0:00:02 > 0:00:03MUSIC: "Gopher Mambo" by Yma Sumac
0:00:03 > 0:00:06Longships. Battle-axes. Burning abbeys.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09These are the defining images etched into our minds
0:00:09 > 0:00:13from the traumatic period of history known as the Viking Age...
0:00:15 > 0:00:19..when ship-borne warriors from Scandinavia unleashed terror
0:00:19 > 0:00:22across Western Europe and beyond.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Taking no prisoners, exacting cruel retribution,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36priding themselves on their bloodthirsty talents -
0:00:36 > 0:00:39who could forget the notorious Vikings?
0:00:41 > 0:00:44It was Mark Twain who once said that the very ink
0:00:44 > 0:00:47with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50and when it comes to the Vikings, we have tended to see them
0:00:50 > 0:00:54rather through red-tinted glasses as violent,
0:00:54 > 0:00:59marauding pagans whose main interests were rape, pillage and...
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Well, more rape and pillage.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03But a new exhibition here at the British Museum
0:01:03 > 0:01:04aims to broaden the picture
0:01:04 > 0:01:08and show that they also had a surprisingly sophisticated taste
0:01:08 > 0:01:10for art.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Whether the Vikings are interpreted as barbarians or civilisers,
0:01:16 > 0:01:20the art they created is deeply original and expressive.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24A bright shaft of light piercing the so-called Dark Ages.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Defined by beautiful, intricate styles
0:01:28 > 0:01:31that are distinctly Scandinavian,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34yet laced with intrigue and mystery.
0:01:36 > 0:01:37So, just for now at least,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40put aside any preconceptions you may have
0:01:40 > 0:01:43about bloodthirsty thugs in horned helmets,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47and prepare to be enthralled by the splendours of Viking art.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04You can't begin to explore the world of the Vikings
0:02:04 > 0:02:06or to look at Viking art
0:02:06 > 0:02:09without first acknowledging some of the bad things they did.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14In a sense, the Vikings' sins.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19This is the Holy Island of Lindisfarne,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22the site of the first monastery in Britain to be attacked
0:02:22 > 0:02:24in a Viking raid.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28One day in June 793,
0:02:28 > 0:02:33a load of Viking longships moored up in that harbour.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39And they came into this place of monastic retreat and sanctuary
0:02:39 > 0:02:41and they desecrated it, they killed the priests,
0:02:41 > 0:02:43spilled their blood on the altar.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45The Anglo-Saxon scholar Alcuin wrote
0:02:45 > 0:02:49that they removed the relics of the saints from their reliquaries,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52spilled their blood on the stones of the church
0:02:52 > 0:02:55and trampled their bones as if it were dung.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57He finished his lament by asking,
0:02:57 > 0:03:02"Where, where is our God to save us from these pagans?"
0:03:04 > 0:03:08Early historians came to record the raid on Lindisfarne as marking
0:03:08 > 0:03:10the beginning of the Viking Age,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14when the Vikings began an aggressive expansion across Western Europe
0:03:14 > 0:03:16and beyond.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21This and the other raids that followed earned the Vikings
0:03:21 > 0:03:23their reputation for violence.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28They knew that the monks would be unarmed.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31They also knew that they would find some objects here
0:03:31 > 0:03:33made of silver and gold.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37I think the Vikings may well have come at night,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and they swarmed across the island
0:03:39 > 0:03:43and simply, as it were, fell on the monastery.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47- Like stinging hornets, as one of the Anglo-Saxon accounts...- Much worse.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50- That's it.- Mm-hm.
0:03:50 > 0:03:51Was there fire involved?
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Yes, indeed. The monastery was largely wood.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Entirely wood, at that time, as far as we know.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01And certainly a good deal of it was burned down.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04And then, for some of the people at least,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06the whole thing was over very, very quickly.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10What they saw I... I don't think we can imagine.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15The raid on Lindisfarne sent shockwaves
0:04:15 > 0:04:17throughout Anglo-Saxon England.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20The Vikings had arrived.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22And they'd made quite an impression.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26What's your opinion of the Vikings?
0:04:26 > 0:04:30What do you think of them as a people?
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Where do they stand in your estimation?
0:04:33 > 0:04:35The Vikings that came here
0:04:35 > 0:04:39seem to me to be really nothing much more than murderous thugs.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43I can't think that they came here for any other purpose than to grab,
0:04:43 > 0:04:45to steal, to raid,
0:04:45 > 0:04:49and they didn't allow anything whatever to get in their way.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53And they seem to me to be exactly like a great deal
0:04:53 > 0:04:54of the extremely horrible things
0:04:54 > 0:04:56that are happening in the world nowadays.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58So, to me, they are terrorists.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04It does seem pretty unlikely that art
0:05:04 > 0:05:06was on the minds of the Vikings who attacked.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12But if it had been, ironically, Lindisfarne was the place to come.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17When the Vikings raided in 793,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21Lindisfarne was one of the centres for production
0:05:21 > 0:05:23of illuminated manuscripts.
0:05:23 > 0:05:29And, sadly, just one survives - the great Lindisfarne Gospels.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Held by the British Library, this is a facsimile.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34A very good facsimile.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39It gives you some idea of the immense skill and sophistication
0:05:39 > 0:05:44reached by the illuminating artists here on Lindisfarne.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Here on the title page of the Gospel Of Luke
0:05:47 > 0:05:53we see the saint writing away - very much painted in the Greek style.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55A Byzantine saint.
0:05:55 > 0:05:56Turn over the page
0:05:56 > 0:06:02and you enter a completely different world of design and decoration.
0:06:02 > 0:06:08A combination of Anglo-Saxon pattern-making, Roman elements.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Very much Celtic as well.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Now, why is it that the Lindisfarne Gospels managed to survive?
0:06:14 > 0:06:18Perhaps one of the monks managed to secrete it away
0:06:18 > 0:06:21just as the Vikings arrived.
0:06:21 > 0:06:27But we do know that the Vikings were not interested in books.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31They burned the texts they found in the scriptorium,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35perhaps as a gesture of contempt for the religion of their enemies.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Anything that they didn't consider as booty...
0:06:39 > 0:06:41they simply destroyed.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Not the behaviour you'd expect, perhaps, from an art-loving people.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55But over the next 300 years,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58the Vikings would create their own artistic masterpieces.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Viking art, which is to be featured in a new exhibition
0:07:07 > 0:07:09at the British Museum,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12the largest exhibition on the Vikings for more than 20 years.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20The show is being housed in a brand-new wing of the museum.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24And not only will it include
0:07:24 > 0:07:26some impressive examples of Viking art...
0:07:27 > 0:07:32..but also a gigantic, 120-foot-long Viking warship.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39- Wow!- So, this is the new Sainsbury exhibition centre.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41- It's enormous!- It is. It's huge.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Gareth Williams is the exhibition curator,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47and he's preparing for the delivery of the Viking warship -
0:07:47 > 0:07:52one of the largest objects the museum has ever put on display.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Tell me about this huge new door that you you've had built.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00What the door allows us to do - we're on the ground floor,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02so street level of the museum,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04and for the first time,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08what this allows us to do is to back a lorry straight
0:08:08 > 0:08:09into the exhibition space,
0:08:09 > 0:08:11and can unload into this space.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13And the Viking boat comes out here?
