AI-Powered Viking Woman? A First at Orkney Museum

In May 2025, the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall, Scotland, introduced the United Kingdom’s first AI-powered Viking woman. Her name is Ragna, and she will talk with you about life in Viking Orkney. Her backstory was written by Dr. Siobhan Cooke-Miller, archaeology curator for Orkney Islands Council, and Tom Muir, exhibitions officer at the Orkney Museum.

“For the people of Orkney, and the thousands of visitors who come to the islands every year, the artefacts and the world class experience made possible by James Groundwater’s gift offer an unparalleled and tangible window to our Viking past and the people in a way that transcends the passage of time and brings it to life,” Cooke-Miller said in a press release.

Ragna can answer visitors’ questions about Viking life in Orkney. In her story, she is a widow who inherited her husband’s farm. The museum chose a woman deliberately: women were integral to Viking exploration and settlement, but they are often overlooked in the histories.

Ragna is part of a permanent exhibition on Orkney’s Viking history. She works without a script, so conversations with her feel natural. The exhibition opened to locals on May 10, 2025, ahead of a national launch.

Orkney was one of the first stops for Vikings as they moved out of Scandinavia, and it became a center of Norse power. The museum also displays finds from the Scar boat burial, including an equal-armed brooch, alongside rotating displays, hands-on activities and new interpretation panels.

If you want to learn more about Viking women, check out our article on the most well-traveled Viking woman during her time Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir and another post on the Valkyries.