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VIKING

How to be a Viking in Stockholm: Where to go and what to do

Want to get the full Viking experience in Stockholm? The Local has compiled a list of strapping, burly places for you to check out during your day with axe and shield.

How to be a Viking in Stockholm: Where to go and what to do
Viking for a day at the Swedish History Museum. Photo: Katarina Nimmervoll

The Swedish History Museum

Want to bathe in your curiosity of the Viking Age for little to no cost? At the Swedish History Museum, there are exhibitions and projects running that will teach you all you need to know.

The Viking exhibition itself, managed by curator Gunnar Andersson, is full of many artifacts and objects from the Viking Age. The Local recently had the privilege of talking to Andersson about the exhibition and other ones traveling the world.

“I think what people really appreciate with this exhibition is that you get to see a lot of objects, original ones, fantastic pieces of handicraft and of smithery,” he says.

The Swedish History Museum currently has two exhibitions running around the world under the name, “We Call Them Vikings”. They have been in North America, and are now in Australia and France.

READ ALSO: Viking warrior found in Sweden was a woman, researchers confirm

If you’re a newcomer to Viking culture, and you would like a more well-rounded idea of who they were (not brutal robbers with horns on their helmets), Andersson suggests that it may even be a good idea to pick up some books. His catalog, “We Call Them Vikings”, would be a great place to start – which you can find at any of the museum's Viking exhibitions traveling the world, or inside the museum itself.

For more information on the museum, click here.


Viking for a day at the Swedish History Museum. Photo: Jens Mohr

Aifur Krog and Bar

Stomp your feet, clap your hands, and bang your mug of mead against the table as you listen to live music by Aifur's very own “electronic bard”. Filling the hall with Nordic, Celtic, and folk rhythms and tunes from the Middle Ages, Aifur aims to give you an experience like Scandinavian ancestors might have had as you eat prawn soup, deer steak, boiled mussels in cream, and lamb rack lubricated in honey and garlic.

Aifur Krog & Bar is named after the Viking ship, Aifur, which hangs from the ceiling as you eat and drink in the spacious hall. Fifteen years of research have been put into making the hall’s atmosphere as close to the Viking’s as possible through the use of modern archaeological findings.

So sit back and soak in an atmosphere of hearty laughs, great beer, and “Middle Ages” staff. You may even be given a shield, axe, and helmet to make the experience surely a night to remember (if you don’t already have some of your own).

Check out their menu and event listings here.

Birka-Hofgården

Commonly known as Sweden’s first city, Birka is a Viking village built in the mid-late 700's at Björö on lake Mälaren, presumably to control trade in the Scandinavian region. It is also one of the fifteen sites in Sweden on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

This historical Viking settlement of, at its best, one thousand inhabitants, flourished for about two centuries until its inhabitants began to head off to Sigtuna and other settlements for mostly unknown circumstances.

On the island, there are Viking houses and a town, built just as it looked when the city flourished. There are even craftsmen that you can visit on certain dates during the summer inside the town who use the same techniques and tools that people did back then.

READ ALSO: Why these Viking burial clothes had inscriptions to Allah and Ali

There’s always something to do in Birka, whether it’s a lecture, a live musical performance, a fire show, or an archaeological excavation. Also, don’t forget to try out Café Eldrimner and Särimner Restaurant while you’re there. They will be sure to fill you with beer and mead if you give them the chance!


Birka. Photo: Ola Ericson/imagebank.sweden.se

Vikingaliv

Vikingaliv is dedicated solely to teaching people about Vikings. If you are dedicated to learning all you can about the era, it is dedicated to revealing the true story of the people, culture, and life of the time period.

Completed with a restaurant, shop, and multiple exhibitions, the museum surrounds you with Viking culture. Based on historical findings, the museum has even put together a journey called Ragnfrids Saga, where the participants begin following a 10th-century family from their farm to witnessing looting in the West and trade in the East.

IN PICTURES: Inside Stockholm's new Viking Museum

Be sure to pay a visit – and not just because you want to see their amazing recreations of real men and women from the Viking era!

Vikingaliv in Stockholm. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT

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CULTURE

Daddy cool: Swedish dads go viral as boy band

Five Swedish fathers singing capella pop songs while taking care of their young children have taken social media by storm, with their videos garnering tens of millions of views.

Daddy cool: Swedish dads go viral as boy band

The five men, all in their 30s, film their “Dad Harmony” sessions while hanging out with their kids at home in the northern town of Skellefteå.

“This story all started at my bachelor party” in the summer of 2022, Peter Widmark, a 33-year-old who works in sales, told AFP in an interview. “We were hanging out and singing as we usually do when we hang out… (and) my brother filmed it and put it on TikTok with his seven followers.”

The next morning the dads discovered the video had been viewed 40,000 times. The number had skyrocketed to 20 million hits worldwide within a few weeks.

The five friends decided to start posting videos regularly, shot in their kitchens or on their sofas, often holding their little ones on their laps.

Singing the chorus of Leonard Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah”, one of the dads can be seen holding his weeks-old newborn in his arms.

“It’s a soothing thing when we sing,” Widmark said, explaining why the children are usually so calm in the videos.

‘Typical Swedish guys’

“We are typical Swedish guys,” said Widmark’s brother Tomas, who is also part of the group, adding it was “not that unusual” for men in Sweden to spend a lot of time with their children.

“Almost every guy in Sweden is used to taking paternity leave so it’s not a big deal for us,” he added.

Each of the dads has two kids.

Dad Harmony’s repertoire includes hits by Michael Jackson, the Beatles and popular Christmas songs.

Since the end of November the group has been on a month-long tour criss-crossing Sweden to perform live shows each weekend – albeit without their kids.

During the weeks, they go back to Skellefteå and continue to work at their normal jobs and spend time with their families.

The members of Dad Harmony in an interview with AFP. Photo: Viken Kantarci/AFP

“I just stumbled on their video on Instagram and I was mesmerised,” said Louise Elgström, a 41-year-old fan who attended a recent show in the town of Norrköping.

She said their appeal lies in the fact that “they feel so natural and also (that they are) involving their children”.

The dads vow their success won’t go to their heads. “No televisions flying from the hotel rooms!” joked band member Sebastian Åkesson.

But the group has big dreams: they hope to line up tour dates in the United States and Asia, and say they would love to sing with Elton John one day.

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