We went to the amazing Museo Arqueologico de Alicante to explore the Viking exhibition. The museum is excellent and has won the European Museum of the Year award in 2004.

We began our visit by entering into a small theater where we watched a video on the history of the Vikings.

The video, which was in Spanish, explained the long history of the Vikings.

We were amazed at how large an impact the Vikings had on the world. The Vikings at their peak in the 8th and 9th centuries either controlled or were located in half the world. They traveled as far as Newfoundland Canada and had a strong influence on various regions of the world.

The Viking exhibit was separated into three different areas, the first was the Viking ships, warriors, and merchants. We were amazed at the various designs of ships built by the Vikings. They were excellent ship builders and created unique ships based on the usage. The long narrow ships associated with the Vikings were warships and could travel fast and required limited water. This allowed them to travel up rivers to conduct raids on villages near the shores.

They also had a unique control with a side rudder which was located on the right side and provided excellent maneuverability.

The right side rudder was called “Steor” meaning rudder or steering paddle, and the word “bord” referred to the ship’s side. The term “starboard” originated from the combination of these words meaning the right side of the ship.

The museum demonstrated the size of the largest Viking ship discovered in the world. The museum had a line showing the length of the ship.

To demonstrate the length of the ship, I took a photo of Shelley at the far end of the ship.

We continued through the museum looking and reading about the history of the Vikings. There were some interesting facts that we discovered. The Vikings used silver as a means of currency and would cut coins needed to achieve a certain weight.

They made everyday items out of bones and there were bonesmiths which were very common in Viking communities.

The Viking King “Harald Bluetooth” who reigned between 958 and 970 was famous for uniting Viking tribes in parts of Denmark and Norway into one nation and converting the Danes to Christianity. That is where the name “Bluetooth” is derived from in technology.

King Bluetooth converted the Vikings towards Christianity and embedded Christianity into their symbols and culture.

The Aby crucifix is the oldest crucifix in  Denmark and comes from Aby Church. The crucifix is dated from 1050 -1100 and made of gilded copper on a base of wood.

The Jelling Stone was created in 965 by King Bluetooth. A copy of the stone was produced for the museum exhibit. The jelling stone has three sides, one side has images of Danes, the other side has a mystical beast and the third side has an image of crucified Christ.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Viking exhibit, it was very interesting and informative.