What to buy at a Viking market, and what you can take home on a plane
Buy from the maker, buy early, and buy the things you cannot get elsewhere. Silver and bronze jewelry copied from finds, plant-dyed wool, hand-sewn leather, glass beads. Leave the axe for the checked bag.
The good stuff
The traders at the serious markets are craftspeople, and the best things to buy are the things they make with their own hands from period patterns.
Jewelry. Silver and bronze copies of specific finds: Thor’s hammers, oval brooches, arm rings, beads on wire. Prices from around 200 to several thousand in local currency depending on metal and work. Ask which find it is based on; a good smith will tell you the museum and the grave.
Glass beads. Made over a flame at the stall, often while you watch. Cheap, light, beautiful, and the thing children buy with their own money.
Wool and linen. Plant-dyed yarn, woven bands, hoods, hats, tunics. Real wool at real prices, so a hood is a hundred or two and a full tunic several hundred to a thousand.
Leather. Bags, belts, pouches, shoes sewn by hand. Turnshoes, the soft leather shoes of the period, are a reenactor staple and a good buy if you will wear them.
Horn and wood. Drinking horns, cups, spoons, bowls, combs. See our gear guide on drinking horns before you buy one; the cheap ones are not food safe.
Knives. Hand-forged blades with wooden or horn handles, from a few hundred up. Check the section on flying below.
Books and replicas. Some traders sell reproduction game pieces, dice and small carvings that make good gifts and pack flat.
How to buy
Go early. The best pieces at Foteviken or Ribe sell on the first morning to reenactors who know what they are looking at. Ask about the maker: most traders sell their own work and will show you how it was made. Bargaining is not customary in the Nordics; a small discount for buying several pieces is normal, haggling over a single item is not. Cards work at most stalls, but a phone payment app or some cash helps at the smallest.
Prices
Expect craft prices. A hand-forged knife is not 20 euros. What you are paying for is hours of skilled work and materials, and the prices reflect Nordic wages. Souvenir-priced Viking things exist, and they are the mass-produced ones.
Flying home
In hand luggage: jewelry, textiles, leather, beads, wooden items, horn cups. Anything without a blade or a point.
Checked bag only: knives, axes, arrowheads, anything with a blade, and some larger metal items. Wrap blades and declare them if asked. Rules are the same across Nordic airports and follow EU security regulations; the US and UK have similar rules for arrivals.
Do not try: a sword in hand luggage. It happens every summer and it never ends well.
Customs
Within the EU, no limits for personal use. Iceland and Norway are outside the EU customs union; personal souvenirs are fine, large purchases may attract duty on arrival home. For the US, Canada and the UK, ordinary tourist purchases are well under the duty-free allowance.
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Last updated 2026-09-06. Prices and opening hours change; check the venue before you go. Back to Guides or the festival calendar.