0:08:13 > 0:08:18Well, it comes out in sections. It's been, basically, flat-packed.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20- It's been preserved... - As you do.- As you do.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24It's Scandinavian design. It's been conserved...
0:08:24 > 0:08:26ANDREW LAUGHS ..timber by timber.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30We have round about 20% of the ship itself survives,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32that's been conserved timber by timber,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35that comes in one big container, which is carefully conditioned
0:08:35 > 0:08:38to maintain the right humidity, the right temperature,
0:08:38 > 0:08:39that can be backed into this space,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42which will already have been prepared for it,
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and unloaded directly into this space.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46- And you reassemble it here? - We reassemble it here.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48There's a second container...
0:08:48 > 0:08:51- Like a very, very complicated piece of IKEA furniture.- Basically.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53Does it have a name? Is it called something like Bjorn?
0:08:53 > 0:08:57- It's called Roskilde 6, simply because...- Perfect!
0:08:57 > 0:08:59It's a wonderful story.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03It was found by chance underneath the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05They were building an extension to house all the replicas
0:09:05 > 0:09:08of the Viking ships which they've already got on display there,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11and they found nine more ships underneath, including this,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14including the longest Viking ship ever found.
0:09:17 > 0:09:18In a few months' time,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21the gallery will be crammed full of Viking objects,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24from the very large to the very small...
0:09:25 > 0:09:29..many of which have never been seen in the UK before.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34It'll all amount to a multifaceted view of Viking society
0:09:34 > 0:09:36and Viking culture.
0:09:36 > 0:09:42Are you trying to complicate the stereotypical view of the Vikings
0:09:42 > 0:09:46as a bunch of bloodthirsty raiders, pirates from the north?
0:09:46 > 0:09:49What we're showing is there's a breadth to society
0:09:49 > 0:09:51in the Viking Age.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Violence and warfare were important parts of this,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56and it's very much a warrior society,
0:09:56 > 0:10:01at least at the higher levels of society, but at the same time,
0:10:01 > 0:10:05trade was one of the driving forces for this huge expansion
0:10:05 > 0:10:08across the Viking world, and we have craftsmanship,
0:10:08 > 0:10:13we have poetry. There's a lot going on apart from just hitting people.
0:10:13 > 0:10:14ANDREW CHUCKLES
0:10:14 > 0:10:17I think that should be the strapline to the exhibition!
0:10:17 > 0:10:20"There's a lot going on apart from just hitting people."
0:10:20 > 0:10:23- Yep.- It's official.- But the hitting people's important too.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33I'll be coming back here a little bit later
0:10:33 > 0:10:36for a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations for this
0:10:36 > 0:10:37fascinating exhibition,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41but to explore the true origins of Viking art,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44I've got to leave the sanctuary of the British Museum behind,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48and travel to the Viking homeland of Scandinavia.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54On my quest, I'll be searching the epic fjords and frozen wilds
0:10:54 > 0:10:59of the far north for the very stuff of Viking legend.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Great beasts, ribbon animals, coiling snakes -
0:11:03 > 0:11:06the creatures that seem to haunt the Viking mind
0:11:06 > 0:11:07and live in their art.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13And it all begins here at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16with what's been described as the greatest
0:11:16 > 0:11:18of all Viking Age discoveries.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31This is the Oseberg ship.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Absolutely fantastic.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42We wouldn't have it if it weren't for a farmer called Oskar Rom,
0:11:42 > 0:11:47who decided in 1903 to dig up an intriguing-looking mound
0:11:47 > 0:11:51on his farm in Oseberg, about 40 miles away from here.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Now, if you think it's impressive from down here...
0:11:56 > 0:11:58..come up to the viewing platform.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02The ship is 1,200 years old.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07Astonishing to think that a wooden object could have survived
0:12:07 > 0:12:11the ravages of being buried underground for that long, but look!
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Isn't that something? How does that survive?
0:12:14 > 0:12:16How does that survive for so long?
0:12:16 > 0:12:20And not only is this an extraordinary archaeological find,
0:12:20 > 0:12:25but it's also a vital relic for our understanding of Viking art,
0:12:25 > 0:12:29because it's decorated with these ribbons and bands
0:12:29 > 0:12:32of finely carved animals. In fact, in a sense,
0:12:32 > 0:12:37the whole thing has been conceived as a piece of seafaring sculpture,
0:12:37 > 0:12:42because at the far end you've got a serpent's head,
0:12:42 > 0:12:48and here you've got a serpent's tail, so the whole thing is designed
0:12:48 > 0:12:53to resemble a gigantic sea snake riding the waves.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55What a wonderful object.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02It's thought that the Oseberg ship was built around 820 AD,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05towards the very beginning of the Viking Age.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11It's discovery caused a sensation in Norway.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Nothing quite like it had ever been seen before.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17The ship had been buried in the ground,
0:13:17 > 0:13:19in accordance with Viking tradition,
0:13:19 > 0:13:20following the death of a lady
0:13:20 > 0:13:24who must have been a very important Viking -
0:13:24 > 0:13:25perhaps a Viking queen.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29Her body had been placed together with that of her maid
0:13:29 > 0:13:33in a specially constructed wooden burial chamber
0:13:33 > 0:13:35on the top deck of the ship,
0:13:35 > 0:13:39on board for the great symbolic journey to the afterlife.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40I just love this boat!
0:13:40 > 0:13:43I remember the first time I saw it. It was ten years ago,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46and I walked in and I just felt like a child seeing
0:13:46 > 0:13:49a dinosaur for the first time, I was just completely overwhelmed.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51I mean, if you look at it,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55you wouldn't have believed that it was actually made in 820.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57So, Signe, I have to confess,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59I do sometimes get a little bit confused by the wriggling,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02tangling nature of Viking illustration,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05so how would you advise me to find a beast?
0:14:05 > 0:14:09- A particular beast.- Well, everybody gets confused by these animals.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12You have to start with a head.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14If you get hold of the head, you're all right.
0:14:14 > 0:14:15HE LAUGHS Look for the eye.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17If you get hold of the head, you're all right - I like that.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19- That's the eye, the round eye.- Yeah.
0:14:19 > 0:14:24And you look for the jaws, and they're profile in this case.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26And then you look for the neck.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28And the neck will take you to the body.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31So, the front portion of the body, here,
0:14:31 > 0:14:37which has been opened up a bit in order to let the animal look through,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39and then a middle part of the body
0:14:39 > 0:14:42and the hind portion of the body, with the legs...
0:14:42 > 0:14:45- And the feet.- ..here and there. And the feet.- Fantastic.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48And all this would have been painted?
0:14:48 > 0:14:49All of it would have been painted.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53And perhaps, if it were painted, it might be slightly easier to see.
0:14:53 > 0:14:54Yes.
0:14:54 > 0:15:01And they used reddish, a deep blackish-blue, a yellow and a white.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03It's a wonderful thought,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07to think of this ship sailing through the sea
0:15:07 > 0:15:09with the sun catching the prow
0:15:09 > 0:15:13with all of those colours gleaming in the light.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15And once you think of it in that way,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18this would not be so different
0:15:18 > 0:15:22from the marginal paintings in a manuscript.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Absolutely. I was just going to say, yeah. That's a lovely thought.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28And it's a very similar sensibility, isn't it,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31that you're almost decorating the margin of a ship.
