The Vikings

While walking into the library this morning I noticed some men outside taking turns with a pair of protective glasses to look at the sun - the eclipse Col Maybury has gone to Turkey to see (in totality) is obviously partially visible here. The park across from the library has in it several ponds, some of them still looking like they are in the grip of winter.

On the way to visit the Viking ship museum, I walked past another Mediaeval church - Skt. Ibs Kirke, the Church of St. James, but it no longer used as a church. It is protected, and the grounds and surrounding graves are kept impeccably.

The Viking ship museum is situated right at the waterfront at the head of Roskilde Fjord. The largest exhibition comprises 5 ships which were discovered in Roskilde fjord in the 1950s. They were painstakingly brought to the surface during the 1960s, and after years of work - not the least of which was replacing the water with a compound which would preserve the timber once it was out of water - the ships have provided much information about how the Vikings lived including their wars, their fishing, and trade.

I also visited a Gasworks gallery - now a modern art gallery, and I saw some glass-blowing there - very attractive pieces were being created, and it was warm!

The Roskilde Jars by Peter Brandes are just outside the railway station. At first the look like they are covered in graffiti, but they are inscribed with the names of all who took part in their production, including the names of all members of Stryhn's Leverpostej, the company that presented the jars to commemorate Roskilde's 1000-year jubilee in 1998.