Norse Saga Room

The remarkable Norse Saga Room opened to the public on May 16, 2019 and is now a fixture of ASI’s visitor experience. Located in the Lower Level of the Turnblad Mansion, this fairy-tale-like room is an example mythology brought to life through masterful woodworking and folk art.

Access to the Norse Saga Room is included with Museum Admission.

The influence of Viking culture and even earlier Norse mythology extended into the fields of art and craft, particularly in Norway, where this imagery was immensely popular. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, artists such as Gerhard Munthe provided interior and furniture design for private homes and public venues using motifs that created a Viking effect and drew upon symbolism from Norwegian folk art, Norse mythology and Japanese art.

One such room was designed for a luxurious apartment built by a wealthy Swedish businessman, Anders Andersson (1859-1929). Andersson founded many successful enterprises, including Twilfit and Nordiska Galleriet, and in 1912 built a six-story building which still stands in Stockholm near Östermalmstorg. In that apartment, Andersson installed a room which may have been inspired by artist Gerhard Munthe, and built by craftsmen at workshops in Oslo that he used for significant installations including the pavilion of Norway at the 1907 Venice Biennale.

The Andersson room ultimately was removed from the apartment and made its way into a major exhibition about Vikings which was presented at Stockholm’s Statens Historiska Muséet in 1981. Subsequently, it was sold at auction to Minneapolis entrepreneur Curtis L. Carlson, who installed it at his corporate headquarters in Minnetonka, where it remained until 2019.