Here's the first Viking high seat crafted in central Norway in 1,000 years 

The chaotic exhibition space smells of fresh paint and sawdust, and there's a very special kind of tension in the air. The specially ordered high seat is on its way from Verdal.

It was made by traditional craftsman Kai Johansen. He works at the Stiklestad National Cultural Centre.

The Viking exhibition opened in June 2024 at the NTNU University Museum in Trondheim. The theme for its first year focused specifically on the Vikings’ journeys across the world, both as raiders and as traders. 

The exhibition showcased boat technology and weapons, as well as objects used as trade goods and artefacts from faraway places.

Farm life made the Viking journeys possible

The Viking Age was a 300-year-long period that is considered to have started with the raid on a monastery at Lindisfarne in 793. 

During this period, the Vikings travelled extensively, engaging not only in raiding, but also in trade and exploration.

For many people, the magnificent ships, swords, and treasures are closely associated with the sea-faring Vikings and the Viking Age. However, the vast majority of people during this period lived at home on the farm. This is the main focus of part two of the Viking exhibition in Trondheim.

“The farm is the cornerstone of Viking society as a whole,” says Ellen Grav, who coordinates the museum’s public outreach work on archaeology.

Collaboration on equipment for Viking expeditions

In Central Norway, there were several large farms that held considerable power and resources. 

These farms produced a surplus that could be traded for goods, resulting in objects from distant lands making their way to this part of Norway.

The large farms could collaborate on ships and equipment for Viking expeditions, thereby gaining even greater wealth and status.

No preserved houses from this period have been found, but archaeologists can infer a great deal based on excavations and written sources. 

During the excavation of Viking Age farms, archaeologists have found things such as layers of cooking stones from brewing activities, cultivation layers, and postholes.

In the surrounding area, there are often burial mounds that were associated with the farms.

New knowledge about farms and farming communities

Several archaeological surveys have been carried out in Central Norway in recent years. It's this knowledge that forms the backbone of the exhibition.

“We now know more about farms and farming communities in the Viking Age than we did just five to ten years ago,” says Grav.

The double rows of postholes often found at farms from this period tell us that the Vikings lived in what we call longhouses.

In the hall of the longhouse, the head of the farm sat on a high seat.

“It was the most prestigious seat in the hall, and not just anyone could sit there,” says Grav.

“The idea of creating a high seat for the exhibition was inspired by the design of the exhibition space. The double row of posts inside the venue resemble the rows of posts inside a longhouse,” says researcher Geir Grønnesby at the NTNU University Museum.

Craftsmanship with historical weight

The honourable task of creating Central Norway’s first high seat since the Viking Age was given to traditional craftsman Kai Johansen.

“The chair itself was fairly quick to make. It was the preparations that took the longest time,” he says.

No preserved Viking Age high seats from Central Norway exist, so Johansen went through all the available archaeological and written material on chairs and high seats from this period.

Among the sources of inspiration were the Oseberg Chair from 834 CE, a gift chair from 875 CE located in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, the myth of ‘Thor’s fishing trip,’ and a decorated bone tube from a cave in Nordmøre.

There is little about this chair that has been left to chance or the imagination, and it's perfect for sparking the public’s curiosity.

Imagine stepping into the dark hall, running your fingers over the smooth, hand-turned animal heads, and sitting down in the majestic high seat. In an instant, you are transformed from a visitor into the master of the room.

Also exhibited is the bone tube that inspired the seat’s decoration. From among the objects in the first part of the exhibition, Ellen Grav wants to highlight two rare house-shaped reliquary caskets from Ireland and a unique gold knob from a bishop's staff.

Both were probably plundered from the British Isles and brought here by the Vikings.

Next year, the museum plans to expand the exhibition with the theme of religion and religious practice. It will most likely focus more on the practice of religion than on the gods and religious images.

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Read the Norwegian version of this article at forskning.no

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