0:15:31 > 0:15:32Yes, exactly.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34The piece of the ship that isn't actually designed for use,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38- like the part of the page that you don't read...- Mm-hm, that's it.
0:15:38 > 0:15:39..you decorate.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44But the ship was not all that was discovered at Oseberg.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48It was Viking custom to be buried with your possessions,
0:15:48 > 0:15:53and it seems that our mysterious Viking queen also kept
0:15:53 > 0:15:55a fantastic collection of art...
0:15:56 > 0:16:00..much of which had been carefully stowed by her side
0:16:00 > 0:16:02in her burial chamber.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Take this decorated textile wall-hanging -
0:16:06 > 0:16:10a kind of Viking version of the Bayeux Tapestry,
0:16:10 > 0:16:12but at least two centuries older...
0:16:13 > 0:16:18..and a rare example of narrative art from the early Viking age.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23But the majority of the art from the Oseberg burial
0:16:23 > 0:16:27consists of beautifully carved wooden objects,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30like these bizarre wooden sledges.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37Or this, the Oseberg wooden cart.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41Everything decorated with deeply mysterious ornamentation.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45So, here we are - the world's most beautiful wooden cart.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49- Yes. Ever seen anything like it before?- No.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52- No, I never. I mean, it's unique, isn't it?- It is.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57It is funny - when we look at the ship, for instance, these animals
0:16:57 > 0:17:01are much less competently carved, they seem more haphazardly composed.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04- He's not the same craftsman. - No, definitely not.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07- And I agree with you, not as gifted...- No.- ..technically,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10- but there's a tremendous sense of energy about it.- Yes, it is.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14So, Signe, tell me something about the decorations we've got here.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16There seem to be some narrative elements.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Well, the decoration is extremely interesting,
0:17:19 > 0:17:24because it is one of the very few narrative carvings we have.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29If you look at it, you've got the man on a horse,
0:17:29 > 0:17:34and he's being attacked from the back by a dog,
0:17:34 > 0:17:40and he is stopped by this standing man, who holds a sword...
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Yeah.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45..and seems to be about to attack him.
0:17:45 > 0:17:51And next to the man is a woman, standing here and holding his arm.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54She's holding the man back, or she's egging him on.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56There's no saying which.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58- It's quite dramatic, isn't it?- It is.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00It's a scene of conflict, a scene of...
0:18:00 > 0:18:03I mean, you know, you're riding along and you're being attacked
0:18:03 > 0:18:05- from the back AND from the front. - Yeah.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07You're really in a lot of trouble.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11But now let's walk around and look at the end of the cart.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15- It's absolutely crammed with ornament, isn't it?- It is.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19And it also has these nice catlike animals
0:18:19 > 0:18:24with their hands or front paws to their heads,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28suggesting very much the day after the night before.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32- But that's just my imagination. - They do! They look like, "Mmm..."
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Cats with hangovers, that's what they look like.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38- Yeah.- They've got such quizzical expressions on their faces.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Their eyebrows are raised, they're saying, "What's happened?
0:18:41 > 0:18:42"What's going on?"
0:18:42 > 0:18:46- "What's happening inside my skull?" - "What's happening inside my brain?!
0:18:46 > 0:18:50- "How did I end up here..." - Yes.- "..on a Viking ritual chariot?
0:18:50 > 0:18:52- "What did I do?" - THEY CHUCKLE
0:18:52 > 0:18:56It's wonderful, but it's also, I think, deeply mysterious.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59- Yeah.- You can have theories and theories and theories,
0:18:59 > 0:19:04- but when there's so little text to put together with object...- Yes.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06..it's just... In the end, we have to hold up...
0:19:06 > 0:19:09We have to go like that!
0:19:09 > 0:19:11You're at the deep end, in fact.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Yeah, we're at the deep end, we don't quite know.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19These wonderful creatures have been given the name "gripping beasts",
0:19:19 > 0:19:24and together with the strange ribbon animals carved on the ship,
0:19:24 > 0:19:29they appear to be a defining feature of one early style of Viking art.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32It's been dubbed the Oseberg style,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36preserved in all its glory in this incredible museum.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42The remains of the Oseberg burial
0:19:42 > 0:19:45amount to the greatest treasure trove of Viking art
0:19:45 > 0:19:46anywhere in the world.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51And I have to say I find them oppressive
0:19:51 > 0:19:54as much as I find them fascinating.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Look at these studded sledges with these beast heads,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03snarling faces, brains that look as though they're wrapped in snakes -
0:20:03 > 0:20:07there's something terribly sinister about it.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Imagine being a hapless Anglo-Saxon
0:20:10 > 0:20:13and taken into captivity by these people.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Suddenly you're among this.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Look at these extraordinary animal heads.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22We don't know what these were for, but aren't they extraordinary?
0:20:22 > 0:20:26The delicacy of the carving, the depth of the carving
0:20:26 > 0:20:30into this hard wood, and the fineness of detail.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34It's the sculptural equivalent of illuminated manuscripts.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39It's absolutely fantastic, but, again, forbidding.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41Quite dark.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45There's an extraordinary description by an Arab writer,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48an ambassador from Baghdad trading with the Vikings in Russia,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52of all places, written in 923. Ibn Fadlan.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55And he describes a Viking chieftain's burial,
0:20:55 > 0:21:00saying that at the end of it, at the end of it all,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02a hapless slave girl is systematically raped
0:21:02 > 0:21:04by all of the warrior chieftains
0:21:04 > 0:21:08and thrown into the burial ship, with the Viking chieftain.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12These were hard, hard people.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Dangerous people.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Deeply superstitious people.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19But, boy, did they know their stuff.
0:21:19 > 0:21:20When it came to raiding
0:21:20 > 0:21:24and when it came to seafaring, they had no equal.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29And, for me, this is one of the most extraordinary things
0:21:29 > 0:21:32ever made by the hand of man.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36This is the Gokstad ship. What a thing it is!
0:21:36 > 0:21:40And it suggests to me that their greatness,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44if we can talk about their greatness as craftsmen, as artists,
0:21:44 > 0:21:49as designers, lies in a profound, innate, deep understanding
0:21:49 > 0:21:50of natural process.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Look at the way they've shaped the wood,
0:21:53 > 0:21:58and look at the way they've shaped the wood to float on the sea,
0:21:58 > 0:21:59to fight the ocean.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01To cut through it.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05To me, it's almost as if they've drawn inspiration from a whale -
0:22:05 > 0:22:07doesn't it look like a whale made of wood?
0:22:07 > 0:22:09What a thing!
0:22:09 > 0:22:10What a thing.
0:22:10 > 0:22:18If you want to feel Viking power, just stand in front of this
0:22:18 > 0:22:21and imagine it cutting through the ocean towards you.
0:22:27 > 0:22:28By the end of the 9th century,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32the Vikings were engaged in a full-scale conquest
0:22:32 > 0:22:33of vast swathes of Europe...
