Spring has finally sprung in Copenhagen, though the weather is nowhere near as warm as it is in Gettysburg/at home. The leaves are finally beginning to come out, and each day they seem a little fuller. I am so glad that I get to see CPH when the trees and plants are actually green and the weather is fair. I was starting to think that it never got nice here and that rumors of the supposedly beautiful Danish summer were a myth. I'm going to try to focus on the key important days since my last post.
Nordic Mythology Field Studies: I mentioned in my last post that I had a really great field trip on a Saturday with my Nordic Mythology class. Despite a rough start (by some error a bus had not been booked, so we had to wait about an hour and a half for one to come), it turned out to be a rewarding day. We started off at the Ribe Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, which holds the remains of 5 Viking ships. They were intentionally sunk in Roskilde Fjord in order to block off the easiest sailing routes so that you had to really know the waters to make it through without sinking. It was a pretty good defense mechanism, I think. The ships were excavated in the 50s or 60s I believe, and preserved by a slow process replacing the water in the wood with wax so it is permanently protected from decay.
One of the ships, in full view of the fjord in which it was found
We were perhaps a little rushed at the museum, but we were able to learn a little about the purpose of each of the ships, watch a very informative film about their finding, etc. AND I was able to buy a set of six mini posters with beautiful photographs of a full scale model of the warship in full sail outside of Scotland, of all places...for only 25 KRONER!!! I am pretty excited about it, because the pictures are really amazing, and it encompasses two elements of my abroad experience in one (Vikings and Scotland). Hurra!
After the Viking Ship Museum we were able to go to Lejre, which is the town right next door to Roskilde. There there are stones in the shape of Viking ships...these are burial mounds. Lejre was once a very sacred place and was used in a very intense ritual sacrifice. Once every 9 years 9 men (as well as many hounds, horses, hawks, etc) were killed each day for 8 or 9 days (different accounts give different numbers) by the Odinic death (hanging and stabbing). It was pretty neat to see where some of the stuff was that we have been discussing for the whole semester. It is difficult that this now peaceful, beautiful open field in the Danish countryside was once the place of such bloody events.
Some of the stones...many of the ones here were removed before they could preserve the area.
Right near the burial mounds lies the place where historians are quite sure that Herot stood. Yup...the same Herot told of in Beowulf. It was actually a real place, which I am not sure I really realized before. I, of course, was thrilled to learn this because I am a HUGE Beowulf fan. Now there is just a mound that they have erected to show where they believe it stood, but that was good enough for me!
After Lejre we drove clear across Zealand to see our last stop...Trelleborg, the ancient fortress of Harald Bluetooth I, the first king of Denmark and the man largely responsible for its Christianization. Trelleborg was his stronghold in Zealand and was essentially the reason he was able to accomplish what he did. They have a reconstruction of a mead hall there, which was pretty cool, especially since our professors secretly bought mead and had us try it while we were in the mead hall. Though I must say I only took one sip before I gave it away to Pat (mead is basically alcohol and honey...does that sound appetizing to you? BLECH), I still think it was a really cool experience. How often do you get to drink mead in a mead hall in Denmark? I was happy for the surprise, even if mead is not my cup of tea.
Bettina and Morten serving up mead in the mead hall
Me in front of the mead hall
Though of course I have pictures of the real Trelleborg, they don't really give a feel of what the whole thing looked like, so I will just post a picture of the model. See the real deal on Facebook!
Anyway, I think it was a pretty great day, despite the wind, slight chilliness, and delayed bus.
The following Wednesday (the 21st) we had a second field study, in which we visited the Arnamagnæan Institute, which houses many, many old manuscripts from Iceland, Norway, Denmark, etc. I was completely blown away by our talk there. Now, if you know anything about the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution, you know they are kept at the National Archives in DC under heat proof, bullet proof, 100% light reflective glass, and that they can descend into bombproof chambers. As special as these documents are, they are only 230-ish years old. I say ONLY because the Arnamagnæan Institute houses manuscripts that are from 1300. Maybe not so special, but the presenter handled them with his BARE HANDS. No protection from light. No cases. No gloves. Nothing. I was astounded. We voiced our amazement, and he stated that there are two schools of thought surrounding the preservation/treatment of old documents, which of course are exemplified by the two vastly different ways these documents are handled. It makes me wonder if perhaps the Declaration is getting far more pampered care than it actually needs.
Anyway, after my field study I trucked it back to DIS in the snow and falling volcanic ash(yeah...snow on April 21st, bleh). There I discovered that DIS had discount tickets to the ballet, and on a whim, I bought one of the last two. It turned out to be a great decision, even though I had to miss one of my Danish classmates presentations and Danish-style dinner with the class in order to get there on time. The ballet was "A Midsummer's Night Dream", which is a great Shakespearian play, in my opinion. First of all, the seats I got were amazing. They were worth $100, but I got them for $40. The theater was beautiful.
Even more exciting than all that, when I got there, I discovered that the Queen was coming! I got to sit so close to her! It was incredible.
Of course, the ballet was completely amazing and beautiful, though I must say the forest scenes could be very strange at times. The faeries were a very interesting interpretation. It was such a great experience, and I'm so glad I got to go. Horray for spontaneity!
Anyway, I had the best of intentions of getting caught up on recent events, but it is now rather late and I am struggling to keep my aching eyes open, so I will try to update again soon. Stay tuned to hear about my trip to Sweden as well as the activities of the Long Weekend. Eventually I'll have enough time to go back and talk about my long study tour (London) and long travel break (Czech Republic and Scotland). Hej hej for now!
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