Midgard Talks 2025

Midgard Talks 2025 is a 4 day Viking history conference at Midgard Viking Centre during the Midgardsblot festival from Wednesday 13th of August - Satruday 16th of August, 11.00 - 16.00 every day.

Midgard Talks program: 

Wednesday August 13^th 

11.00 Allison Fox –– Curator, archaeology, Manx National Heritage. “Ships, mounds and holes in the ground - various ways to bury a Viking in the Isle of Man”

12.00 Lars Bill – Chair – Oseberg Viking Heritage Foundation. “Follow the Vikings - as far as we can!”

13.00 Samuel Høiland - Conservator, Tingvatn fornminnepark, Vest-Agder-Museet IKS. «The Immortals - The Vikings before the Vikings. The Migration Period in Agder and in Norway”

14:00 Anne Irene Risøy - Professor, University of Southeast Norway.

15:00 Charlotte Wenke - PhD Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research, University of Greifswald, Germany.  “Viking Gold. Treasure Politics since 1800”

Thursday August 14^th 

Christian Cooijmans, Postdoc – Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. “The Endless Viking Age: Global Perspectives on a Premodern Past”

Terje Gansum: Director - Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU). “The gold foil figures – their archaeological contexts and possibly use”

Kari Marie Helland: Specialist in historic food and fiber technology, Midgard Viking Centre. “Food and drink in the Iron Age. Brown goo or tasty morsels?”

Ingrid Sommerseth: Professor in archaeology, University of Tromsø. “Sámi Bear Graves – Rituals and Burial Practices in Northern Landscapes: One of Northern Europe’s Longest-Practiced Burial Traditions (300 CE to 19th Century)”

Göran Joryd, project manager, The Museum of the Viking Age, Museum of Cultural history, University of Oslo. “Getting ready to host the Viking ships”

Friday August 15th 

Josh Rood - PhD Candidate Háskóli Íslands. “When The Raven Sings, I listen: Celebrating Huginn and Muninn”

Morten Ramstad, Head of Cultural Heritage Management - University of Bergen. “The Forgotten Ships – New Narratives from Norway’s Viking Age West Coast”

Jes Martens – Associate Professor - Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. “Sem - A kingly manor from the third century AD”

Amino Otto – Phd Candidate, University of Glasgow. “The myth and the interpretations of the folklore motif of the Wild Hunt”

Frøydis Veset: MA University of Oslo. “Out of the forge: How blacksmiths shaped everyday life in Medieval Telemark”

Saturday August 16^th 

Ragnar Orten Lie: Project Manager, Cultural Heritage Section, Vestfold County Municipality. “Kaupang’s dead - boats, a sorceress, men, horses and a dismembered dog”

Ragnheidur Traustadottir – Director of Antikva ehf, Iceland. “Beneath the Landslide: Viking Age Burials and Medieval Settlement at Fjörður, Iceland”

Kari Palsson: MA Háskóli Íslands. «Galdrabok, Obtaining Knowledge from the Earth Dweller: Dreams, Earth and Healing Charms from the Icelandic Grimoire Jarðskinna”

Giorgia Sottotetti: MA Háskóli Íslands. "The Galdrabók: spells and formulas in the magical material of 17th century Iceland”

Clare Mulley: PhD University of Oxford. “Performance Archaeology: The Method behind the Madness”

Midgard Green Vikings offer 3 Viking crafts courses from Monday 11th of August to Wednesday 13th of August.

Our “Green Viking” courses, taught by Kari Marie Helland, focus on old crafts and the use of natural resources. These courses are designed to both teach about the Viking Age, but also practical skills and how to use and reuse material which many have in their homes, gardens and neighborhoods. Maximum 12 people pr course.

Place: Idavollen, behind the Midgard Cafe

Activity 1 – Make a Looped bag

Date and time: Monday August 11th at 11:00 – 16:00 (5 hours)

Activity 2 – Easy basket making

Date and time: Tuesday August 12th at 11.00 – 16.00 (5 hours)

Activity 3 – How to make twine by hand

Date: Wednesday August 13th at 11:00 – 13:30 (2,5 hours)

Midgard Viking Centre open from 10.30 - 16.30

Exhibitions: 

Exhibitions:

• Mounds, halls and the sea – the finds from Borre

• From mountain to fjord – Natural resources and power

• Kid’s dig exhibit

 Museum shop

• Gifts, t-shirts, books, jewelry and more

• Special offers

Midgard café

Open every day for drinks, amazing Norwegian waffles and light meals. Gluten-free and vegetarian options available.

Midgard’s Guided Tours, Daily at:    

    12.00 and 14.00 Guided tour of the Borre burial mounds

    13.00 Guided tours of the museum exhibitions

The Bifrost sculpture trail -  The new sculptures Hugin and Munin unveiled at Thursday Aug 14th at 15.30. 

Idavollen – our new social  hangout, open around the clock, but with Viking games and warrior training from     11.00 – 16.00 every day.

Link to our web page for more information: https://vestfoldmuseene.no/midgard-vikingsenter