A Late Viking Age Farm

Christina here. Earlier this summer my husband and I were on a mini road trip in Sweden, visiting the area just north of Stockholm. We stopped off at a small town called Upplands Väsby because they had something I simply couldn’t miss – Gunnes Gård, an open-air museum consisting of a reconstructed Viking age farm from the early 11^th century. What could be better in order to give me inspiration for future stories than seeing a place like that in real life? As I think I’ve mentioned before, this is definitely my preferred research method when it comes to the settings for my books.

Gunnes Gård, which simply means Gunne’s Farm (there are no possessive apostrophes in Swedish in case you were wondering), was tucked away behind a large manor house and a school, so it came as a lovely surprise when the gateway suddenly appeared before us as we rounded a corner. A friendly carved Viking face on the gatepost welcomed us and made me smile – there was no doubt we were in the right place.

Fencing of wattle encircled the fields and farm buildings. These are set in a hilly landscape dotted with huge boulders I believe were granite, and surrounded by forest on three sides. The farm has been recreated based on archaeological finds nearby and shows visitors exactly what life on a late Viking Age farm was like. The name came from a runestone found in the area where it said that “Vibjörn had this stone cut after the daughter of Gunne, his wife”. (I guess Gunne is an easier name for foreign visitors than Vibjörn? Also goes well with Gård).

Gunnes Gård features both buildings, animals and plants from the 11^th century, and is staffed by volunteers wearing authentic Viking style clothing. They were very friendly and knowledgeable, and didn’t mind having their photo taken. Some of them were working in the gardens and around the farm, but it was still a very peaceful place that felt like a haven. I’m guessing it would have been a lot noisier and busier back in Viking times.

The first thing that met us was a flock of shaggy sheep which seemed to me quite small in comparison to the usual breeds nowadays. (They ran away before I managed to get a good photo). Apparently, there are two different types at the farm, Gotlandsfår and Helsingefår. The Gotlandsfår come from the Baltic island of Gotland and according to the Gunnes Gård website they are known for their lovely fleeces and nice-tasting meat. They come in varying shades of grey and have black heads and legs. The information said they are very tame and also curious and lively, so often get into mischief.

The Helsingefår in comparison are a lot calmer and stick with their flock. They are one of a handful of very old breeds from mainland Sweden that almost became extinct, but they are now on the increase thanks to dedicated work by people trying to save them. I love hearing about such conservation work and success stories like that! They come in lots of colours – black, grey, brown and white. Sometimes they’re called ’forest sheep’ as they like to eat brushwood.

There were chickens wandering freely around the place. They were a special breed with extra amounts of down closest to their bodies which means they are adapted to the colder climate in Sweden. And we also saw two rather large pigs happily sleeping/resting in the dirt. They were of a type descended from now extinct pig varieties and featured longer legs that helped them when foraging in the forest. The website said they are clever and can find their way home from quite far away, and they are also good at swimming! Who knew?

There were lots of different buildings on the site. Towards the end of the Viking Age farms and settlements had changed from having one really large multi-purpose hall building and a few smaller ones, to collections of smaller buildings with various functions. Gunnes Gård has a kitchen house (kokhus), main living quarters (boningshus), a house for the pigs, one for cattle (I assume they meant the sheep as I didn’t see any cows), a hen house, several storage houses, a pit house (grophus – which I think would have been for thralls) and a so-called stave house (stavhus) built of upright planks/staves.

I happily explored the various buildings and was delighted to find them furnished with sleeping benches covered in sheepskins and blankets, trestle tables, stools and all the everyday objects and tools a Viking family would have needed. I was able to sit inside the dim interiors soaking up the atmosphere and making a note of the smells and sensations – all invaluable for my writing. As we were the only visitors at that time, I was left alone to my musings and observations – bliss!

There were wooden buckets and barrels, woven baskets, chests, piles of deer and/or moose antler (for carving), cooking utensils – cauldrons, griddles and implements – and of course looms and dyed wool to weave into cloth. Most of the buildings had hearths and felt cosy and safe.

The walls were decorated with animal skins, shields and hangings, mostly with Christian motifs as the larger part of the population had been converted to Christianity by this time (at least in this part of the country). However, the old gods continued to linger in the background for quite a few centuries afterwards. People were superstitious and stuck to some of their previous traditions alongside the new beliefs.

This whole area of Sweden around Lake Mälaren, and especially the county of Uppland north of the lake, is known for its huge number of runestones. There are approximately 450 of them dotted around the landscape (with more in museums), some still largely legible. Most of them were raised during the 11^th century by Christians and feature Christian symbols. They were originally painted and very colourful, but the paint is gone now. Some were placed at the border between settlements to assert ownership of the land. Others were raised to commemorate relatives, usually those who had died while on trading or raiding expeditions in foreign countries. If you had died fighting abroad that was considered very honourable and worth remembering. Not everyone could read and write runes, but it is now believed that literacy rates were higher than previously thought. The runic alphabet isn’t that complicated after all so would have been easy to grasp.

Have you ever seen a runestone in real life? They can be very impressive!