“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”
Who are the Vikings ? ‘Viking’ is a catch-all term for the people who came from Scandinavia, what is now Norway, Denmark and Sweden, between the 8th and 11th centuries. They have long had a notorious reputation as the raiders and pirates of the medieval world, their raids were fearsome and long-running. However, they were also explorers and skilled seafarers, managing to spread across Europe and east into Asia, south to northern Africa and as far west as Newfoundland in the North America. They established trade routes across the known world and settled in northern Britain and Ireland, forming the Kievan Rūs kingdom on the River Volga which is the longest river in the Europe.
To put it short, watch the movie : " How to Train your Dragon".
We are visiting the Lindholm Hoje Museum today. There are exhibitions that bring the history of the area to life. Displaying various recovered relics, you will be introduced to the ways of the Vikings through magnificent reconstructions, panoramas, illustrations and 3D animations. Experience how the inhabitants of Lindholm kept cattle, worked the field, built and decorated their houses, cooked, wove and traded.
How did they live in the Iron and Viking ages in Aalborg? What did they eat and drink? What did they believe in? All this is presented through exciting new techniques as well as the original burial site here. The burial ground at Lindholm Høje is one of Denmark's most beautiful ancient monuments from the Neolithic and Viking Age. There are almost 700 fire pits (cremation graves bordered by stones) found on this ancient burial ground. Through extensive archaeology research, beside burial site is found here, there are traces of Viking's long house and a village which are from 400AD to 1000AD.
From Aalborg Bus Terminal, we hopped onto bus 13 for a 15 minutes ride and alight at bus stop Lindholm Hoje(Vikingevej / Norresundby) and walked for 12 minutes before we reached the museum.
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| Right behind the signboard is a hunting ground that fires from the gun was heard. |
At Lindholm Høje, you will see one of Scandinavia’s best preserved Viking findings – dug out from a thick layer of sand which has kept the secrets of Lindholm Høje for thousands of years. A total of 682 graves and 150 stone ships have been found on the site. North of the burial site was a village where remains of houses, fences and wells have been discovered.
The admission ticket we paid included another museum here too - Ancient times in Limfjordslandet - This is the era before the Vikings came.
This museum tell us alot information of life in prehistory and presents the most important finds from the Stone Age through the Bronze Age and Iron Age to Viking times.
"A elderly man with a broken leg" - This elderly man was 45 - 60 years old when he died.At some point, he broke his right leg and although the injury was healed, it became a full 7cm shorter than his left leg. Which means, he was limping then. he was buried with his hand placing over his shorter leg. A pot and an iron knife were found by his side.
"Woman with distaff whorl" - This young woman was aged 25 - 35, who was found wearing a bronze brooch and a string of 17 beads. The pot shown on the photo contain food or water for her journey in the afterlife. Her family even placed a distaff whorl for her to kill time as she embark on her next journey after death. At the feet shown on the photo lies a bone comb.
"Woman with face beads" - The skeleton is of a woman wha 35 - 45 years old when she died. On the woman's chest are 2 bronze pins from which hangs a string of 141 glass and amber beads. In addition to the beads, a pot, an iron knife and bronze brooch were also buried with the woman.
See this gate here ? The ancient burial ground lie beyond. If you just want to visit this out door burial ground, there is no entrance fee at all.
"Viking" was originally an occupation, not an ethnic term. "Viking" refer to the Norse people of the "Viking Age", therefore the Scandinavians today are primarily descendants of them and I am glad to be surrounded by the "modern Vikings" of my time here in Denmark. To bring this term closer, my sister married one. 😍
We enjoyed our time walking through the greens, adoring the impressive stone moulds over the ancient fire pits, gazing goats roaming freely here and enjoying the view of the North Jutland countryside. The fascinating stories of the Vikings who lived on Lindholm Høje awaits everyone from far to near.
We have come to the end of the blog on Lindholm Hoje in Aalborg. Please look out for my next blog which will be interesting as well - We visited the city of Silkeborg where we came face to face with The TollundMan who was sacrificed more than 2000 years ago and also the Bunker Museum which the Germen built as the headquarter along the coast of Silkeborg during WW2.
If you have more time to spare, I would like to invite you to check out further on the rest of my blogs when we are in Denmark. :
1) Relocation from Singapore to Aalborg, Denmark
2) Exploring Aalborg - At the resident's view
4) One Day Silkeborg @ Denmark
5) Explore Copenhagen @ Denmark
Just to share, at the time of writing, Denmark is offering FREE covid testing for local citizens and residents when we have the yellow card( Health Card), otherwise payment is required. The results is ready in less than 30 minutes. You do not need to wait for the results as you can retrieve your results via a link sent to you upon registration. Everyone can go for FREE covid testing whenever one feels like though the covid passport expires in 3 days time. You are required to present a "negative" if you wish to dine in a restaurants, visit a museum or salons etc ( private managed establishments). I feel safe in the restaurants and museum as i know the people surrounded me are "negative" too. Well done Denmark!
P/S : I have already purchased my air tickets to Copenhagen in coming weeks.
Cheers and Good Luck 💓
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