0:22:35 > 0:22:37..expanding eastwards into Russia,
0:22:37 > 0:22:42establishing colonies as far afield as Iceland and the Faroes,
0:22:42 > 0:22:44and conquering large parts of England.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50It seems that raiding Anglo-Saxon monasteries had just been
0:22:50 > 0:22:53a phase the Vikings were going through.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57In places like Cumbria, Yorkshire and East Anglia,
0:22:57 > 0:22:58they were now settling...
0:23:00 > 0:23:04..and bringing with them their culture and artistic traditions.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14These beautiful objects of Viking jewellery
0:23:14 > 0:23:17were all discovered not in Scandinavia, but in England.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23They're from a variety of periods within the Viking Age,
0:23:23 > 0:23:25and show different artistic styles.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31I'm at the British Museum with archaeologist Jane Kershaw,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35who's an expert on the art of Viking jewellery.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38We have a number of different types of objects here.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41We have some very high-status,
0:23:41 > 0:23:43expensive items of jewellery.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46These oval brooches, for instance,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48are very distinctly Scandinavian pieces
0:23:48 > 0:23:50that are likely to have been imported,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53probably on the clothing of female settlers,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57as is this lovely silver pendant.
0:23:57 > 0:23:58That's a lovely thing.
0:23:58 > 0:24:04This is probably from around 900, so late 9th, early 10th century.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06And that's from Scandinavia, you think,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09and brought to England by Scandinavian settlers.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11I think that's most likely.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14It's identical to examples that we find in Scandinavia.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17It's actually quite fierce when you see it up close, isn't it?
0:24:17 > 0:24:18Yeah, it's gripping,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22it's gripping its own body with this kind of claw-like hand.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24And plus, you've got these little beast heads
0:24:24 > 0:24:28around the circular frame, so it is a rather fierce composition.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Even the brooch tells you, "Ooh! OK. Be careful.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35- "Don't get on the wrong side of her."- Exactly.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38It's beautiful, though.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40And these are rather less daunting, aren't they?
0:24:40 > 0:24:44These would have been worn in a pair, on the shoulder,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48and their function is to hold up the straps
0:24:48 > 0:24:51of a particular type of dress.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56What's going on in this brooch? Are there hints of animal motifs?
0:24:56 > 0:24:58There are animal motifs.
0:24:58 > 0:25:04You can just about make out an eye and a face, one on each side,
0:25:04 > 0:25:08and then the body's rather contorted and abstract, coming down.
0:25:08 > 0:25:14You have a spiral hip and then it ends in three-toed feet.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Do you have any idea what the animals might be?
0:25:17 > 0:25:20I don't think they represent any animal that we would recognise,
0:25:20 > 0:25:22they're kind of fantastical.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Sometimes you have four-legged animals in Viking art,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28but these are rather more abstract, I think.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34The designs revealed in the jewellery
0:25:34 > 0:25:37reflect the different styles of Viking art.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41Look closely and you'll find animal claws, eyes and heads,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43elements of the gripping beast.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48The creatures of Viking art live and breathe in this jewellery,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52and it's nice to think that these beautiful items were once worn
0:25:52 > 0:25:53in England.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58You've brought objects that are lower down the scale as well,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00I'm assuming. I mean, some of these objects,
0:26:00 > 0:26:02although they're also rather beautiful,
0:26:02 > 0:26:05they're distinctly humbler in feel, are they not?
0:26:05 > 0:26:07Yes. Some of, actually, the more recent,
0:26:07 > 0:26:11and in some ways more interesting, finds from Norwich Castle Museum
0:26:11 > 0:26:13are slightly lower status,
0:26:13 > 0:26:19much more affordable - the sort of things worn in everyday dress.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22So, we see on trefoil brooches, for instance,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24this style is a sort of simplified version
0:26:24 > 0:26:27of one we get in Scandinavia,
0:26:27 > 0:26:32and we can tell also from the pin lugs on the back of the brooch
0:26:32 > 0:26:34that it's more of an Anglo-Saxon type,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37so it's something that was probably made in England
0:26:37 > 0:26:39according to Scandinavian tastes.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41And once they started settling,
0:26:41 > 0:26:45do you think their relations with the Anglo-Saxons became friendlier?
0:26:45 > 0:26:48That they started trading with them instead of beating them up.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52I'm sure they did, I'm sure there was a lot of Anglo-Scandinavian
0:26:52 > 0:26:55cultural integration, and we see that on some of the brooches
0:26:55 > 0:26:59that combine Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian styles.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04But it is quite remarkable that this Scandinavian female dress
0:27:04 > 0:27:06is upheld in England.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08You might expect that they get rid of their oval brooches,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10they get rid of their strapped dresses
0:27:10 > 0:27:13and they start wearing Anglo-Saxon costumes -
0:27:13 > 0:27:16that would be the natural path for social integration.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18But, actually, we don't see that.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23We see that they're keen to uphold dress styles from Scandinavia.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25When we get new styles coming in,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28women in England adopt those new Scandinavian styles,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30so they're staying in touch with fashions
0:27:30 > 0:27:32in the Scandinavian homeland,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36so they're very keen to display their Scandinavian inheritance.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39It's a nice thought, trying to think of, you know,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41presumably this fair-haired Viking lady
0:27:41 > 0:27:45walking down the street wearing those for the first time!
0:27:45 > 0:27:46"Look at me!"
0:27:46 > 0:27:50- It's definitely a bit of bling. - Definitely a bit of bling.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59The recent finds give us a fascinating insight
0:27:59 > 0:28:03into the Vikings in Britain in the late 9th century onwards.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07Now the Vikings were staying and settling in Britain,
0:28:07 > 0:28:12bringing with them their jewellery and their fashions, bling and all.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15But the development of Viking art tells a deeper story
0:28:15 > 0:28:18about the interaction between these two cultures,
0:28:18 > 0:28:23the native Anglo-Saxons and the invaders from Scandinavia.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27The conquerors would become the conquered.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Gradually, the Vikings would shed their pagan beliefs
0:28:30 > 0:28:32and embrace Christianity.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40Strange things began to happen as the Viking settled in England.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Not only did the newcomers begin to adopt
0:28:44 > 0:28:46the Anglo-Saxons' Christian religion...
0:28:48 > 0:28:51..but they were also strongly influenced by their art.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56It seems that Anglo-Saxon stone crosses, like this beautiful example
0:28:56 > 0:29:00in the village of Irton in Cumbria, made quite an impression.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06Stone-carving hadn't been something the Vikings had traditionally done,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08but that was about to change.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14In the 19th century there was a great surge of interest
0:29:14 > 0:29:17in northern Norse mythology and legend -
0:29:17 > 0:29:20think of Wagner's Twilight Of The Gods -
0:29:20 > 0:29:23and the echoes were heard as far afield
0:29:23 > 0:29:26as this quiet corner in Cumbria,
0:29:26 > 0:29:29where, in 1880, a local doctor called Charles Parker,
0:29:29 > 0:29:31who was also an antiquarian,
0:29:31 > 0:29:38found his eyes drawn to this intriguing stone cross.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42At first sight it seemed much like many of the Anglo-Saxon crosses
0:29:42 > 0:29:44to be found elsewhere in the region,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46but there was something different about it,
0:29:46 > 0:29:50this Borre-style intricate patterning of its surface,
0:29:50 > 0:29:51the height of the object.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55He asked his coachman to clean it off, to get up on a ladder
0:29:55 > 0:29:58and scrub it down so that he could inspect its details,
0:29:58 > 0:30:02and when he did, he noticed some rather unusual features.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06Yes, there's Jesus Christ on the Cross at the centre of this side,
0:30:06 > 0:30:11but he also noticed these strange writhing figures
0:30:11 > 0:30:18who don't seem to be explicable by any of the stories of the Bible.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20It turns out that what he'd rediscovered,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23with a little bit of help from his coachman,
0:30:23 > 0:30:26was one of the very few surviving masterpieces
0:30:26 > 0:30:30of Viking stone sculpture created here in England.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36The Gosforth Cross would have looked very different in Viking times.
