Mediating the Vikings: Popular Culture, Character Types, and Museum Audience Experiences

This article explores the dynamic interplay between Viking character types in popular culture and museum audiences. We examine how pervasive mediated Viking imagery shapes expectations, conceptualizing it as ‘character types’ activated in museum settings. Using qualitative interviews conducted at two Danish museums, we identify six dominant ‘Viking character types’: The Warrior, The Monster, The Explorer/Craftsman, The Feminist, The Style Icon, and The Non-Playing Character. Our findings show that audiences negotiate the tension between popular constructions of the past and historical scholarship, often expressing embarrassment, criticism, or rejection of fictional content. This highlights the Viking as an ‘open construction’ – a flexible character type that audiences fill with meaning. It is crucial for museums to understand these appropriations to effectively engage a public influenced by mediated fictions and develop polyphonic exhibition strategies that bridge fantasy and history in ways that are both compelling and historically grounded.