Just got back from Vikings Live, a live event transmitted from the British Museum and viewed in cinemas all around the country. It’s a great idea for people who can’t get to major exhibitions and was packed with expert opinion and even a little LARPing thrown in for good measure.
Two things have stuck with me. First is the fact that the words ‘religion’ and ‘belief’ would have no meaning to a Viking. There was only ‘knowledge’. There was no question that dragons and gods existed. The ‘super’-natural was simply natural – a known fact.
The other thing I love is that according to Neil MacGregor, Director of the Museum, the figure below is in fact Odin in drag! He’s a god of war but also a god of sorcery which was the domain of the women folk, so is portrayed wearing women’s clothes. Fantastic. Eddie Izzard eat your heart out. The father of Thor liked a frock!
Plus he looks nicely steampunky in this sculpture. Are those goggles? It almost looks like it’s dropped out of the pages of a Hellboy comic…
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