MY EAST FUNEN – The Viking King from Ladby & activity for primary schools
Dialogical tour and activity course at the Viking Museum Ladby
45 years before Harald Bluetooth wrote his name into Danish history with the Jelling Stone, a rich king was buried in a magnificent Viking ship inside a burial mound near Ladby on East Funen. We don’t know what the king’s name was, but we do know that his unusually expensive burial equipment shows that a special Viking was buried here. Who was this Funen king of Ladby? And why did he get the most magnificent Danish Viking burial we know? Accompanied by our Viking teacher, we learn who the King of Ladby was:
- We learn how the 1,000-year-old discoveries from the Ship’s Grave can tell stories.
- We learn more about life in the Viking Age, how it resembles – and does not resemble – our own lives.
- We discover how the Ladby King is connected to Harald Bluetooth and Gorm the Old.
The course is targeted the specific grade level – from a focus on specific knowledge to reflection on the concept of power. The course is also particularly targeted at the history-canon point about the Jelling Stone.
How does it take place?
- Tour of “the Death Ship” exhibition, at the burial site and inside the Ladby King’s “Ship’s Grave”. Along the way, we see both a reconstruction of the Ladby king’s burial and visit the Ladby Ship, which stands exactly as the archaeologists left it after the excavation. We also touch copies of the Ladby King’s burial gifts and get close to the original archaeological finds.
Which method do we use?
- The teaching is dialogue-based, and the aim is for the students to wonder and actively reflect on the Viking Age. We know a lot about the Viking Age, but there is also a lot we don’t know. Along the way, we therefore include the students’ prior knowledge, questions and imagination.
We will also feel the Viking Age firsthand with an activity. The Vikings themselveves arranged their activities according to the weather and we do the same. If the weather is good, we work with sailors and collaborate outdoors, but if the weather is bad, we are inside, working with Viking Age craftsmanship and materials.
Shared Learning Goals:
- The pupils learn about the conditions of life before their time and gain insights into continuity and change.
- The pupils learn to use archaeological and historical sources to learn about the past.
- The pupils become familiar with their own place in history and experience their own democratic society mirrored in a non-democratic period in Denmark’s history – the Viking Age.
Good to know
Duration: 2 hours
Max. number of participants per course: 30 students with min. 2 accompanying adults.
Price: The My East Funen course provides free entrance and free teaching for 4th graders at municipal schools in Nyborg and Kerteminde municipalities.
Transportation
– If the Viking Museum and the school are located too far apart for the classes to be able to travel on foot or by bicycle, Nyborg and Kerteminde municipalities have allocated money for either public transport or one bus per class.
– Contact the municipality’s school consultant if there is any doubt about which routes the bus has been allocated to.
– The school must book the bus itself.
Contact and booking
Contact the Viking Museum Ladby by email: [email protected] or phone: 65321667
Practicalities
– The course can be booked all weekdays all year round between 09.00 and 15.00. If a visit is booked on a Monday, when the museum is closed, the museum is only opened during the tour, and the museum shop cannot be visited.
– The tour takes place primarily indoors in the museum’s exhibitions and The Ladby King’s ship loft, which is 300 m from the museum. The activity is – depending on the weather – outside or inside.
– The museum is located on a 5-hectare open grass area with hills, trees, and scrub – right down to the inlet. There is plenty of space under the open sky for play and fun before or after the course.
– Remember to dress according to the weather and for a day by the sea.
– The area has numerous tables and bench sets where the packed lunches can be eaten.
– In the museum shop you can buy ice cream, soft drinks, coffee/tea etc.