ABSTRACT
Debates on heritage tourism in general and Viking heritage in particular have revolved around the concepts of ‘authenticity’ and ‘commoditization’ (MacCannell 1989; Cohen 1979, 1988; Redfoot 1984; Wang 1999; Halewood and Hannam 2001; Olsen 2002). Much of this debate has falsely presented the question as one of either/or, presenting museums as necessarily being either serious or entertaining, thus neglecting the ways in which visitors ascribe meaning to and inscribe their own practices within heritage sites. In this chapter we shift perspective from the barren objects and sites of heritage tourism to the practices and performances of tourists. In doing so we approach the Viking heritage as ‘sites of interpretation’ (Crang 1994, 1996). While the first section of this paper explores how Viking heritage is encountered and interpreted by tourists visiting the Viking Ship Museum, the second section suggests a framework for understanding how material encounters and imaginative fantasies intersect in the performance of heritage places. In the third section we discuss the transformation of Viking heritage from national stereotypes to global traces and trails.
