History in Denmark: Vikingegård Fyrkat (Hobro, Denmark)

Denmark is the land of the Vikings, and all throughout the country, you can find different places to experience what life as a Viking in Denmark was like long ago. One such place to get a taste of Viking history would be at the Vikingegård Fyrkat (Viking Center Fyrkat) in Hobro, Denmark. 

One Mother’s Day, my husband and little boys took me on a picnic at the Vikingegård Fyrkat. The day was perfect for an adventure out in the beautiful spring weather and sunshine. Also, May is a fabulous month to visit Denmark. We were more than excited to have a new Viking adventure.

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Parking and Gift Shop

When we arrived at Vikingegård Fyrkat, we noticed the Viking flags right away along the side of the road, which just added to our excitement.

We found parking just next to the farm and walked into a quaint little, thatched-roof building to pay our admission and check out the gift shop. They had a lot of different items that would please any Viking, big or small! I thought it was a fun idea to be able to get Viking Mead for the Viking adults and swords for the Viking children. 😉

The Viking Farm

The Viking farm was quite fascinating! It had many different buildings, a sacrificial area and a large boat, which was parked just outside of the first building we visited. As we got closer to the building, we could begin to hear the sound of some type of flute being played.

Viking Music

Inside, we found one of the volunteers Vikings was playing music from a bone that he had carved. A bone!?!? My boys couldn’t take their eyes off of him. They wanted to hear his Viking-inspired tune, and then proceeded to ask the man to play every instrument that he had on the table. 🙂

I was glad that my boys were so interested, and that the man was just as eager to play as my boys were to listen. He even played a multi-stringed instrument which he played much like a cello. I was completely impressed to discover that the man not only knew how to play these instruments quite well, but that he made them with his own two hands!! This was Viking history at its best, plus a live show!

After playing the different instruments for us, he led us to another section of the building where he showed us just how he made the pipes. This was a part of Viking history that I wasn’t expecting to find. Also, I was very glad Vikingegård Fyrkat showed more exhibits of the Viking culture and people than of war.

Looking for a place to stay nearby? Check out Mariager Camping and Hytter in nearby Mariager, Denmark!

The “Long House”

Next, we visited the “long house” next, which was the traditional home of the Viking family. It was quite interesting to see how it was divided into three sections: a barn, home, and work area. The Vikings seemed to have just what they needed.

Vikingegård Fyrkat did a great job of making it look as realistic as possible with the introduction of exposed thatching on the ceiling and animals skins on the floors and walls. 

The Grub House

Just outside the “long house” was a small, kitchen building called the “Grub House”.  This little structure was partially set in the ground to allow it to be cooler inside. Being overly curious, we had to take a peek inside, and we discovered that it was just big enough for the four of us to stand in there comfortably.

I loved the name of it right away, since “grub” is a fun way that we, Americans, refer to food in the US. My boys thought this little house was cool (no pun intended), and they wanted one for our backyard! 🙂

I enjoyed all of the personal touches of Viking history. We really got a good sense of how Vikings were families, because the different buildings focused on how they lived long ago.

Want to visit more Viking places? Check out the Viking Museum in Ribe, Denmark!

Since Hobro is also in the middle of a lot of farmland, not much had changed in the landscape, which was really neat to think that perhaps, the inhabitants of Hobro were decedents from the Vikings who lived here many years in the past! 🙂 I mean; it could happen, right? 

Other Buildings on the Viking Farm

The rest of the buildings on the farm were designed on the outside much like the “long house”. They had the same color, shape and thatched roofs. Many held equipment or even were workshops where farm equipment could be made. It was such an interesting little place that showed the agricultural side of Viking history. This was something I had never experienced in quite the same way.

The Sacrificial Area

In between a few of the buildings was an area that looked like it was where the Vikings would sacrifice animals or even people to their gods. I couldn’t imagine living during that time. It seemed a bit like the Hunger Games to me. 🙂 No one was safe from the sacrifice! 

This was one section that I had never seen before. I had read about it in books about Viking history, but it was really neat to see an exhibit like this. This was also something very important to the daily lives of Vikings and deserved a place on the farm, no matter how morbid it was!

The Viking Playground

One thing I just love about Denmark is their focus on children. Though the Vikingegård Fyrkat is a place to learn about Viking history and culture, it is also a place that offers a one-of-a-kind playground that allows children the chance to have a little fun while learning about Nordic mythology at the same time.

Learn more about the Iron Age in Denmark at Hvolris Jernalderlandsby in Midtjylland, Denmark!

Whether they are pretending to sail on a Viking ship,

explore a giant tree of Asgård,

or sit on Odin’s chair, my boys couldn’t get enough of this playground. They really liked seeing the stories, that they learned in school, come to life in a fun way!

Did you know that you can visit the playground for free? You don’t need to pay entrance to play on the playground. This gives us more of a reason to have many picnics here in the future. Being open year-round, we aren’t limited to when we can visit again. This was great news. 

Check out the cool playground in nearby Hald Ege at the Hald Sø (lake) and Dollerup Bakker (hills)!

Fyrkat and the Ring Fortress

A short distance down the road from Vikingegård Fyrkat was an actual Viking village and burial grounds. Here, we found a reconstructed long house like the one on the farm, but this one was more authentic looking on the outside and was designed to model the one that stood on this very ground hundreds of years earlier.

The long house also hosted a Viking play that was (is) performed every year during the last week of May and the first week of June. Instead of finding artifacts in this house, like you would in the one on the farm, you will find a long stage with chairs on either side.

Next to the long house, there was an circular area, hidden by a large, earthen wall. Stones were laid out in a circle on the ground to show where a “ring fortress” stood. There were stones for other buildings as well. My boys loved running along the top of the earth wall. This was also easy to do since there were ladders allowing visitors easy access to the top. This area also had a burial grounds where many different artifacts from Viking history were found. These items are now on display in the Hobro Museum.

Overall Impressions

Getting in Touch with and Finding Vikingegård Fyrkat 

Address: Fyrkatvej 37 B, 9500 Hobro (Denmark)

Telephone: +45 99 82 41 75

Email: historiskmuseum@aalborg.dk

Website: https://nordmus.dk/u/vikingecenter-fyrkat/

Other Things to do In Hobro, Denmark

• Hobro Mini Zoo
• Hobro Museum

For more Viking History in Denmark, check out this post on the Viking Market in Jelling, Denmark!

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