“Why do you want to go look at just a bunch of rocks that you’ve seen many times before?”
I get this question a lot when we go back to Denmark and I mention some of our plans include a visit to Lindholm Høje. Our visit this past May marked my 7th visit to a small hill in Norresundby, just across the limfjord from of the larger city of Aalborg.
Many times I even ask myself why am I drawn to this same spot in Denmark time and again.
So why? Because the hill I am standing on is the largest and best preserved Viking burial ground in Scandinavia and underneath my feet are the graves of almost 700 Vikings who lived and died here between the 400 and 1000AD.
I first learned about the existence of Lindholm Høje, and Viking graveyards in general, on my first business trip to Aalborg in 2003. At the end of the work day a colleague asked me if I wanted to take a little detour on the way back to my hotel. He had something to show me he thought I might like. Always up for seeing new things, especially in a country I had never been before, I agreed.
After a short drive from the office and through a small forest, we had apparently arrived. And we were the only ones there. I was a little skeptical, but kept an open mind as we left the parking lot and walked up a hill through some trees. I didn’t see anything around me that was remotely exciting. It was just a field of rocks. I had no clue what I was looking at or what my reaction should be. I tried to hide my disappointment by pointing out some of the rocks were really neat and big, while mentally wondering what I had ever said or did to make him think I would be interested in a field of large rocks.
Then he laughed and told me what I was looking at – a 1,500 year old Viking graveyard. I was then amazed and so excited to be taken to such an awesome place and ever since that first visit I have been captivated by it’s history. And even though nothing ever changes, I find the bleak landscape fascinating and it captures my imagination. Sometimes as I walk among the stone markers and graves, I can almost feel their presence.
A Brief History of Lindholm Høje
The area around Lindholm Høje was first settled around 400 AD and quickly became an important settlement due to it’s location along the Limfjord. The Limfjord was an important trade, communication and transportation hub for the northern part of Denmark. However, by the late Viking Age the town of Aalborg was established to take control of the trade routes. At the same time the entire area was becoming plagued by (and eventually covered by) huge sand drifts. Both events caused the people to abandon the village.
Ironically, it was also the sand that helped preserve the settlement and rock formations. By the 19th century some of stones at the bottom of the hill started to peek out through the sand and were used for local construction projects. As more of the stones were uncovered, people began to take notice of the specific shapes the stones were set in.
One of these individuals was Ida Augusta Zangenberg, a dance teacher and amateur archaeologist. After years of excavating burial mounds around Denmark and throughout other parts of Europe, she took an interest in the sand covered hills around Lindholm Høje in 1890. She worked out a deal with the landowner to purchase the hills. He told her to pay later on, but gave her permission to begin excavating the area. She hired a crew to begin digging their way through meters of sand and soon they discovered many graves in the shape of ships and circles of various sizes. Inside the graves were many artifacts such as pottery, glass beads and iron tools. She wrote to the Danish National Museum of her finds, but they declined to join her excavations. Unfortunately, by the time the landowner was ready formally sell the land to Augusta, he raised the sale price to ten times the original amount, and she could not afford to pay. The land was bought by a Danish man, who then donated the hills to the local municipality under the condition that any future excavations be conducted by professional archaeologists.
Although there was always local interest in the excavating Lindholm Høje, the hills were covered by nearly 10 feet of sand and proved to be too large and too expensive of a project for anyone to undertake. It wasn’t until 1952 that an official excavation took place under the leadership of the Aalborg Historical Museum. The excavations lasted for 6 years due to the difficult conditions they had to work in. As they removed layers and layers of sand they discovered that there was also an entire Viking settlement hidden as well. After the excavations ended in 1958 the archaeologists had uncovered the remains of two settlements (one from the 8th and 9th centuries and one from the 11th and 12th centuries) as well as over 600 graves. All of the artifacts discovered in the villages and graves were taken to museums for either storage or display.
Visiting Lindholm Høje Today
To reach the Viking burial site you first go through a small wooden gate and then up a little path through a small forest. As you walk around you will probably see sheep or goats grazing in the forest or on the hillside.
After walking up the path through the forest, I suggest continuing to the top of the hill first. The view from the top looking down over the burial ground is beautiful. This part of the hill is also where the oldest graves are found.
While the stones scattered across the hillside may look like the ancient remains of a dice game played by Norse gods millennia ago, they were were actually carefully placed there in the shapes of circles, triangles, ships, ovals or mounds as setting for cremations. Once you are done looking around from the top, you can start walking around. There are no paths around the graves, so you don’t have to follow a specific path. Just go whatever direction you want to start. There are a few markers around to explain what you are looking at.
Female graves were marked with oval, square and circular stone settings and were typically oriented east-west.
Male graves were marked with ship and triangle settings and were typically oriented north-south.
Although remains from two villages were discovered during the excavations of Lindholm Høje, today you can only see where one would have been located near the top of the hill. The walls, fences and wells of the village are outlined in cement.
Although I have been to Lindholm Høje in nearly every season, my most favorite to photograph the burial mounds is during the winter when there is a thick frost on the ground. It gives you an almost other worldly feeling as you walk among the graves.
Come walk around the graves with me!
Practical Information
The Lindholm Høje Viking burial ground is open 365 days a year and is free to walk around. There are no public toilets and it is not handicap accessible.
There is an adjacent museum which houses artifacts found in the burial mounds as well interesting finds from around the area. It has a separate entrance fee and its own set of opening hours.
Address
Viking Museum Lindholm Høje
Vendilavej 11
9400 Nørresundby
