SEATTLE — Helmets, swords and shields. Glowing glass. Even a sorcerer's wand, all more than 1400 years old. See them all at the new exhibit "The Vikings Begin" opening tomorrow at Nordic Museum in Ballard.
"We're so lucky everything was so well preserved and people hadn't found the graves and looted them," says Marika Hedin, the museum director at Sweden's Uppsala University.
The collection takes us back to the Vikings' earliest days in the 600's. All the artifacts were found underneath a grassy hill about an hour north of Stockholm.
"And then someone in the 1920's noticed there were strange kind of indentures? In the ground and started to dig," says Marika.
It was a grave field with 15 burial boats. Wealthy Vikings were interred in their boats.
Nordic Museum Executive Director Eric Nelson says a display of this caliber is why they renovated the museum last spring. He enjoys the story lines that thread throughout.
"It goes back to Thor comic books. I love the swords and I love the helmets. There are some incredible helmets and weapons here that are things that shouldn't be missed."
Nordic Museum 2655 NW Market St, Seattle, WA 98107. Oct. 20 – Apr. 14, 2019