0:30:37 > 0:30:42Like the Oseberg ship, it would have been painted in bright colours,
0:30:42 > 0:30:46and the carvings would not have been worn down, as they are today.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51But even if they were easier to see,
0:30:51 > 0:30:55what they depict is still extremely mysterious.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59Richard Bailey is an archaeologist who has studied Viking Age sculpture
0:30:59 > 0:31:01in northern England.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05So, Richard, are you able to help me decipher
0:31:05 > 0:31:07this extremely puzzling scene
0:31:07 > 0:31:12involving what seems to be an upside-down man on a horse,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14a prone figure here...
0:31:14 > 0:31:18I can't work out, is it a pig, a dog, a person, a deity?
0:31:18 > 0:31:23It's quite deliberately a puzzle, a riddle.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27The whole monument is comparing, contrasting,
0:31:27 > 0:31:29making you think about things.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32So, Christ is there and, in a way, that's the end of a world.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34That's the end of the world of the Old Covenant,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37of the end of the world of the Old Testament.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39But then there's another end of the world here,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42which is the end of the world of the old gods.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45- The Viking gods.- The Viking gods. The Ragnarok,
0:31:45 > 0:31:49which tells the story of the giants and the forces of evil
0:31:49 > 0:31:50under the devil-god Loki,
0:31:50 > 0:31:53and down here we've got the devil-god Loki,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55who was bound by the gods and punished by them
0:31:55 > 0:31:57by having a serpent placed over his head,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00and the poison dropped from its fangs onto his forehead.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04And he had this faithful wife, Sigyn - that's Sigyn just there,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07with a long, trailing pigtail, just like a Viking Age woman.
0:32:07 > 0:32:08I thought Sigyn was a rabbit!
0:32:08 > 0:32:12- No, no. Sigyn is his wife.- I was seeing a rabbit with its long ears!
0:32:12 > 0:32:14And she's holding a bowl,
0:32:14 > 0:32:18and she stops the poison from dropping onto his head
0:32:18 > 0:32:21but Loki breaks loose and leads the forces of evil
0:32:21 > 0:32:23in this great final battle.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26A final battle which involves people like Odin
0:32:26 > 0:32:28being swallowed by the wolf,
0:32:28 > 0:32:32and Odin's son Vidar taking revenge on the wolf
0:32:32 > 0:32:34by breaking open the wolf's jaws,
0:32:34 > 0:32:36and round on the other side, right at the very top,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39up above that figure of Christ, we've got Vidar
0:32:39 > 0:32:41with his foot stuck in one jaw and pushing,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44wrenching the jaw up with the other.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50Gosforth Cross is a truly remarkable object,
0:32:50 > 0:32:53and even in the days of the Vikings, I suspect it was
0:32:53 > 0:32:56a bit of a challenge for everyone to understand it.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00This is Viking art making a bold statement,
0:33:00 > 0:33:04fusing the old beliefs with the new.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08A collision of pagan and Christian iconography.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10What do you think of the object
0:33:10 > 0:33:13as a creation of the stonemason's art or craft,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16or the sculptor's art and craft?
0:33:16 > 0:33:18This is one of the most accomplished craftsmen
0:33:18 > 0:33:22whose work has survived in this country.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25This chap is marrying up the traditions of stone carving
0:33:25 > 0:33:27in Anglo-Saxon England,
0:33:27 > 0:33:31and also the kind of figural art of the Viking tradition,
0:33:31 > 0:33:33and he's pulling those two together.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35It's a very sophisticated monument.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43It seems almost certain that the artist who carved the Gosforth Cross
0:33:43 > 0:33:47was working for a local Viking ruler who'd converted to Christianity.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Inside the neighbouring St Mary's Church,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53there are some other striking examples of Viking stone sculpture
0:33:53 > 0:33:55from the same period.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58- So, this is a miniature Viking sculpture gallery.- It is!
0:33:58 > 0:34:02We have two of the most stunning carvings you're going to see.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05These are remarkable carvings. They're what's called "hogbacks".
0:34:05 > 0:34:07They were grave monuments,
0:34:07 > 0:34:10prestigious, you know, high-status grave monuments.
0:34:10 > 0:34:11But this was above the tomb...
0:34:11 > 0:34:15This was above the tomb, the body would lie below it.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19What they'd seen, somehow or other,
0:34:19 > 0:34:23was those solid shrines that were over the top of saints' bodies
0:34:23 > 0:34:26- in England...- Exactly, like Thomas a Becket's shrine.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29That's right, yes, and it goes right the way back to Roman sarcophagi...
0:34:29 > 0:34:31Yeah, yeah, exactly! So, isn't that fantastic?
0:34:31 > 0:34:33Building-shaped monuments,
0:34:33 > 0:34:35but it's all done in the shape of a Viking house,
0:34:35 > 0:34:37with a curved roof on it,
0:34:37 > 0:34:41and then, behind it, you've got another hogback, not much bigger,
0:34:41 > 0:34:44carved by the same man as carved the large cross outside,
0:34:44 > 0:34:47but it's got these interlacing serpents running along
0:34:47 > 0:34:50with men fighting them within.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54- Oh! I've just seen here! - Well, here we've got a crucifixion...
0:34:54 > 0:34:56This sort of face staring out at me!
0:34:56 > 0:35:00Yes, well, that's a crucifixion which exactly matches the one
0:35:00 > 0:35:05that's outside on the cross outside, with that pear-shaped head,
0:35:05 > 0:35:07sunk into the shoulders,
0:35:07 > 0:35:11and a kirtle or a dress which goes out at the corners.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14Oh, yes! It's Christ dressed in a Viking fashion.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16- That's right, yes. - They're wonderful things.
0:35:16 > 0:35:21Isn't it great, you can be in this 19th-century Gothic church
0:35:21 > 0:35:24looking at Viking tombstones
0:35:24 > 0:35:29inspired by medieval Christian versions of the Roman sarcophagus?
0:35:29 > 0:35:32There's an awful lot of unusual knottings.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35That's right, and enormously impressive carvings.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38- I mean, these are huge things.- Yeah.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41And the amount of effort involved in carving those things down.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44- They've really committed to Christian burial.- Yes.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47- No more burial at sea in flames. - No, no.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52I want to be buried beneath the ground with a stone monument.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54And no more burying out in barrows
0:35:54 > 0:35:57in the middle of the countryside, either.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01They are behaving like the locals behave,
0:36:01 > 0:36:04but still looking back to and celebrating
0:36:04 > 0:36:08- their Scandinavian ancestry.- Yeah.
