National History Museum by Adriana Lidón

 NATIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM

10 things that I found interesting in the National History Museum

The first thing that called my attention was this huge chest made out of wood because it has carved images on it

This renaissance-style chest is from Hamburg. It is said to have belonged to Pàll Jónsson, a wealthy district commissioner in West Iceland.

On the front of the chest are depicted three virtues, Hope, Charity and Justice. Hope is depicted with a man sitting in the stocks, hoping for freedom, Charity with a child and this one called Justice, with the sword of punishment.

The second thing that absolutely caught my attention was this huge boat that almost occupies the entire wall

This right here is a model of a two masted schooner, built in Demark in 1874-75 it was 40 gross tons. A model made by shipwright Hálfdán Bjarnason of Ísafjöröur.

The schooner fishery started around 1800 until 1920, they stayed out at sea for weeks, salting the catch of board.

Another thing that i found interesting was this warp-weighted loom because its interesting how difficult was making clothes in those times with that big machine

The warp-weighted loom was familiar in Europe in ancient times.

Looms of this kind remained in use in Iceland until the 19th century.

In a day’s work, a good weaver could produce around half a meter of meter-wide cloth.

The first thing that caught my attention the moment I step foot in the museum were this medieval keys and locks, some of them are keys to chests and have been found in graves, so its likely that the belongings of the buried person were in those chests.

Saddle ornaments

This are crupper bosses and plaques, 17th-18th century engraved with prayers and decoration.

This ornaments called my attention because of its shape and holes

Iceland has some of the best fishing ground in the world, during the 14th century fish was exported to Europe in larger quantities than before, Stockfish and fishliver oil became Iceland’s major exports.

Demand for fishoil used for street lightning increased. With the spread of Christianity demand also grew for fish that could be eaten during fasts.

It call my interest due to the difference in size and thickness between the hooks.

Rune stick

This rune stick is carved with the runic alphabet and a magical spell, stick from the 16th-18th century.

I found this stick interesting because I love runes

Farewell to Arms

Two things from here called my attention firstly the sword from de top left which is from around 1550 AD and it was found in north west of Ódáóahraun, and secondly the huge sword from the middle, it's a weapon with chopping-blade and spear-head, its from around 1600 AD. These were common weapons at the time.

I put my eye on them because I really like old weapons and it's very interesting how they have been changing and being perfected with the time.

And last but not least we have this table with a lot of accessories, the necklaces really caught my attention, this were often worn by women. Most of the beads are glass or amber, while some are stone.

I also loved the two armbands from de left, it were found on a grave, one is made of silver and the other of jet.