Epcot's Stave Church Gallery to Update Exhibit Spring 2018

[Figment!]

Epcot Cast have reported that the Stave Church Gallery in the Norway pavilion will be updating its exhibit.

The current "Norsk Kultur: Inspiration for Disney Frozen" exhibit is scheduled to close March 12, 2018 to be replaced by a new exhibit entitled "Gods of the Vikings". The new exhibit will feature artifacts depicting Norse deities such as Odin, Thor, Freyja and Loki.

The Norwegian America published an article at the end of 2017 discussing Disney gathering items for the new exhibit:

A ninth-century sword, a magnificent drinking horn, a stunning hammer of Thor, a fearsome spearhead, fishing-related objects, and a horse rattle to keep trolls at bay and scare the enemy are all items being offered for display at Disney’s Epcot Center.

“We’ve been working with Disney for 11 to 12 years now. This is the third exhibition we’re preparing with them,” says Associate Professor Jon Anders Risvaag at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)’s Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, which is affiliated with the NTNU University Museum.

... The final selection of items to be loaned has not yet been decided, but a number of objects are good candidates. The 1,000-year-old sword got a grin when a Disney representative recently visited the museum and commented, “I feel like I’m 11 years old again!”

Risvaag says he recognizes that feeling himself. Although he has every reason to be a bit blasé after handling many of the museum’s historical objects for 20-some years, Risvaag still gets excited when he comes across something particularly special.

Now a new audience will be able to experience this excitement. Epcot welcomes more than 11 million visitors a year. About four million of them visit the Norwegian pavilion.

A sword to be included in the exhibit symbolizes the warrior Odin and is from Talsnes in Midtre Gauldal municipality. The sword is relatively solid for being over 1,000 years old, which is one of the reasons it’s actually allowed to make the trip to the U.S.

But Disney didn’t have carte blanche in selecting objects from the museum’s digital collection. “We have some of the items on exhibit here in the museum,” Risvaag says.

The brutal spearhead offered for the Disney exhibition is a reminder that some of these artifacts weren’t used for particularly pleasant purposes, but despite this fact—or maybe because of it—they fascinate people.

Buffalo horn



One of the most beautiful of the museum’s 27 drinking horns—a decorated buffalo horn—has been made available for the exhibit. Norway once imported buffalo horns specifically to make drinking horns.

This particular horn is newer than the Viking era, probably from the period 1300 to 1600 C.E. But although its history has disappeared over the years, it was made in much the same style as in earlier times. According to Risvaag, the horn was probably made for “drinking Yule,” an expression for a midwinter festival of feasting and drinking, as related in a 13th-century Icelandic saga.

This horn looks like it could still be used, unlike many of the older horns that are in much worse condition.

A hammer and a rattle

Another item offered is a beautiful hammer of Thor discovered northeast of Trondheim a couple of years ago. The object has such beautiful detail and is in such good condition that it could just as well be used today.

A metal rattle may seem benign just lying in place, but its use as described in the sagas tells a different story. We can’t quite know how it sounded when new, because it no longer clangs, but we know that Vikings attached rattles to horses’ harnesses to create a sound that would scare their enemies.

An exact opening date for the new exhibit has not been announced.

[Cinderelley]

I hope it is all set up by the time we get there.

[texas211]

I hope it is all set up by the time we get there.

I know you are hoping that is the new resort mug.

[PopPhan]

Bet I'll miss it by a couple days or weeks. Arriving April 26 for 6 days.....

[Cinderelley]

I know you are hoping that is the new resort mug.

I want a resort Viking horn with a picture of schoolbread etched into it. *insert Viking smilie here*