0:36:08 > 0:36:09How very, very English, somehow.
0:36:11 > 0:36:12Yes.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18For now, the hybrid wonders of Christian-inspired Viking art
0:36:18 > 0:36:20were confined to the places in the British Isles
0:36:20 > 0:36:21where the Vikings settled.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28For the time being, most Vikings and Viking art were still pagan.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31It would be many years before Christianity would spread
0:36:31 > 0:36:34throughout the Viking homeland of Scandinavia.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37The greatest change was yet to come.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45I'm returning to the British Museum
0:36:45 > 0:36:48to catch up on the preparations for the Viking exhibition.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56The last time I was here, the gallery was a construction site.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59But the builders have now left, and in their place,
0:36:59 > 0:37:03teams of curators are busy unpacking objects and putting them on display.
0:37:07 > 0:37:08So...
0:37:08 > 0:37:12Lots of packing crates, but big changes, big changes.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14Yes, it's come on a bit since you were last here.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16Well, the gallery's been built,
0:37:16 > 0:37:18and there's something rather large in it!
0:37:18 > 0:37:20Yes, doesn't look quite so much like a warehouse now.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24And as you see, the ship is in full progress of reconstruction.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29The ship in question is Roskilde 6,
0:37:29 > 0:37:34a warship once large enough to carry 100 Viking warriors.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40It was built around 1025, during the reign of King Cnut,
0:37:40 > 0:37:43the Viking king who ruled Denmark and England.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49And it's made a special journey from the National Museum of Denmark
0:37:49 > 0:37:51for the exhibition.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57The total length of the keel is nearly 32 metres.
0:37:57 > 0:38:03- The keel alone is longer than any other surviving Viking ship.- Wow.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06Every part, you can see, is numbered here.
0:38:06 > 0:38:07And that's vitally important,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10because everything has to fit together in the right place.
0:38:10 > 0:38:15We have a plan which shows exactly where every part belongs,
0:38:15 > 0:38:20and the frame that it's standing on has been shaped precisely to
0:38:20 > 0:38:23hold every piece in place.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26- How long does it take you and your team...?- Yeah...!
0:38:26 > 0:38:28Well, I shouldn't put you on the spot,
0:38:28 > 0:38:30- because you're still doing it... - Yeah.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33- But how long do you hope it takes? - To build the ship now?- Yeah.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37Well, it takes ten working days to build the ship now,
0:38:37 > 0:38:40from the base to the top of the stems.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43That's probably cos you've got a bit of practice.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45I think it would take most people a bit longer.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49Yes, but it's also... It is because of the practice,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53but also because of the way everything has been built,
0:38:53 > 0:38:56because it's been designed to be easy to work with.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58- Ah, so...- From the start, yes.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01Do you think, in a sense, when you re-enact the making of the boat,
0:39:01 > 0:39:05and you can do it quite quickly, that shows how sophisticated
0:39:05 > 0:39:09the Vikings were in devising a method to make a boat quite quickly?
0:39:09 > 0:39:12Well, you could say that, because they were organised, as well,
0:39:12 > 0:39:14and they planned their work.
0:39:14 > 0:39:15Well, it's a wonderful object.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18- Good luck...- Thank you! - ..with your work.- Yes!
0:39:18 > 0:39:21We mustn't interrupt you, or ten days will become ten-and-a-half.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23- Oh, I don't think so.- Good luck.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30The exhibition will display more than 300 artefacts,
0:39:30 > 0:39:33many from lenders around the world.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36But there's one particular object I can't wait to see.
0:39:36 > 0:39:37It's from the 10th century,
0:39:37 > 0:39:41and gives its name to a new style of Viking art - the Mammen style.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45This is one of the finest items, I would say, in this exhibition.
0:39:45 > 0:39:50It's a decorated axe head from Mammen in Denmark.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53It's made of iron
0:39:53 > 0:39:58- and it's inlaid with silver and also, here, with gold.- Gosh.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02And we have these bands interwoven with each other,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05with spirals at the joints,
0:40:05 > 0:40:08and then the thicker strands filled in with dots.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10And in fact, if we turn this over,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13the other side is even more impressive.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15There's a creature in there, isn't there?
0:40:15 > 0:40:17Yes. We've got a bird here.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19The head there, the body coming round.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21There's another of these spiral joints
0:40:21 > 0:40:24where the back leg joins the body,
0:40:24 > 0:40:28and then this long tail, with long, curling tail feathers
0:40:28 > 0:40:29coming out behind.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Would that be a peacock's train that's been tilted up?
0:40:32 > 0:40:34It's possible.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Certainly there are illustrations elsewhere in Viking art
0:40:37 > 0:40:40that have been interpreted as peacocks,
0:40:40 > 0:40:42which is an allegory for vanity,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45and certainly vanity would be appropriate enough
0:40:45 > 0:40:47for anyone carrying an axe like this.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50- Now, this is a battle-axe, it seems to me.- That's right.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53It's made for that purpose, it's not meant for chopping wood.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55No, this isn't a tool, it's a weapon.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58Why would you have, if you were a Viking warrior,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02why would you have a wonderful peacock - if it is a peacock -
0:41:02 > 0:41:05on your axe? What purpose would that serve?
0:41:05 > 0:41:10This is a period in which weapons often have individual names,
0:41:10 > 0:41:14and it ties into the concept of the warrior hero.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17It's not just about killing people in battle,
0:41:17 > 0:41:19it's knowing who's killed them.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22In a modern football match, yes, you want your team to win,
0:41:22 > 0:41:26but you want your name on the score sheet at the end.
0:41:26 > 0:41:27So I think there's...
0:41:27 > 0:41:31So you want everybody to see your name on the back of your shirt.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35- If you kill someone with the axe known as the peacock...- Exactly.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39An axe like that, that would catch the eye as you are fighting.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41If you're going to hack someone to death,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44then why not hack them to death with style and elegance?
0:41:51 > 0:41:55With the preparations for the Viking exhibition in full swing,
0:41:55 > 0:41:57I'm returning to Scandinavia.
0:41:57 > 0:42:02Around the time of the Mammen Axe, a new craze emerged in Viking art.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05The Viking picture runestone.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10This, the Jelling Stone, is the most famous example.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15Carved in the Mammen style, it shows Christ on the Cross,
0:42:15 > 0:42:16and its runic inscription
0:42:16 > 0:42:20proclaims the king to have made the Danes Christian.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25I've come to the island of Adelso near Stockholm
0:42:25 > 0:42:30to meet the nearest equivalent there is to a modern-day Viking artist.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36His name is Kalle Runristare,
0:42:36 > 0:42:40and he's taken up the challenge of reviving this Viking art form.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47I'm meeting Kalle on the Viking farm that he's building.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50It's all set up to be the perfect setting for carving runestones
0:42:50 > 0:42:53in the old, time-honoured way.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58You want to actually live like a Viking.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00You are going to experiment, to live like a Viking.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03- That's the best way to learn.- Yeah.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06- First I show you the house. - Yeah, yeah.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09We start building this house last year.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12The inside will be great.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16Also, we have the boat here for the winter.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18How will you stay warm?
