When most people think of Vikings, they typically imagine warrior men with horned helmets. Given the success of the “How to Train Your Dragon” films, kids are liable to imagine them taming fire-breathing winged reptiles, too. But these conceptions are rooted in latter-day artistic depictions, not facts, as Chicagoans will learn when the exhibit “Vikings” opens Feb. 27 at the Field Museum. It’s the only U.S. stop for this export from the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm and Austria’s MuseumsPartner.
Given that Vikings rank just below dinosaurs and robots on the Cool Things scale, the exhibit should spike kids’ curiosity enough to learn about the real deal — although most of the artifacts on display will best engage ages 10 and older, according to the Field’s Susan Neill, exhibitions project manager. Highlights include a 27-foot-long replica of a Viking ship called Krampmacken — not one of their enormous vessels used to sail the ocean, but a smaller boat for traveling on rivers — with a replica sail hand-woven from wool. Nine videos are interspersed throughout the exhibit, as well as sound installations playing music and one listening station that narrates three Norse sagas.
Neill spoke to us recently about the exhibit’s interactive components and what visitors of all ages can learn. The following is an edited transcript.
Q: How does the exhibit give people a sense of the region of the world Vikings hailed from?
A: When folks enter the exhibit, the first thing they’re going to encounter is a large panel. It features a map and asks the key question, which is: Who or what was a Viking? People might find out that what they thought they knew isn’t quite right. The map features areas in which the Vikings lived during their age; elsewhere in the exhibition, more maps further refine where Vikings’ presence was felt.
Q: We imagine these men and sometimes women wearing helmets with horns, but I understand that wasn’t really the case?
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A: That’s one of the most important points made in the exhibition: Viking helmets did not have horns. A lot of people are aware of how an image can become pervasive. In this case, it was a costuming decision in the mid-19th century for a Wagner opera, the Ring Cycle, and it just became symbolic for Norse mythology and Viking culture. Anything we think of as Scandinavian seems to be inextricably linked to this imagery: The Minnesota Vikings have horns on their helmets.
Q: What other major misconceptions might 21st century people have about Vikings?
A: A lot of people think of the Vikings as violent invaders. It’s more accurate to think of them as people who are out exploring the world, building relationships with people. Of course, when you’re encountering other cultures, sometimes they clash. But generally these are people who we would recognize. Vikings were more often craftsmen and traders than warriors. They live in a community. Family is important; land ownership is important; farming is important. It’s much less frequent that they’re out traveling, and even less that they’re engaged in battle.
Q: What features will families find to engage the kids?
A: There are quite a few interactives; some of those are touch screens, and quite a few are mechanical. There’s a wonderful opportunity to feel how heavy and significant a sword is. You can’t take (the replica sword) out — it’s safely displayed — but you can lift it and feel what that would be like to actually wield it. … Another thing people can do is spell out their name in rune stones, and I think that’s pretty fun.
Q: There’s a game component where visitors can excavate a virtual boat, right?
A: That’s a fantastic interactive, really intended for four people. They gather around a large touch-screen table, and people excavate their quadrant by swiping with their hand to remove layers of soil. With everyone working together, they’re actually able to reveal everything. It gives a great sense of what it would be like as an archaeologist to make a discovery.
“Vikings” opens Feb. 27 and runs through Oct. 4.