Museum of the Saga

The Saga Museum in Reykjavík offers visitors an immersive journey into Iceland’s Viking and medieval history, recreating key events and historical figures with surprising accuracy. Located in a former geothermal hot water tank at the Perlan, an iconic building perched on Öskjuhlíð hill, the museum uses this evocative setting to transport visitors back in time, among Icelandic sagas and legends. Founded in 1997, the Saga Museum was born from the idea of making Iceland’s rich narrative tradition, the sagas, accessible and tangible, as they are true treasures of world literature. The Icelandic sagas, written between the 12th and 14th centuries, are epic tales that recount the deeds of ancient Norse settlers, explorers, and warriors. The museum meticulously recreates these stories with philological and archaeological precision, using life-sized wax figures crafted with extraordinary attention to detail. Entering the museum is like stepping through a temporal threshold. The wax figures, dressed in meticulously reconstructed clothing based on historical artifacts, depict key figures such as Ingólfur Arnarson, considered the first permanent settler of Iceland, and Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, one of the first European women to set foot in America centuries before Christopher Columbus. The scenes are enriched with realistic details, such as weapons, tools, and environments recreated with authentic materials, transporting visitors to an ancient world. One of the most fascinating aspects of the Saga Museum is its ability to bring crucial moments of Icelandic history back to life, such as the island’s colonization in the 9th century and the bloody battles described in the sagas. Each scene is accompanied by an audio narration that explains the historical and cultural context, making the experience educational as well as visually impressive. The sagas’ stories are full of intrigue, revenge, heroism, and tragedy, offering a vividly human portrait of the Vikings. The museum also pays particular attention to the everyday aspects of Viking life. Visitors can see scenes of domestic life, craftsmanship, and even a representation of a Viking feast, with typical foods and drinks of the time. This aspect allows for a better understanding of how common people lived during the Middle Ages in Iceland, in an often harsh and inhospitable environment. A unique aspect of the museum is the opportunity to see up close the art of wax figure production. A section of the museum is dedicated to showing how these figures are created, from the initial clay molds to the final painting. This workshop offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look, demonstrating the meticulous work required to create the realistic historical representations that populate the museum. To make the experience even more interactive, the Saga Museum also offers the opportunity to dress in Viking clothing and wield replicas of weapons from the era. This activity, particularly appreciated