Monday,
25 Jun 2018 –
This morning was the last of our pre-scheduled ship excursions and required an
early breakfast, where we sat with Dale and Carlotta (again) of
California. They were interested in
hearing about our trip on the “street train,” as they had been unable to find
any public transportation.
Although we weren’t happy about having to
rise at 6:30 AM in order to meet in the Showroom at Sea, we knew we would enjoy
seeing what this excursion “Flakstad, Nusfjord, & Viking Museum” had to offer.
And, by 8:30 AM we were aboard a bus (one of
three such busses), with a guide (Emerelda) and driver (Kanute). Our guide had a heavy; however, she did
provide some illuminating facts about Norway and the Vikings during our
relatively short ride. Although our ship’s
dock has usually been very close to the main streets of town, in this case, it
was much further away; therefore, we were glad from the beginning, even before
we saw anything special, that we had a pre-arranged tour. Our bus traveled on Route 10, otherwise known
as King Olav Road.
This tour took us to one of the islands of
the Lofoten archipelago, which boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in
Norway. The village of Lekness (which sounded
to us a little like Loch Ness!) has a population of 2,800, and is located on
the second largest island in the group. Soon,
our bus drove westward through a long, underwater tunnel opened in 1989 to that
island. Our guide told us that this area
was always valuable for fishing because some fish come from as far as the Barents Sea (in the Arctic) to spawn because of special
qualities of the water here.
Our first stop was at the fishing hamlet of Nusfiord,
one of the oldest fishing villages in Norway. All of the original buildings,
numbering about 50, have been saved. Upon arrival, we stepped inside one of the
cabins to watch a short film showing the history of Nusfjord. In the film, small boats were crowded in the harbor,
where men in the boats stabbed large fish individually with a sharp hook and
then dumped them into a box with other fish.
The next step involved hanging the thousands of fish on racks, which
were then elevated to allow the fish to dry for a month. The village also had a saw mill and a cod
liver oil factory, which we also stepped inside. Most of the red houses near the water were
smaller than the one where we watched the film, and now tourists can rent
them. We walked through one, which had
two bedrooms on the main floor, and more space above.
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| Nusfjord Fishing Hamlet - Lookout Point in Background |
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| Nusfjord Fishing Hamlet |
Back in the bus, our guide emphasized the
importance of cod liver oil, which used to be an essential item for good health
during the long, dark winter. It was also
used to burn in lamps, and in paint for the outside of buildings. Also, she commented on colors of paint used
on houses; because white paint was the most expensive, a white house indicated
a high economic position for the family living there.
Since the last Ice Age was 11,000 years ago, one
might expect to see many trees now in Norway.
However, trees had been almost totally depleted for the building houses (made
mostly of wood) and for fuel. Although now
we see some trees, all of them are young trees, having been planted in recent
years. (We had noticed much barren
landscape, much like Iceland, which has had a similar history of using up their
trees.)
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| Loffoten Viking Museum |
Because wood has been very important in the
Norwegian culture, wood also features strongly in marriage ceremonies. Yes, the bride and groom exchange wedding
rings. However, more importantly, they
exchange wood. The woman gives the man
wood, signifying that she is no longer under the protection of her father but
now is under the protection of her husband.
And the man gives the woman wood to signify that she will protect his
children. This wood is considered “ancestral”
wood.
An interesting off-the-wall sort of comment
by our guide was that Viking helmets did not have horns! In a search on the Internet, Sally verified
this fact. In depictions dating from the
Viking age (between the eighth and 11th centuries) warriors appear either
bareheaded or clad in simple helmets probably made of iron or leather. The image of Vikings in horned helmets dates
back to the 1800’s, when Scandinavian artists included the horns. “When Wagner staged his ‘Der Ring des
Nibelungen’ opera cycle in the 1870’s, costume designer Carl Emil Doepler
created horned helmets for the Viking characters, and an enduring stereotype
was born.” (Source: www.history.com)
From the fishing village, our bus continued
to our second stop, Borg, where we visited the Viking Museum. In the parking lot we noticed several other
busses from a larger cruise ship also in the Leknes harbor.
Lofoten was a center of power during the
Viking period and the main house at Borg is the largest Viking building ever
uncovered (272 feet long and 30 feet high).
