To the Vikings there were four winds, Duneyr, Durathor, Dvalin and Dain.  These were currents of energy that can blow from World to World, and possessed four guardians, Austri, Vestri, Sudri and Nordri.  Descrive a Viking in charge of the sails and his sense of these winds and guardians at sea.
Image:  www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/shipstimeline.html

Viking children played with toy ships and in the Króka Refs saga one character, a certain Refur, even went so far as to build a ship based on his favourite toy model.  Tell us more about this Refur, and his passion for his boat.
Image:  www.hurstwic.org

Nine worlds spin around the world ash tree Yggdrasil.  Asgard, Ljossalfheim, Vanaheim, Jotunheim, Midgard, Muspellheim, Svartalfheim, Niflheim and Helheim are flat continents and each have their own time, seasons and year.  Vikings could change worlds by going off the far edge, crossing rivers or oceans.  Describe Vikings moving between worlds in their ship.
Image:  http//www.pinterest.com/pin/393220611187015735/

These curious objects, made out of animal bone, were tied below shoes with leather straps and used as skates to glide across the ice.  Bring them to life with a story.
Photo:  MMB Exhibition "Vikings.  Beyond the Legend"

Decking was very simple on warships, where oarsmen sat along the crossbeams.  The expression víka sjóvar tells us that a man worked the oar with a thousand strokes, or for about two hours, before he could be released.  Describe the challenge of rowing and how the rower kept going on a particularly challenging crossing. 
Image:  www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/norse_ships.htm

One Viking poet warned:  "Let no man carve runes to cast a spell, save first he learn to read them well."  Describe a casting of a spell, and its consequences at sea.
Runestone of King Harald the Bluetooth, detail c AD 965 Image:  Peter Engelsted Jonasen/iStockphoto

Vikings would use this fishing tool, a "leister," to catch eels.  Bring it to life with a story!
Image:  MMB Exhibition:  "Vikings Beyond the Legend"

It is thought  that Vikings stored their shields along the gunwales of a ship, as extra protection against the waves and the wind.  This image, of the replica ship Islendigur crossing from Iceland to North America in 2000, shows many different designs for shields, which could include entire scenes.  Skaldic poetry offers "shield poems" and we know that the round Viking shields, often reinforced at the edges with leather or iron, were frequently used in interlocked formations.  How might these shields have appeared, to a young boatsman who had never seen a Viking ship?

Image:  www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/norse_ships.htm

Walrus ivory figures show warriors chewing the edges of their shield and the ancient sagas relate tales of "beserkers" who fought naked in a trance state, terrifying those they charged towards.  Tell us about what it felt like to come across a Viking beserker.  Or describe a berserker´s trance. 
Image:  The Trustees of the British Museum

This belt clasp, found in a grave in Gotland, Sweden, has a human head.  Who might it have been modelled on?  The man's ancestor or the man himself?  Bring it to life with a story of a Viking at sea.
Image:  MMB Exhibition:  "Vikings:  Beyond the Legend"

Symbolic keys have been found in women´s graves, and only in women´s graves. We know that these symbolic keys were highly elaborate, that they were usually made of bronze, that they were worn exclusively by the mistress of the house over her clothes for all to see and that they bore little traces of wear. What might such a key have opened? What story could you tell us about swapped, lost or stolen keys? Or of the artisan who designed them?  Remember to link it to the sea! 

Image:  Exhibition “Beyond the Vikings” MMB Barcelona

The holy groves were boundaries between the worlds of men and the gods. These spaces, which were bound to the tree of life, contained the essence of creation and were out of bounds to all but priests who practised their rituals there. Are you a nordic priest in a grove by the sea? Put us in the picture! 

Image:  http://mitchtestone.blogspot.com.es/2009_12_27_archive.html

This comb is made out of animal bone and is further testimony to the importance of grooming.  Tell a tale of a Viking at sea who keeps this as a souvenir of the woman he has left.

Image:  MMB Exhibition “Vikings:  Beyond the Legend”

August 2010, whaling port of Sandeford, Norway. A replica of the Oseberg Ship is for sale, together with its fifteen oars, for NOK 3.5 million (€435 000). Its proud owner Per Bjorkum had already sailed “Asa” from Riga Bay to Sandefjord, to prove that it was seaworthy. Who makes off with it in your story? What becomes of it?

Image:  www.newsinenglish.no/2010/08/05/viking-ship-for-sale/

When the long dark winter set in, the Vikings needed to reassure themselves that daylight would return and that the sun would shine again. So they made sacrifices, acts that to them were holy and went by the name of “hunting the light”. What could this have involved? 

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Offering_by_Lund.jpg

What can you tell us about this fishing hook, and the struggle between a Viking and his prey?

Image:  MMB Exhibition "Vikings:  Beyond the Legend"

The Vikings also laid their dead in a ship, together with offerings and at times even sacrified slaves, then buried it in a large funerary mound. To date the most sumptuous ship discovered is the Oseberg Ship (Norway), which was for a woman (probably a queen or a priestess) who most probably lived in the ninth Century. Tell us about her journey, or about the trauma that her female slave would have suffered, buried alive with her mistress.

Image:  http://www.sjolander.com/viking/museum/

The World Ash Tree of Yggdrasil was the axis of the earth.  Only the waters of the well of Urd could keep it alive, and if it withered, the world would be destroyed.  So three norns, female figures of destiny, watered it every day with the waters and sandy clay of Urd.  Are you a leaf on that tree, a bird with a nest in its bark, a creature with a warren in its roots or even one of the eternal norns?  What is the relationship between the tree and the sea?  Set the scene - tell us more!

Image:  http://www.northernshamanism.org

This clasp, featuring a cross, was found in Ireland.  Though we often associate Vikings with Norse mythology, conversions to Christianity grew more and more widespread.  How might Vikings have dealt with these differences in faith?  Tell us a story about such differences, and don't forget to relate it to the sea! 
Image:  Exposition MMB "Les Vikings: Au delà de la Légende"

Many exotic artefacts have been found on Viking Age sites, including a Persian glass cup, an Irish cross, an Indian buddha statuette, a Coptic ladle and even shells from the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, turned into pendants. Describe an encounter between a Viking and an exotic trader by the sea.

Image:  A Giant Clam in the Red Sea. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 

The chief of the Norse gods, Odin, knew that if he wanted to tap into occult knowledge he had to spear himself to a tree. There he hung suspended for nine long windy nights, listening to the talismanic properties of a new alphabet, the mysteries of the runes. Tell us about them and what they might have to say about the sea.

Image:  www.exploringelements.com/snapshots-trail-of-100-giants/

Would these have been ornaments, amulets or cult objects?  We might detect a miniature swordm a miniature torc or necklace, but what about the other pendants?  Why would a Viking have worn them and what effect would they have had on his voyage or raid at sea?  Tell us more!
Image:  MMB Exhibition:  "Vikings:  Beyond the Legend"

The Vikings never referred to themselves as Vikings, but the term "going on a Viking" appears on rune stones and in Old Norse sources. It is thought to mean a commercial trip or raid, but you give your own meaning to this evocative expression.

Image:  http://evi-a.deviantart.com/art/Going-A-Viking-217507842

The Vikings used to cremate their dead in ships. The funerary pyre needed to be huge, to help lift the deceased to the realm of the dead – a region that was either on the other side of the sea or the mountains, but could also be in the heavens or the underworld. From the point of view of the deceased inside his or her boat, tell us about your journey to the afterlife.

Image:  www.funerals-and-flowers.com/viking-funeral.html