Update, October 2026: The interview below dates from September 2023, when the ships still lay in the old Viking Ship House. On September 9, 2025, the Oseberg ship moved into the new building, and the Gokstad and Tune ships are next. The Museum of the Viking Age is still closed and now plans to open in November 2027. Oseberg Ship Move Completed Successfully tells the full story. Before planning a visit, check the museum’s own site, vikingtidsmuseet.no.
The Museum of the Viking Age in Oslo now plans to open in November 2027. When it opens, it will hold over 8,000 artifacts from the Viking Age, including the Oseberg Ship. In September 2023, Asgard Alaska interviewed the museum’s Communications Advisor, Mari Parelius Wammer, by correspondence.
Is the Oseberg Ship available for viewing while the Museum of the Viking Age is under construction?
[Ed. note: this answer describes 2023. The Oseberg ship has since moved into the new building; see the update at the top.]
No, unfortunately not. The Viking ships are too fragile to be moved, so they are safely protected in the old museum building while we are building the expansion. This video explains it quite well:
What makes the Oseberg Ship special among archeological finds?
It is the best-preserved Viking ship in the world. 90% of the ship is original wood. It was an extremely rich Viking grave for two women, and all the equipment still preserved in the grave has given us unique insight into this time period.
Why is it important to learn about the Viking Age?
In the Viking Age, people from Scandinavia traveled out into the world in numbers! They plundered, traded, fought, discovered and conquered new lands, built farms, and founded cities. It is a quite short period in our history (approx. 750-1050), but it had a huge influence/impact on the rest of Europe and even beyond European borders.
What three other places should a Viking enthusiast visit when they are in your area?
Since the Museum of the Viking Age will be closed for a few years, I highly recommend a visit to the Historical Museum in Oslo. The exhibition VIKINGR contains some of the most exquisite objects that we have from the Norwegian Viking Age – objects that will later be on display in the Museum of the Viking Age.
For more Viking related experiences in the Oslo-area, see the Oslofjord Viking Trail.
Not exactly in my area, but Lofotr in Lofoten, North of Norway is well worth a visit. Here you can experience the largest longhouse ever found and excavated, and you can sail/row a Viking ship (among other things). The scenery and surroundings are breathtaking.
Not exactly my area either, but if you want to experience life as a Viking, you should visit Gudvangen, western Norway. It is a Viking village, well worth a visit!
[Ed. note: we have written up both: Lofotr: A Living Viking Museum and the Viking village at Gudvangen.]
Keep reading
The Oseberg ship has its own story of burial, discovery, and rebuilding in The Oseberg Ship: Buried, Reconstructed, Preserved. For another great Viking site, read about Hedeby, Scandinavia’s southernmost town.
Asgard Alaska is a nonprofit that brings Viking history to life for Alaskans and visitors. Our own museum is not open yet. We are raising the Land Fund to buy the site, Phase 1 of our Roadmap. Our newsletter carries news like this interview, from Norway and from home.
Sources
- Mari Parelius Wammer, Communications Advisor, Museum of the Viking Age, University of Oslo: written interview with Asgard Alaska, September 2023.
- Museum of the Viking Age, vikingtidsmuseet.no
- Asgard Alaska, Oseberg Ship Move Completed Successfully, October 2025 (from the museum’s own move announcements).