0:43:18 > 0:43:22Where our boat is standing just now is going to be an open fire.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26- What, in the middle? - Yeah. It's a long fire.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29A long fire... How will the house not just be full of smoke?
0:43:29 > 0:43:32- It's going to be.- It's going to be full of smoke?!- Yeah.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35And that's OK!
0:43:35 > 0:43:37- The Vikings...- You can stand it.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41- We're going to have open places in the roof...- Yeah.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45At the end, both ends. We hope the smoke goes out.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48So, I was hoping you might show me
0:43:48 > 0:43:51how you go about the business of creating a runestone.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53- Yeah?- Yeah, I'd like to see.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55It's a little bit up here.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02Kalle has been carving runestones for over 20 years.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07His most prestigious commission was to carve
0:44:07 > 0:44:11a runestone in memory of the Viking explorer Leif Ericson,
0:44:11 > 0:44:14who's thought to have discovered North America 500 years
0:44:14 > 0:44:16before Columbus.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20Some of Kalle's runestones are replicas
0:44:20 > 0:44:22of those from the Viking Age.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27But most, like the one he's currently working on,
0:44:27 > 0:44:29are his own designs.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31Here's the runestone. I'm carving it just now.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35Wow! It's great.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39How long have you been working on it?
0:44:39 > 0:44:42This is a long-time project.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45Long-time project! How long is long-time?
0:44:45 > 0:44:48Truly. I start with this, 1996.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51- That's a long time.- Yes.
0:44:51 > 0:44:52Wow!
0:44:52 > 0:44:55Would you mind showing me how you actually carve?
0:44:55 > 0:44:56Yeah, of course.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00- I have a sledgehammer... - It looks like a shoe-cleaning kit.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02- Except for these bits...- Yes!
0:45:08 > 0:45:13This is the way to make the lines soft and straight.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18Who taught you?
0:45:18 > 0:45:20The old rune-carvers.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26Now I change the chisel.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30- I have a small, thin line here... - Yeah.- ..to open up.
0:45:30 > 0:45:36I take a chisel that is wide, and I put it across.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38To open it up.
0:45:40 > 0:45:47You see? That's become powder instead of...some bigger pieces.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51So, this line is going to be deeper and stay for a longer time.
0:45:53 > 0:45:58There are more than 2,000 Viking runestones in Scandinavia.
0:45:58 > 0:45:59Most are Christian monuments,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03with runic inscriptions commemorating the Viking dead...
0:46:03 > 0:46:07..and more than half are decorated with the Christian cross.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13Kalle's runestone is in the late-Viking Urnes style.
0:46:13 > 0:46:19There's a strong rhythm and energy about it, and for the first time,
0:46:19 > 0:46:23we can ask the Viking artist what it actually means.
0:46:23 > 0:46:24On here...
0:46:24 > 0:46:29you have one dragon. It's got feet, goes up, with two claw...
0:46:29 > 0:46:31and a thumb.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34- Ah...- And then the body goes around.
0:46:34 > 0:46:39Why do you have a dragon so prominent on the runestone?
0:46:39 > 0:46:43This dragon is protecting the stone and the runic inscription.
0:46:43 > 0:46:48- So, he is like a watchdog... - Mm.- ..but you need a leash on him,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51otherwise the dragon will go away.
0:46:51 > 0:46:52So, where's the leash?
0:46:52 > 0:46:54- That's the snakes.- Ah!
0:46:54 > 0:46:57- So, the snakes are a way of keeping the dragon tethered.- Yeah.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59May I ask, oh Viking,
0:46:59 > 0:47:04why is there no Christian cross on your runestone?
0:47:04 > 0:47:06I don't like it to be there.
0:47:06 > 0:47:13The Christian cross, for me, is...something extra.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15But most of the runestones that I've seen
0:47:15 > 0:47:18seem to be extremely Christian.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22Maybe if I read a runic inscription for you, you'll understand why
0:47:22 > 0:47:24it's no Christian cross.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27- If you could read it to me and then perhaps translate it...- Yes.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29Um...
0:47:29 > 0:47:32HE READS THE RUNES
0:47:38 > 0:47:43"Old gods become happy when people...
0:47:43 > 0:47:48"again searching for knowledge and the old belief...
0:47:48 > 0:47:53"to find answer to the future," or something.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57It means don't do the same mistake again.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01- Yeah. Learn from history.- Yes.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07HORN BLASTS
0:48:13 > 0:48:18Kalle's runestone is unusual, in that it's dedicated to the old gods.
0:48:19 > 0:48:24By the 11th century, throughout Denmark, Norway and Sweden,
0:48:24 > 0:48:27the Vikings had officially converted to Christianity.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32Violent raids on Anglo-Saxon monasteries
0:48:32 > 0:48:35were now a distant, regrettable memory.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40The Vikings were worshipping the same Christian God
0:48:40 > 0:48:41as their former enemies.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46It's fitting, then, that our final piece of Viking art
0:48:46 > 0:48:48should take us to a Christian church.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54Located in a remote fjord in western Norway,
0:48:54 > 0:48:58it's a stunning setting for the final chapter of Viking art.
0:49:02 > 0:49:07It's a great time of year to venture into the Norwegian wilderness.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09It's that little window of autumn.
0:49:09 > 0:49:10Beautiful colours.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13I feel like I'm in a Romantic landscape painting.
0:49:13 > 0:49:14Why am I here?
0:49:14 > 0:49:17To see one of the oldest stave churches in all of Norway,
0:49:17 > 0:49:23and a place that marks, in a sense, the swan song of Viking art.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27- Marit, thank you for waiting. - Hello!
0:49:27 > 0:49:29- I'm sorry we've been delayed. - It's OK.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33- Welcome here!- It took a very long time to get here.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38The Urnes Stave Church that we see today
0:49:38 > 0:49:41was built around the middle of the 12th century.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52But at least 100 years before, Vikings were coming here,
0:49:52 > 0:49:54to the same site, to pray.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57Isn't it beautiful? It's very intimate.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59- Yeah.- It has a very friendly feeling.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03How long have you looked after the church?
0:50:03 > 0:50:06From 1979.
0:50:06 > 0:50:07Are there still services here?
0:50:07 > 0:50:09- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12- It has been used the whole time. - The whole time?
0:50:12 > 0:50:15- Yeah. - So, for more than 1,000 years,
0:50:15 > 0:50:17- really, if we go back to... - Yeah, to...
0:50:17 > 0:50:20..to the very first church that was on this site.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23That came in the end of the 900s.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27The elaborate Romanesque decoration inside the church
0:50:27 > 0:50:32dates from the mid-12th century.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35It shows some influence from Viking artistic styles,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38but it's too late to be considered Viking.
0:50:42 > 0:50:46And yet, throughout the church, there are traces of the Viking past.
0:50:48 > 0:50:53- You've actually got a Viking ship as the candelabrum.- Yes.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58- That's amazing!- It's a Viking ship with nine candles.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02And here, a lamb. The Lamb of God.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06And how old is the Viking ship?
