The exhibition tells how and why the Scandinavians came to Eastern Europe and gradually became part of Ancient Russian society.

We owe the people of the north the word “Rus”, the name that modern Russia inherits. At first, the newcomers from Scandinavia were called that, referring to them as rowers, participants in trips on rowing boats. Gradually, the word changed its meaning, turning from the designation of the Scandinavians into the name of the princely squad, and only then into the name of the territory.

The Viking age lasted from the end of the VIII to the middle of the XI century. For almost three centuries, the states of Western Europe were subjected to devastating raids by the Normans — the people of the north. The Vikings came to Eastern Europe with a different purpose. Here, people from Scandinavia were looking for new places to settle and roads to wealth and fame, the main values of the era, which were concentrated in the states of East Asia.

The way to the East lay along the rivers, past the Slavic settlements. This is how the Scandinavians drew the population into military campaigns and trade operations. Gradually, the local elite was formed, of which they became a part. A special world has grown up on the territory of Eastern Europe, a specific material culture that combines East and West.

The exhibition “Vikings. The Way to the East” tells about the culture of the Scandinavians of the Viking age. The basis of the exposition is the collection of the State Historical Museum. To show the life of the Vikings — home life, craft and religion, aggression and war — is the main idea of the exhibition.

The central image of the exhibition is a reconstruction of a ship, a symbol of the military and trading campaigns of the Vikings. Authentic ship parts found on the territory of Eastern Europe tell about Viking ships, their varieties and designs. The exhibition is conditionally divided into several topics: “Military culture”, “Shipbuilding”, “Trade”, “House and its structure”, “Crafts”, “Women’s World”, “Funeral rite”, “Paganism and Christianity”.

The process of mastering river routes is illustrated by objects of military culture: weapons, armor and equipment of a mounted warrior. Swords found by archaeologists on the territory of Volga Bulgaria, in Gnezdovo near Smolensk, scabbard tips, spear tips, battle axes, elements of the shield of the warriors of the North, visitors will also see at the exhibition.

The most famous trade route to the East, “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, is through Staraya Ladoga, Novgorod, Polotsk, Gnezdovo, Chernihiv. The Volga route began near Novgorod, went through the Volga Bulgarian. The Don route lay along the rivers Upe, Don and Oka. The most interesting archaeological monument of the Don Way is the Supruty settlement (present—day Shchekino district of the Tula region), which served as a checkpoint of the Oka-Don interfluve. In the middle of the twentieth century, archaeologists found numerous items of weapons, household items, and jewelry here. Some of the finds can be seen at the exhibition.