Of course there is a certain amount of revisionism.They used to be portrayed as these heathen marauders raping and pillaging, but then they got the touchy feely treatment. Perhaps with this exhibition one can see both ends. But make no bones about it, especially at their early days, they were marauding thugs out to steal anything they could get hold of, and melt it down into bling jewellery. Some of the broaches are just astonishing, not just for their artistry but also for their sheer size. Admittedly they may be holding together some heavy cloaks, but they are huge. Indeed so large that one felt the pins could be used as offensive weapons in their own right.
The exhibition is in the new exhibition wing of the museum which allows for much bigger objects to be displayed, notably the centrepiece of this show, the remains of a huge viking warship, the largest ever found. Having said that, only 20% of it remains, so much of what one is looking at is the steel structure echoing the real thing, with original woodwork just at the base. But the other thing the new building gives is just empty space in which to circulate. Gone are the cramped confines of the old British Library and now agoraphobia is more the concern.
Apart from admiring the jewellery, and some of the more butch items of weaponry, there were lots of little nuggets of knowledge. Like that the Shetlands were still part of Norway going into the middle of the 15th century, so they have been part of the United Kingdom for much longer than they had been part of Scotland. And did you know that "beserk" comes from nutty Viking warriors called berserkers who chewed their shields and went into battle naked (fine if you are a Spartan swanning around in Greece but distinctly parky in Scandinavia one would have thought)?
I do like Viking names. You know where you are with Eric Bloodaxe or Svein Forkbeard. They clearly were a bloodthirsty lot. But just because you can merrily cut open your enemy's chest and pull out bits for fun doesn't mean you can't enjoy fine art or pretty shiny objects. Indeed the two may go together more often than is comfortable. We would like to think murderous thugs can't have nice artistic sensibilities like us.
After that and coffee in the Members' Room I headed into Queensway for lunch at Cafe Anglais (a nice fish stew with cod's tongues) before heading out to enjoy the spring sunshine through Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park and eventually to the National Gallery.
Can't beat a good waxy magnolia on a sunny spring day
And yes just the usual sort of people wandering about. Like this bloke walking his rabbit through the park. As one does.
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