory over the
enemy. Many of the swords and spears have been ‘ritually killed’; bent
and broken so as to render them useless and other items such as shields
and armour hacked to pieces.
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| 'Ritually killed' sword blade from Nydam mose |
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| Swords from Nydam Mose, resembling early Anglo-Saxon styles |
Although
earlier by a couple of centuries
than any comparable English finds, it is clear that these weapons are
similar to early Anglo-Saxon finds. One display-case contained rare and
still beautiful scabbards and another a large number of sword-beads or
‘Schwertperlen’. What was remarkable was how huge these early examples
were compared to the relatively modest ones found in Anglo-Saxon graves,
suggesting, by the time of arrival in England, this fashion had already
begun to atrophy and decline.
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| "Schwertberlen" - 4th century Sword-beads much larger than examples found from A.S. England |
On the morning of our return, we visited the
Hjemsted Oldtidspark & Museum, located at Skærbæk close to Romo,
South Jutland, which is a centre dedicated to the Germanic Iron Age.
Here we found an impressive reconstructed village occupying no less than
24 acres, above an extensive underground museum. The reconstructed houses represented
Germanic Iron Age dwelling from around 0 CE to 450-500 CE. The earliest
(Syltgården) featured one-metre-thick peat walls.
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| Hjemsted Oldtidspark |
Even more interesting to us was Nordgården, which was a replica of a
large farm from around 450 AD. The building style featured the oak
post-built structures and the ‘wattle and daub’ walls so familiar to
Anglo-Saxonists. Floors were either cobbled or dirt rather than planked.
A small sky-light chimney-hole was situated immediately over the
fire-place but the fire was protected from any rain by a cow-hide
canopy. It would have been interesting to see if this arrangement was
more efficient than the design at West Stow where smoke has to find its
way through the thatch or holes at the gables.
In one of the other reconstructed buildings we found the village
smith; a living historian who had just begun a full-time position at the
village. He showed us an impressive pile of bog-iron ‘boulders’, which
had
been found in a local farm. We discussed early medieval bloomery iron
production for some time and he showed us a piece of shined bloomery
iron
he had made and sectioned recently. The silvery high-phosphorus iron
was most striking. We hope to visit again next year and see what
progress he has made with his smithcraft. To see a bloomery in action
would indeed be something.
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| Bog-iron ore (right) and bloomery bog-iron (left) smelted in an Iron-Age furnace |
The
catacomb-network that was the underground museum featured much early
pottery, and a large number of replicated graves set under glass beneath
the floor. Among the many personal items on display,
we were startled to find a pair of typical Anglian wrist-clasps!
Considering such items are considered almost foolproof indication of
Anglian identity for female graves back in England, this is something
quite significant. Perhaps we should not have been so surprised, though,
as this is the very area
where the English folk originated.
Lastly, we visited the shop, where we stocked up on some very excellent mead - all in all a most successful visit.
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| Part of the extensive underground museum at Hjemsted Oldtidspark, Denmark |
In
conclusion, we can recommend all three of these sites to the student of
early English history. The Ribe Viking Festival and market must be one
the best of such events in Europe. Gottorp Castle is a hidden gem for
the ardent Anglo-Saxonist, although it could well make itself more
inviting to those whose German is limited to being able to order a round
of drinks! The museum at Hjemsted shows what can be
achieved in a country which values its early and pre-medieval heritage. It is worth a
visit just to see the reconstructed farm; not to mention the nicest boar we
have ever seen, complete with curly blonde hair !
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| View across the lake, looking back at the farmsteads at Hjemsted Oldtidspark, Demnark. |