Place Inspirations: Foteviken Museum, Ohio’s Viking Longhall

At a glance: two places inspired the Viking village we are building in Alaska. The Viking Longhall near Peebles, Ohio, is a Viking-style hall that sleeps up to 27 campers. It is also listed for booking on Hipcamp. The Foteviken Museum in Höllviken, Sweden, is a reconstructed Viking-age town that stands beside the site of the 1134 Battle of Fotevik.

Asgard Alaska will be an open-air museum and a living village, but don’t let the term museum fool you. Our “museum” will be a place where all of your senses are involved. In fact, you will become a member of our Viking village for a day. Participate in our activities in a hands-on learning environment. After all, the best way to learn something is to do it. So we drew inspiration from the amazing Foteviken Museum in Höllviken, Sweden.

Foteviken Museum in Sweden

Foteviken sits beside the site of the 1134 Battle of Fotevik. First, visitors walk through a tunnel under the highway to reach a reconstructed Viking-age town, ringed by earthworks on three sides and a lake on the fourth, where “guards” at the gate keep invaders out.

Visitors are greeted with replica farms, a marketplace, and buildings that house the various activities of a Viking village to the extent that historical documents and archaeology can confirm. The population of the village also includes students, who learn historically accurate skills like blacksmithing and weaving. Meanwhile, volunteers, interested in keeping the history of the area alive, run the activities for guests. Finally, there are campgrounds and Viking houses for those guests who want to stay overnight.

Foteviken Museum offers different programs tailored to the visitors’ wishes. For example, school groups can experience a day in the life of a Viking or become a Viking warrior. Guided tours also give an overview of the village and may end with a feast in the dining hall. (Lofotr in Norway, Moorforge in England and Guédelon in France also shaped our thinking.)

Ohio’s Viking Longhall

Another inspiration comes from Ohio’s Viking Longhall campsite, where they offer a communal camping adventure in a Viking Longhall re-creation that sleeps up to 27 people. The campsite also has amenities, like a fully furnished kitchen, DVD player, and projection system. In addition, it can be used for larger groups and has ample meeting space as well as an idyllic setting. (For the halls the Vikings themselves built, see our post on the Viking longhouse.)

Most importantly, the Longhall taught us that Asgard Alaska doesn’t have to open with everything in place. A living Viking community doesn’t start with millions of dollars. So we plan to begin with a few pieces, such as primitive campsites, an archery range, and a trail, and grow toward the full vision from there.

From the Viking Longhall to Alaska

Together, these two places sketch the starting point for our future. We’ll add dreams of our own, such as a 3D-target archery trail and axe throwing, and let our visitors help shape the rest. Our roadmap lays out the steps. Today we are in Phase 1, raising the Land Fund to buy the site. Still, the museum is not open yet.

Bringing Vikings to Alaska takes a village. If you have skills like woodcarving, blacksmithing, or weaving to share, introduce yourself.

To keep informed about the work we’re doing and our activities, sign up below for our newsletter.