0:51:06 > 0:51:08That is from the 12th century,
0:51:08 > 0:51:12so I think it has been here from that time.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14So, for 800 years, here in Urnes,
0:51:14 > 0:51:18instead of a more conventionally Christian candelabrum,
0:51:18 > 0:51:21they've had a Viking ship. That's wonderful.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24And is there a significance to the number of the candles?
0:51:24 > 0:51:28Yeah. Nine candles, three times three.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31- A holy number.- The Holy Trinity. - Yeah.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33So I think that...
0:51:33 > 0:51:36It's a tremendous image of the way in which
0:51:36 > 0:51:38I think of, as what's happened here,
0:51:38 > 0:51:43is that we've got this Viking culture that has now been absorbed,
0:51:43 > 0:51:47or is being absorbed, by a Christian culture.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51And it's almost as if the Viking culture has got smaller,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54and now here it is on the Christian altar.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58I think the Viking ship as a candlestick on the altar
0:51:58 > 0:52:03symbolised that a Viking from here went to England or Ireland
0:52:03 > 0:52:08and become Christian, and brought the light back to Urnes.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10That's a beautiful idea.
0:52:15 > 0:52:20With its proud structure made from wood and its setting over the fjord,
0:52:20 > 0:52:25the Urnes Stave Church has itself almost the feel of a Viking ship.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27Yet the part of the church that's most truly Viking,
0:52:27 > 0:52:30and dates from the Viking age, I've yet to see.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34What makes this church so special
0:52:34 > 0:52:39are the wooden carvings preserved on its outside.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44These are pure Viking decoration.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52This was, in fact,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56the Viking entrance to the church that stood on this site
0:52:56 > 0:52:59just 100 years before this one was created - in other words,
0:52:59 > 0:53:01in the middle of the 11th century.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03And they are absolutely spectacular.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07Perhaps the most spectacular surviving wooden carvings
0:53:07 > 0:53:11from the Viking Age anywhere in the world.
0:53:11 > 0:53:12What do they show us?
0:53:12 > 0:53:17These extraordinary coiling carved decorations
0:53:17 > 0:53:23in which writhe and intermingle images
0:53:23 > 0:53:25that seem to suggest vegetation...
0:53:25 > 0:53:30To me, it's the equivalent of walking through brambles,
0:53:30 > 0:53:31looking at this.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34Animals that are struggling, fighting -
0:53:34 > 0:53:37not gripping beasts so much as writhing beasts.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40What seems to be a dog -
0:53:40 > 0:53:44perhaps it's meant to be a schematic lion, symbol of Christ -
0:53:44 > 0:53:48nipping away at a coiling, writhing serpent.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52We're not quite sure what the images actually suggest,
0:53:52 > 0:53:54but I think as a total ensemble...
0:53:55 > 0:53:59..what it says to me is just how...
0:53:59 > 0:54:02just how far the Vikings have travelled,
0:54:02 > 0:54:09and how hungry an appetite they had for the visual styles
0:54:09 > 0:54:12that they encountered on their different journeys.
0:54:12 > 0:54:18And at the centre, you've got this remarkable, remarkable entrance.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21This was actually the very narrow door
0:54:21 > 0:54:23to the original church.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26And what's that remind you of?
0:54:26 > 0:54:29Well, it reminds me of...
0:54:30 > 0:54:33..Islam. Isn't that an Islamic arch?
0:54:34 > 0:54:37And weren't the Vikings active in Spain?
0:54:37 > 0:54:40We know that they raided Arab Spain in the 9th century.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42That they travelled into the Islamic world,
0:54:42 > 0:54:44that they traded with the Arabs.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48These patterns also seem to me to suggest Arab scimitars,
0:54:48 > 0:54:50perhaps even Arab calligraphy.
0:54:50 > 0:54:56So, within this patterning, there's almost a map of the Vikings' trade,
0:54:56 > 0:54:59the Vikings' influence, the Vikings' travels,
0:54:59 > 0:55:01the Vikings' journeys.
0:55:01 > 0:55:07But this is also, I think,
0:55:07 > 0:55:11a poignant image of their last journey,
0:55:11 > 0:55:15because when they opened that door, what were they going into?
0:55:15 > 0:55:18They were going into a Christian church,
0:55:18 > 0:55:21and turning their longship in the direction of God.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29Within a few decades of the Urnes wood carvings being created,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32the Viking Age had drawn to a close.
0:55:32 > 0:55:37The era of Viking longships, expeditions overseas,
0:55:37 > 0:55:41the settlement and the conquering of foreign lands, all was over...
0:55:43 > 0:55:47..to be replaced by a new, enlightened age of Christianity.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54But what mysterious, wonderful art the Vikings had left behind.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00The beautiful, dancing rhythms of the late Urnes style.
0:56:02 > 0:56:04The intricate gripping beasts
0:56:04 > 0:56:07and ribbon animals of the Oseberg burial.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14And with so little Viking literature to explain its meanings,
0:56:14 > 0:56:18this is an art, I feel, that's still kept many of its secrets.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28The new exhibition, Vikings - Life And Legend,
0:56:28 > 0:56:31is at the British Museum until 22nd June.
0:56:33 > 0:56:38Dominating it all is the magnificent Roskilde 6 warship,
0:56:38 > 0:56:42its surviving timbers now fully assembled in its metal frame.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47And alongside the impressive collections of Viking weaponry,
0:56:47 > 0:56:49there's also Viking art.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55This is the Hiddensee Gold Hoard,
0:56:55 > 0:56:59most likely made in Denmark in the late 10th century.
0:56:59 > 0:57:03This single set of jewellery ranks amongst the most spectacular
0:57:03 > 0:57:06and extravagant of the whole Viking Age.
0:57:08 > 0:57:13This wonderful Valkyrie was unearthed in December 2012.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16It's the only 3D depiction of a Valkyrie known to exist
0:57:16 > 0:57:18from the Viking era.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24And this, another highlight, a gilt bronze weathervane
0:57:24 > 0:57:27that once decorated the prow of a Viking ship.
0:57:31 > 0:57:33This is the first major exhibition
0:57:33 > 0:57:36devoted to the Vikings at the British Museum
0:57:36 > 0:57:37for more than 30 years,
0:57:37 > 0:57:39and it's all the more impressive
0:57:39 > 0:57:41when you consider that many of the objects on display
0:57:41 > 0:57:46have had to survive the ravages of time for more than 1,000 years.
0:57:50 > 0:57:56From these fragments I think Viking civilisation emerges far more whole.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00Yes, they were raiders, but they were also explorers,
0:58:00 > 0:58:03traders, Christians, artists.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07Now, should we be surprised that a bloodthirsty warrior
0:58:07 > 0:58:10should also be capable of appreciating objects
0:58:10 > 0:58:12of extreme beauty?
0:58:12 > 0:58:13Well, I don't think so.
0:58:13 > 0:58:17I think what this show has done is give these back their complexity,
0:58:17 > 0:58:21and remind us all that they were every bit as contradictory
0:58:21 > 0:58:23as any of us.
0:58:23 > 0:58:25MUSIC: "Back In Black" by AC/DC