We went to the Ulster Museum on the 18th September 2018 at 10:15a.m to learn about the Vikings. We walked there as a class. When we got there, a lady took us to a little room where we sat on coloured cushions. She had a power point ready for us about the Vikings. She told us about the Monks, Viking weapons and Viking homes. Their houses were called Longhouses as they were about 50ft long. They didn’t have separate rooms - they might have had a sleeping area in one corner and a cooking area in the middle of the house. The Vikings didn’t have fridges so they used to dig little tunnels underneath their houses that were very cold. They used these tunnels to store butter, cheese, etc.
The lady told us about the weapons they used and as she called them out some people got to hold them. The Vikings used axes, swords, daggers and spears as well as shields and helmets (with no horns – this is a myth!). Only the rich Vikings had chainmail armour. Poor Vikings didn’t have body armour.
We also learnt about Christianity and monks’ churches called monasteries. The Monks got up at 6:00 a.m. to go to mass and they went again at midnight. They were very strict about their religion. When the Vikings came and raided, they would barge through the walls, destroy the churches and set them on fire. The Vikings loved it when they found a little gold box. This was because it was very valuable. There was usually a little message inside the box (a keepsake) but the Vikings didn’t value these so they would throw them away.
Next was Viking clothing. The males wore long t- shirts, leggings, a satchel and a hat like a sleeping cap. The women wore a long dress, an apron, a rope around their waist and if they were married they wore a cloth to tie their hair back for cooking etc. Two people got to dress up as a Viking woman or man.
At the end we got to ask some questions. Then we had to go back to school. It was really fun to learn about the Vikings from an expert because we learnt so much from one person. It was great because when we left we had five minutes to spare and so we got to look around for a bit. We all walked back to school. We personally thought it was a really interesting and fascinating trip.
By Maebh & Pixie
