Archive · 19 Sep 2026
Oslo and Roskilde Museums Reveal Ships’ Exploration Histories
Two museums in Scandinavia use old ships to explain exploration and travel.
Oslo’s Fram Museum lets visitors walk through the Fram, a ship built for dangerous polar journeys.
The Fram survived three years trapped in Arctic ice.
Fridtjof Nansen used it to test an idea about drifting with ocean currents.
Roald Amundsen later took the ship toward Antarctica during his South Pole expedition.
In Roskilde, visitors can see five ancient Viking ships rebuilt from thousands of underwater fragments.
The Vikings used ships like these to travel across rough seas to distant places.
In 2007, a crew sailed a reconstructed Viking ship from Denmark to Dublin to learn what such a journey was like.
Oslo’s Fram Museum centers on the Fram, a ship that traveled through Arctic ice and to Antarctica.
Fridtjof Nansen used the Fram to test whether ocean currents could carry a ship through polar ice.
Roald Amundsen later used the vessel during his 1910–1912 South Pole expedition.
Roskilde’s Vikingeskibsmuseet displays five ancient Viking ships reconstructed from fragments recovered underwater.
A reconstructed Viking ship sailed from Denmark to Dublin in 2007 to study historical seafaring conditions.
- Who
- Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen, archaeologists, and the crews of the historic and reconstructed ships.
- What
- Two museums showcase ships connected to polar exploration and Viking voyages.
- When
- The Fram’s first Arctic voyage began in 1893; Amundsen’s expedition took place from 1910 to 1912; a reconstructed Viking ship sailed to Dublin in 2007.
- Where
- The Fram Museum is in Oslo, Norway, and the Vikingeskibsmuseet is in Roskilde, Denmark.
- Why
- The museums preserve and interpret ships that demonstrate how explorers and Vikings traveled through difficult polar and ocean environments.
- Fram Museum location
- Oslo, Norway
- Fram’s first Arctic voyage
- Began in 1893 and lasted three years in Arctic ice
- Fram’s later expedition
- Carried Roald Amundsen toward Antarctica during the 1910–1912 South Pole expedition
- Viking museum location
- Roskilde, a 30-minute train ride from Copenhagen
- Roskilde collection
- Five ancient Viking ships recovered as fragments and reassembled
- Reconstructed voyage
- A 60-member crew sailed from Denmark to Dublin in 2007