Odysseus Abroad: Copenhagen, Denmark

National Museum - Viking Exhibit - Carlsberg Glyptotek - City center

Plaque on building north of central station

Friday August 9th

Iceland was the least populated of our Nordic tour of 2013, at three hundred thousand people for the country, while a similar population live in just the city Bergen, Norway and twice that of live in Copenhagen, Denmark, where we spent the last two nights as our trip became more cosmopolitan. The first set of tickets on SAS from Bergen to Copenhagen, besides being exorbitantly expensive, were immediately cancelled on security grounds; apparently an American family of four, including two children aged 9 and 11, traveling one way in the summertime triggered the crack team of SAS anti-terrorist analysts to reject them. Four one way tickets has a bit of a ring to it after the four planes hijacked by 4-5 people each on September 11th 2001. We finally got them reissued and we were off on two hour flight, train ride to the city center, and checkin midday at the Hotel du Nord just two blocks from the station of Copenhagen. We wandered the city for the afternoon and didn't need much guidance, as there is so much to see.

Stop number one was the open square in front of the Thorvaldsen Museum where an open flea market was in session. Annette bought some cloth and I inquired about some of the old military radio equipment, but they were prices well to high, so we wandered on to Havnepromenade, where there was a sandcastle project underway; more professional in nature than a children's venue, although families were working there also behind high fences to protect the works from destruction. Across the waterway on the Christianshavn were fine old wharf warehouses, the trading houses of old, which were converted into apartments or modern use buildings. Some of the old trading ships and barges now converted to house boats or tour boats were lined up along Nyhaven canal of the side of the main waterway which separate the main Zealand Island of the Copenhagen side and the smaller which is home to Christianhavn and the airport. Nyhavn was hopping with tourists under the sun and blue afternoon skies. On the return walk we came across a political protest at Christiansborg; boycot Isreal, down with the state and US Hegemony, peace and friendship, down with the state - a mixed bag of messages, none being sharp enough to gain much of a crowd, but the television cameras and reporters were recording, hoping to stage their cameras to maximum effect.

Liam ponders life on FlyBusBergen to the airport

Arriving over Copenhagen

Columns of Nat'l Museum along Stormgade

Vindebrogade Market (Saturday)

Havnepromenade

Not your children's sandcastle

Nyhavn canal

Politics 1; Boycot Israel

Politics 2; Challenge US Hegemony

Politics 3; Peace & Friendship

Politics 4; Anarchy

Saturday August 10th

Copenhagen fashion week was in full swing during our visit; now the television cameras and reporters had descended on Radhus Pladsen (plaza) interviewing fashionistas displaying and selling their work. The National Museum was our main target for the morning and a special exhibit there displayed the famous Roskilde 6 Viking ship, 37 meters long, 4 meters wide and recovered from a Danish fjord, dating from around 1025AD. With 39 pairs of oars, the ship could carry 100 men. Viking skulls showed evidence of teeth being filed and shaped, probably for decorative purposes. Brutality is evident too, resulting from the iron weapons wielded by the warriors. Iron protection was developed in response, but many skulls showed the marks of war. A fish trap was on display from 4500BC which looked very similar to the ones still in use and which I had brought back from Asia recently. Bone spear tips and fish hooks from 5000BC reflecting the best materials of the day. Later stone tools and axed developed into finely honed shapes and of flint stone, soft enough too file, but hard enough to endure. Hoards of honed axe heads were found in flint rich Jutland, which may well reflect early mass production. The fearsome vikings would have sounded all the more ominous from the echo of the brass horns which they used to sound their arrival. All the trappings of the stereotypical Viking worrier were on display there, including long locks of braided blond and red hair. Ancient runic script carved rocks were highlighted in red; the writing was used until replaced by Latin script along with the sweep of Christianity. One of the rocks displayed the ancient swastika, revealing how widespread it was in BC times. Out in the courtyard Danish men practiced the old art of sword fighting, although without the blood and bone braking.

The Dejbjerg Wagons were on display, beautifully ornate horse drawn ceremonial wagons build in central Europe by the Celts in the 1st century BC, they were imported to Denmark and most likely buried in honor of their wealthy owner. The Roman Historian Tacitus reported that "At an appointed time all tribes meet...in a forest consecrated by the ancestors, surrounded by fear, sacred from the dawn of time. There on behalf of those assembled, they celebrate the commencement of their barbaric cult with a human sacrifice". We don't have to take Tacitus' word for it, as the bogs of Denmark reveal the specially dressed bodies of those sacrificed, often young girls. Most warring parties take, distribute and use the spoils of their victims defeated in war; however, as Paulus Orosius wrote in the 3rd century BC, the Germani of this region destroyed the possession of their enemies, such that they were of no value to themselves or anyone else. No prisoners or slaves were taken, the enemy's people were hanged in the trees, their weapons broken up and buried. Absolute vindictive annihilation was the norm, which was a strange tactic to the Romans and their heritage in Greece. The Vikings did have a way to extract value from their enemies however, in the form of Danegeld; demanding payment from peoples, especially along coastal Europe in order not to attack them in the first place. It was these characteristics which were strange to the Romans which became the definition of a Barbarian (derived from Greek meaning non-Greek) and the Roman-Germani relationship was like oil and water. The spread of Christianity through the Nordic lands replaced the old rituals.

