Vikings invade Britain - again

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Another Viking invasion is underway, but does it conquer all before it? Despite its many splendid exhibits, Jeannie Labno is not convinced

This is the first major exhibition on the Vikings in over 30 years and it also inaugurates the new exhibition galleries at the British Museum. It was developed in collaboration with the National Museum of Denmark and the National Museums in Berlin. Consequently it includes items not previously seen in the UK and, combined with recent archaeological discoveries, provides the opportunity to broaden our understanding of these wandering warriors.

And how they wandered – to the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Canada in the West; to the Ukraine, Russia, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea to the east; and South to Morocco and on to the Middle East and Central Asia. Thus their reach was truly global and an impressive achievement for the period (late 8th to early 11th centuries), made possible by their ability to exploit the various river systems. This they did by means of expert sailing ability and their extraordinary shipbuilding skills. The exhibition is at great pains to emphasize that they were traders as well as raiders, and an important theme is the network of contacts and cultural exchanges between the Vikings and the various peoples with whom they came into contact.

The ‘conceptual centrepiece’ underlying these themes is the stainless steel frame of a 37m-long ship, which reconstructs the original size and shape of the longest ship discovered so far (from c.1025 in Denmark). It is indeed impressive but misguidedly has been placed at the end of the exhibition instead of at the beginning, where its visual impact would have provided an opportune ‘Wow’ factor for visitors on arrival. Additionally, the large space (and light) of this room would allow crowds to dissipate and the various surrounding exhibits would make clear the themes of the exhibition at the outset. Visitors could then have filtered off into the narrower, darker galleries. As it is, visitors arrive at the first small room, which is almost bisected by a low wall and display cases – stepping into this gloomy space people are bound to pause to get their bearings and will want to stop at the displays, which will cause a blockage. Since the remaining galleries are fairly restricted too, I predict problems with crowding.

Another oddity is that the individual items in each display are not identified – no labels. Therefore, trying to match the brief description at the front of the display with the relevant item becomes a guessing game – not helped by the absence of measurements. The ‘descriptions’ give only provenance, approximate date and what the exhibits are made of. The overall description for the whole display is exactly that and so does not necessarily refer to each item. For example, one of the first display cases contains items from the burial of a man and a woman – I couldn’t get close to the side of the male burial so was unaware of this and assumed the swords and other items were part of the female burial (not unheard of but unusual). Without labelling it wasn’t possible to identify which items belonged to which burial – speculations based on gender can be misleading. I found this very annoying and unprofessional – I expect better from the British Museum.

Despite these shortfalls, there is much of great interest to see – though more questions are raised than are answered. Very puzzling were the ubiquitous pairs of large (approx. 10 x 5cm and 3–4cm deep), oval and rather cumbersome ‘brooches’ in female burials. For the most part they were fairly crude and covered in protuberances – in one case these were bears… the suggestion that they were used to cover a woman’s breasts shows a lamentable lack of knowledge of female anatomy; neither was I persuaded that they were used to pin on an apron!

Other oddities include huge cloak brooches (Vikings clearly liked their brooches!), known as ball brooches owing to their design. Made of silver or gold, these clearly were intended to display power and status but, given their ridiculous size (up to 46cm long), there is more to it. Anyone wearing such an item would have to be very careful how they moved – a sharp turn around could gouge out an eye – if not your own then the person behind you. Furthermore, they would require an excessive quantity of, doubtless, costly material, which would emphasize status but also impede movement. Restrictive movement would enhance the impression of power and dignitas, which in turn suggests ceremonial purposes.

Another big-time ‘bling’ item was the neck ring – large, cumbersome and made of gold, these again must have been difficult to wear. One in particular fascinated me – from Tissø in Denmark, it measured 35cm across and weighed over 2kg. Constructed of thick coils of gold, it had been part unravelled and a piece had broken off, which raises the question of why? Did it serve as transportable assets – a sort of Viking traveller’s cheque? Or did it have a more personal function – to reward a valued service? In which case the immediacy of the action, and its very personal nature, would serve to enhance the gift immensely. Could this be why so many of the neck rings were constructed like this?

Other items impressed by the sheer delicacy of the very fine workmanship. For example, the dragon-headed pin, the ship brooch and the ear spoon, quite apart from items in the Hiddensee hoard, among much else. My attention was taken by the beautifully wrought and gilded ‘weathervane’ with its wonderful symbolic etching. Despite the name it clearly isn’t a weathervane – it’s far too heavy – but was used to decorate the prow of a ship. The suggestion that the holes accommodated streamers that indicated the direction of the wind doesn’t convince me – it seems far more likely to have functioned as ceremonial display. Nonetheless, it does highlight the absence of any navigational tools or instruments, which – given that this is one of the main themes of the exhibition – is a little perplexing.

Overall I feel a little disappointed – especially after the superb Pompeii & Herculaneum exhibition. Certainly it is worth a visit – there is a great deal to see, much of which is new, but it tries to encompass too many themes and ends by lacking cohesion. With a very little effort and thought, it could so easily have been so much better. I can’t help but feel that the BM has been distracted by its own media hype (a politically correct makeover of the Vikings) in its effort to draw ‘punters’ through the door, rather than giving due consideration to the viewing and learning experience of those ‘punters’. It could start with basic curatorial practice of providing a key for identifying individual artefacts and adequate labelling to include scale/measurements… and rethinking the direction of flow.