An exact copy has been built next to the excavation ground. Inside, passengers of our bus, as well as many
other people, soon were told to sit. And
so we crowded on benches covered with thick furs in a very large room, listening
to a museum curator, dressed in Norseman attire, tell us about the fascinating
history of this place and about Viking life.
He told us, how in 1983, a farmer’s new plow blades
dug a little deeper than previously and unearthed some shards of glass and
pottery. After archeological diggings
progressed, a huge dwelling (the largest ever found) of a Viking chieftain was
unearthed. Because many pieces of glass,
indicative of a much larger number of goblets being present, the curator emphasized
that this chieftain was extremely wealthy.
One goblet, he said, might have been worth a farm or even a Viking ship. Also, this was dwelling is believed to have
been already established around the year AD 500 and is estimated to have been
abandoned about AD 950. A joint
Scandinavian research project was conducted at Borg from 1986 until 1989. Excavations revealed the largest building
ever to be found from the Viking period in Norway. Also, it was perhaps one hundred years or
more earlier than other Viking settlements found so far, and it is also on the
northern edge of where the Viking population is supposed to have lived.
Concerning the term “Vikings,” the people who
lived here in what is now Norway were actually Norsemen. Although most of them were peaceful farmers
or fishermen, a very few (small minority) of them were pirates – and these were
called the “Vikings.” During that time
period, considerable trade was taking place between Norse merchants and
merchants in Britain, the French kingdoms, and Italy. People in the south liked certain kinds of fish,
Cod Liver oil, furs, and other products from the north. And, people in the north liked glass, metal,
jewelry, and perfumes – thus trade prospered!
Therefore, Vikings sometimes became very rich.
After listening to that interesting lecture,
Sally was disappointed to see how little time remained for us to inspect the
museum. This building was designed with
four rooms, one of them being for the housing of animals. Only enough time remained for us to examine
quickly some of the small items displayed along the sides of the room, such as
slippers or other articles that had not decayed over time. Jesse took photos so that we could study
those later. After that, we headed back
to the bus.
Later, a quick study of Wikipedia online
included more information: this museum was opened in 1995. Also included is the reconstruction of a
blacksmith’s forge, two ships (replicas of the Gokstad ship, one in full-scale
size) and their boathouses, and various reenactments intended to immerse the
visitor in life at the time of the Vikings.
“Quite a few of the archeological artifacts are of remarkable character. The extensive museum outdoor area is tied
together with gravel walking paths, inviting the visitors to explore the
history in greater content than the exhibition halls alone – to see the
reconstructed Chieftain’s house…, [and] to go on board the Viking ship….”
Sally’s only criticism of that tour was that
we needed much more time at the museum! We didn’t have time to look at artifacts or to
go on board a ship. (We didn’t know a
ship was there!)
Upon arrival back at the Prinsendam, we soon
found that all tours seemed to end at about the same time – and everyone was
heading to the Lido deck for lunch.
Luckily, we found a place to sit right away with Beckah and Barry, now
of Oregon. In another five minutes, we
might not have found a table there at all!
Interestingly, this couple has been married only 7 weeks, both being
widowed. (However, she added a little
later, that they had both been married and divorced previously, so that their
marital history is more complicated.)
Before moving to Oregon, she had been married to a writer/producer
presumably in Hollywood; she had been a clothes designer; and she had lived in
Burbank.
After the Prinsendam departed from port, the
Captain announced that we were going south to evade a storm that was coming to
the Leknes area. However, the seas would
be a little rough. Unless he had already
announced the fact earlier, we were told that we would not be stopping at Bodo,
Norway tomorrow; instead, we would have an unscheduled at-sea day. (“Hurrah!” said Sally.)
Before dinner we danced and, for the second
time on this cruise, the band was a different one than usually played in the
Ocean Bar (though the drummer was the same young man). Much to Sally’s chagrin, they played all very
jazzed-up versions of barely recognizable old songs. However, three young women who danced
separately in “line dance” fashion, taking up almost half of the dance floor
while they did it, seemed to enjoy the music!
For dinner, we sat alone at a table much too close to the deck door;
every time that door opened, it felt like winter at our table.
