The centerpiece of the museum was the Oseberg ship, excavated in 1904 from a burial mound in Tønsberg and dated to 834 AD. Measuring over 21 meters, it was built of oak and adorned with intricate carvings that still curl along its prow.

But as magnificent as the ship itself is, what struck me most were the grave goods that had been preserved and displayed.

The burial contained two women — one around 80 years old, the other in her fifties — accompanied by a dazzling collection of objects. The museum showcased these in glass cases:

• Three wooden sleighs, decorated with ornate animal carvings.
• A four-wheeled cart, its panels filled with interlacing beasts in the gripping-beast style typical of the early Viking period.
• Five carved animal-head posts, each unique — perhaps used in rituals, their staring eyes and gaping jaws both eerie and captivating.
• Textiles, including patterned wool and silk imported from as far away as Byzantium, fragments that hint at the wealth and status of the Oseberg women.
• Household items: wooden pails, cooking equipment, and even farming tools.
• The remains of 15 horses, 6 dogs, and 2 oxen, sacrificed to serve the women in the afterlife.

The Oseberg find is the richest Viking burial ever discovered, and seeing so many of its treasures gathered together was like peering into a world both familiar and foreign — everyday objects transformed into grave gifts fit for eternity.

The Gokstad Ship and a Warrior’s World

In the adjoining hall stood the Gokstad ship, unearthed in 1880 near Sandefjord. Larger and sturdier than Oseberg, built around 890 AD, it was a true sea-going vessel — 23.8 meters long, with room for 32 oarsmen. This ship had carried a man of power into his burial mound, likely a local chieftain or king.

Though looters had robbed the grave centuries earlier, the ship still yielded fascinating remains:

• Parts of a gaming board and pieces, a reminder that even warriors valued leisure and strategy.
• Weapons and shields (though few survived intact).
• Sacrificed animals — including horses, peacocks, and even falcons, which reveal connections to far-reaching trade networks.

Objects of Everyday Life

Beyond the ships, the museum housed an extraordinary collection of smaller artefacts that told stories of daily life:

• Carved bedframes and wooden furniture, delicate yet durable after more than a thousand years.
• Buckets, ladles, and tools, showing the craftsmanship of everyday household objects.
• Sledges and wagons, not just utilitarian vehicles but richly decorated items that demonstrated wealth and artistry.
• Textiles and weaving tools, giving evidence of the Vikings’ mastery of fabrics and fashion.
• Bones of sacrificed animals, displayed with context to show the ritual significance of burials.

Walking through these cases, I felt that the Vikings were no longer distant raiders from sagas, but people who lived textured lives, surrounded by art, craft, trade goods, and rituals.

A Museum in Transition

What made this visit bittersweet was the knowledge that this beloved museum, opened in 1926, was closing for good. The building itself, with its whitewashed walls and tall arched ceilings, had long been compared to a church — a fitting shrine for the ships. But it was no longer suitable for conservation. Vibrations, humidity, and sheer visitor numbers threatened the fragile wooden hulls.

Now, the ships and artefacts are being carefully safeguarded as construction begins on the Museum of the Viking Age, due to open in 2027. The new museum will remain on Bygdøy, expanding the current site into a state-of-the-art facility more than three times larger than before. Instead of just 350 artefacts, over 5,000 objects from the Viking Age will be displayed, offering a far broader look into the period. Visitors will still marvel at the Oseberg, Gokstad, and Tune ships — but alongside them, they’ll encounter textiles, jewellery, tools, weapons, and household goods that show the full richness of Viking life.

Leaving the Viking Ship Museum that day felt like saying farewell to an old storyteller. For nearly a century, those ships had held court in their quiet halls, watched by millions of visitors. I was grateful to be among the last who saw them there, in the museum’s original form.

But like the Vikings themselves, always moving forward, these ships are setting sail once more — not on the sea, but into a new age of preservation and exhibition. When the Museum of the Viking Age opens in 2027, their story will continue, richer and more expansive than ever before.