Our history unit culminated! This year's exploration of the Vikings and the Celts left us longing for more information on these ancient civilizations. In Ireland last June, we got up close to our Celtic ancestors and this year we venture a little further north to Scandinavia. Those brutal, yet poetic Norsemen hold delights and mythic lore that speak to my three young men. This is the Vikingshiphuset in the Bygdoy neighborhood (greater Oslo) where we begin our field trip. This impressive museum holds the best-preserved Viking long ships in existence. The Oseberg ( 834 AD) ornately carved sailed on inland waters during festivals, but not in the open ocean. The Gokstad ship (950 AD) is a practical working boat, capable of sailing the high seas. It is just such a vessel that explorers like Eric the Red sailed fro Norway to Iceland to Greenland and then onto North America.