Iron brought power in battle

Earlier swords were more plain, later more ornate

Along with the sword came protection and chain mail

Royal gown

Fish trap from 4500BC, similar to those in use today SE Asia

Bone spearheads and fishhooks 4500BC

A hoard of axe heads, early mass production

Ornate iron and stone heads

Skulls of the metal age reveal the brutal force of iron weapons

Flint Dagger

Later weapons became more ornate and probably less used

Viking Horns; sound of terror along the coasts of Britain and Ireland

Blond and Red braids from Viking age

Modern Vikings practice in the yard

Runic script

Swastika and Runic Script

Dejbjerg Wagon from 1st century BC

Celtic motif on Dejbjerg Wagon

Sacrifice victim preserved in the bogs

Danegeld

Departing the national gallery we admired the glass trophy proudly displaying the Danish winner of the 2013 Eurovision Song contest, Emmelie de Forest. Since living mostly outside Europe since 1989 I had forgotten the content which I recall partly for bringing together some European identity (We on the Islands considered Europe to be on the continent) and partly a corny event, but we watched every year; "Irlande, duex poise...Ireland, two points", we mimicked laughingly for years to come. I do recall that Ireland had won many times, including three in a row in the early 1990's and still holds the record of seven wins since the inception in 1956, just a year after the original. What we missed in population and economic activity, we made up for in song! Speaking of singing, I was caught by the very specific sound of whistling which was burned into my mind from the years of trips to Amsterdam, staying on Dam Square; there on Damrak Strass was often a man who blew on a flute, but only in one pitch. How pathetic people thought as they passed by thinking if he is that talentless, maybe he deserves a donation; the ploy seemed to work for him in Amsterdam. Here he was now in Copenhagen, getting away for the summer and I envisioned him jet setting around Europe all on his signature one pitch flute. A really talented musician was playing just down the street on a set of bottles filled to various levels. That afternoon we had late lunch at the Wagamama, an Asian diner which was referenced in one of Annette's books (referring to London), so we were obligated to visit. We entered from the street, but the other side connects with the Tivoli garden and amusement park, full of disney type rides and exhibits.

With the death of King Olaf IV of Norway in the 14th century, Iceland and Greenland came under Danish; Greenland remains so, but Iceland got independence in 1944. Even though originally Norse settlements, and trading continued via Bergen, Copenhagen was the seat of power in the relationship with the outposts. That evening as we sat on the concrete construction blocks in front of the hotel smoking, a 5 cent coin dropped from the sky. I looked up at the open windows above, but no sign of anyone. Later a sugar cube came bouncing on the ground and I spotted a boys face quickly pull back from the window. Soon after we started a conversation with a man from Greenland who was also smoking at the front door. Having given up traditional Inuit way of life, he now worked as an artist on west Greenland. Being a subject of Denmark, he made the trip to tour the country for a month and was about to depart, like us, the following day. His children gathered there and I recognized the boy from the window throwing sugar cubes, a mischievous and cute little fellow; I recalled the wonderment of everything strange when I first left Ireland aged 11 for a summer in the US and expect that this curious little boy would have found the same coming from Greenland to Denmark for the first time. The Greenlanders looked purely Asian to me, but the lady at the Hotel told us that they, being familiar, can easily identify Inuit from Asians. How an artist could afford a month traveling Denmark had me wondering, but I imagine there may have been a cultural exchange program supported by the government. As we got ready to turn in for the night another sugar cube came bouncing on the ground.

Whistler of Amsterdam (Playing Copenhagen)

Bottle player Copenhagen

Sunday August 11th

Both mornings I ran along the lakes (Soerne) of Copenhagen; Sankt Jørgens Søerne, Peblinge Søerne and Sortedams Søerne which form a curve along the west side of the city and would circle back on the east side, or through the parks along Oster Voldgade, quite a beautiful way to see the city. We forgot completely to visit the mermaid, so much was there to do in the city and we really could have stayed a few days longer, but our flight would depart afternoon so we visited the NY Carlsberg Glyptotek that morning, which free to the public on the day. Founded by the beer brewing magnate, Carlsberg, the Glyptotek (Sculpture) houses an amazing collection from old to new. The homeless and hippies sitting on the steps had to move as the crowds gathered for the 10:00AM opening, but we were soon free of the crowds in the large complex of sculptures. There was a fine section on antiquities from Mediterranean and Mid East. A few pieces of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, Iraq, were on display, but one would have to go to Berlin to see the real thing (the one in Iraq is only a replica). A number of rooms were dedicated to the heads of Roman leaders and Greek philosophers, there was a time when any respectable citizen would have a bust carved in stone. A wall of noses chipped off the thousands of statues damaged over the years of history were on display, reassuring that they were not in fact lost, but misplaced. Small figures carved of shaped in devotion to the confusing plethora of cults which were followed before the mono-theists took hold, each little feature of which carried special meaning to their devotees. There was more to the museum than we could cover, and indeed more to Copenhagen than we could see, before we had to depart on the train for our flight in the afternoon. Certainly a good reason for a future return.