Vikings at the National Museum

Following a tweet on Twitter by the lovely Laura (@Czajkowski) I checked out the Viking Event at the National Museum at Collins Barracks recently. I didn't know what to expect at all, but it was all rather wonderful!

I saw fellas fighting







That big boat in the background is the Sea Stallion. There'll be talks on it soon.



Some of the vikings were a bit more modern than you'd expect...



Wouldn't fancy wearing this to go hurling



But some of the other stuff looked really interesting





I discovered a passion for weapon design I didn't know I had. Some of the designs were very intricate



Just look at the detail on this spear



The weapons viking, Eryk (what else could it be?) had interesting rings



and many Thor Hammers for luck in battle



I reckon he'd easily have damaged me...



I went to have a look at the decorative elements on display



The intricacy of the designs was amazing, and all based on ancient types



We met a viking youth (fascinated with the vacuum cleaner he was)



and we learned all about the different herbs and spices used for dying clothes



For example green and yellow came from straw and tumeric





It was a pity I didn't go in earlier or on the Sunday like Laura because there was a lot more to see. Will tells me it's the guys and gals from livinghistory.ie that put this on - all very knowledgeable, personable and friendly. Really made the day worth it.

On April 26 in the National Museum at Kildare Street there's another Viking exhibition. Would highly recommend it.

Thanks for the heads up Laura. We had fun :)