Denmark’s National Museum has revealed what researchers describe as the closest thing to an actual portrait from the Viking Age: a remarkably detailed 10th-century figurine carved from precious walrus ivory that challenges conventional perceptions of Norse grooming habits.
The miniature masterpiece, measuring just 3 centimeters tall, depicts a man with an elaborate hairstyle featuring a center parting, imperial mustache, and meticulously braided goatee that suggests Vikings were far more concerned with personal grooming than popular stereotypes suggest reveals the National Museum Denmark. Peter Pentz, curator at the National Museum, emphasizes that this discovery fundamentally challenges our understanding of Viking appearance, stating that.
“If you think of Vikings as savage or wild, this figure is proving the opposite, actually. He is very well-groomed”.
He describes the figurine as, “a miniature bust and as close as we will ever get to a portrait of Viking.”