Tuesday 27th June 2017 – Aarhus, Denmark

After a day without Vikings, we were getting withdrawal symptoms so we headed for Fyrkat with its Viking fort. Like Aggersund (see 24/6/17), this was built by Harald Bluetooth in the 10^th century and excavation has shown it to have held 16 long houses, set in squares of four within each quadrant of the circle (see photos). We started our visit 1km away from the fort at the Viking Centre, which is much smaller in area than Ribe (see 23/6/17) and with 9 reconstructed buildings. It is based on a Viking farmstead from the age of Harald Bluetooth. We were able to make some flat bread in one of the houses and had a good chat with one of the staff there who was very knowledgeable about the project. We then went on to view the rest of the site and I was particularly interested to see the long hall that was closed for repair. After 20 years, their oak posts were beginning to rot in the ground and they had decided to replace the rotten parts with concrete which would be hidden from view. This has implications for our project in the Somerset Levels but our oak posts are much more substantial than theirs and that should give it a longer life.

After lunch, we walked through a nature reserve of marshland and lakes to a mill and farm complex below the Viking fort. Of the farm buildings, only the main house is in its original position, with the mill and all the outbuildings having been transported from other parts of Jutland.

We then climbed up to the fort to find, just outside the banks, a full-scale reconstruction of one of the 16 identical long houses. A walk around the ramparts not only gave us great views of the surrounding area but also of the interior layout of the fort where the outlines of all the buildings had been marked with white stones.

Returning to Henrietta we took a scenic route to Mariager where we admired the lovely views over the Mariager Fjord. Motorhomers please note that there is a lovely, official 5-motohome aire at Mariager right on the edge of the fjord and also a campsite on the western edge of the town.

Turning south, we headed for Aarhus and Aarhus Camping.

Photos: View of Fyrkat fort (to left of flag on horizon) from the Viking village looking over the nature reserve; Jane making Viking bread - note the dragon fire coming out of her mouth!; Long house undergoing repair, a 3-year project; The farm and mill complex below the fort; A model showing the internal layout of the fort; A reconstruction of one of the long houses from the interior of the fort; A view from the fort ramparts of the interior, clearly showing the layout of the houses.