In search of... Modern-day Vikings

There are no hard feelings between Britain and Denmark, insists Harriet O'Brien, who went to make friends with the descendants of Harold Bluetooth and Sven Forkbeard

Is it true that, a thousand years ago, the British butchered hundreds of Danish immigrants on the king's orders?

Yup. By royal decree of Ethelred the Unready, on 13 November 1002, the Danes in England were killed. Well, by no means every Viking settler can have been slaughtered, but the Massacre of St Brice's Day was an extreme way of dealing with early problems of immigration.

And where did these victims with the horned helmets come from?

The Scandinavian raiders turned residents of England largely came from the region around the Oresund strait, an area that has been enjoying an energetic boost since the opening, two years ago, of the Oresund Bridge linking Copenhagen with Malmo in Sweden.

But no, no, no. For all the current cuddly makeover of Vikings, they weren't exactly a sympathetic lot. And they certainly never wore horns on their helmets – that would really have cramped their style in battle. In the amazing Bronze Age collection of Denmark's National Museum in Copenhagen you can see the items that provoked this bizarre myth: finds of horned headgear from 800BC (about 1,500 years earlier than the Viking age), thought to have been used in religious ceremonies, inspired 19th-century artists to depict the woefully misrepresented Vikings with such outlandish protuberances.

So there's an image problem. Where can I see genuine Viking helmets?

In the same museum there's a positive treasure trove of finds from the ninth to 12th centuries: helmets, axes, scissors, locks and keys as well as silver coins from England, Samarkand, the Middle East – all places where the warriors raided or traded.

They travelled as far as Newfoundland in their extraordinary longships ...

Indeed. And if you want to see longships then go to Roskilde, on the Danish side of the Oresund strait, a 30-minute train ride from Copenhagen. This tidy town was established by Harold Bluetooth, king of Denmark, in the latter part of the 10th century and the dentally challenged patriarch of today's Danish royal family. At the end of June, hordes of rock fans swoop down on the town for the annual festival for which Roskilde is probably now most famous. Otherwise, it is a quiet place with a mighty cathedral where many kings and queens of Denmark lie entombed, a few cobbled streets, and a handful of ancient houses whose thatched roofs sprout wild grass. And, best of all, there's a Viking ship museum here.

Go on...

The remains of five Viking ships are the focus of this enterprising establishment. During the 11th century the ships were sunk in the Roskilde Fjord, strategically blocking the route of unwelcome visitors. Here they remained undisturbed until they were dredged up in the 1960s. They now sit indoors, their stark beauty offset against the backdrop of a picture-window looking straight on to the water so that it seems for all the world as if they are riding the waves once again. Outside, you can sail in replica Viking vessels; wander into workshops to observe the examination of nine more ships recently found in the outlying waters (a sort of archaeological treasure hunt); and watch the ongoing reconstruction of a longship, testing out wood specially hewn for its elasticity. All this will probably leave you amazed at the Vikings' boat-building skills, particularly since they had no plans or drawings, and no written word except the runes scratched on memorial stones.

So they didn't read and write?

Nope. But over in Copenhagen, you can update yourself on modern Danish bookishness by visiting the new Black Diamond extension of the Royal Library, built on the site of the city's first, Viking-age, houses. Opinion is sharply divided about the building, a daunting, black granite monolith that offers wonderful, watery views as it slopes into the harbour front. "Most of us don't actually come here to pore over books," one local said to me with an unViking-like smile. "It's cool to be seen in the café."

What about rune stones? Where can I see these?

There's a good collection in Denmark's National Museum. And also over the Oresund Bridge in Sweden. The journey from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden's third largest city, takes just 35 minutes, providing easy access to the previously much overlooked region of Skane. It is an area in which its sandy beaches, lakes, castles and country mansions are now coming into their own. And, of course, there's a rich Viking seam here as well.

Fifteen minutes' drive north of Malmo, the ancient town of Lund dates back to days when Skane was part of Denmark. Indeed, it was established by Mr Bluetooth's son, Sven Forkbeard – who later conquered England, and died there. The conventional attraction here is a lovely cathedral with an extraordinary crypt, but the town's absorbing museum is a real haven for Viking hunters. On display are rune stones as well as local Viking finds from coins to combs, shoes and even dice carved out of bone. There is also a phenomenal open-air section where more than 30 buildings from the area have been painstakingly resurrected, from a 17th-century wooden church to an 18th-century vicarage and an 1814 grocery store with a supply of sweets. Sadly, there is no Viking dwelling.

Where can I see how the Vikings lived – and can I meet Viking types today?

Well, it was in search of today's Vikings that I signed up with the tourist office in Copenhagen to "meet the Danes", an innovative scheme whereby travellers join a local family for dinner. Unfazed by the blind date, my hosts, Susanne Kaaroe and Viggo Brandt, welcomed me to their attic apartment and entertained me with a wealth of information about current issues (Danish immigration policies, Scandinavian alcoholism) as well as Viking stories. Viggo obligingly sported a ponytail, but there any potential Viking stereotype ended. As a professional chef it was he who took charge of the cuisine – baked salmon, meatballs in onion sauce – while Susanne plied me with Carlsberg.

I continued the search for Vikings over in Sweden. Just south of Malmo, on the shores of a wide bay outside the village of Hoellviken, an early urban settlement from 1134 has been reconstructed complete with smokehouse, blacksmith's workshop and great hall. Modelled on life at the end of the Viking era, Foteviken is open to the general public, but it is no conventional museum. Welcome to the wacky world of re-enactment. The staff is enthusiastic and dedicated, spending at least one weekend a month in smoky huts living as Vikings. "You can't tell what life would really have been like unless you try it out," said one. And plenty of others are willing to join them: this year the annual Viking market at Foteviken attracted about 10,000 visitors and 680 "traders" selling re-enactment requisites of horns, cloth and more. If Vikings had so far been eluding me, clearly I'd been looking in the wrong place. At Foteviken I was assured that Vikings are alive and well and living – all over the world. "We have Vikings arriving from Lithuania; Vikings from Spain, Canada, the US, Japan. Yes, Vikings are very big in Japan."

So how do I follow the Viking trail?

Scandinavian Airlines (0845 607 2772; www.scandinavian.net) offers several flights daily from Heathrow and Gatwick to Copenhagen from £129 return. Go (0870 60 76543; www.go-fly.com) runs daily flights from Stansted to Copenhagen from £58 return. Ryanair (0871 246 0000; www.ryanair.com) flies daily from Stansted to Malmo from £51 return.

In Copenhagen, The National Museum (0045 33 13 44 11; www.natmus.dk) is at Ny Vestergade 10. Entrance free Wednesdays, otherwise adults Dkr40 (£3.40), children free. The Royal Library (0045 33 47 47 47; www.kb.dk) is at Soren Kierkegaards Plads 1. Entrance free. To take part in the "Meet the Danes" programme, contact the Nyhavn Tourist Office (www.meetthedanes.dk) at Nyhavn 65. Dinner costs Dkr360 (£30) adults and Dkr180 (£15) children aged 6-14. Book at least two days in advance. At Roskilde, The Viking Ship Museum (0045 46 30 02 00; www.macroskilde.dk) is at Vindeboder 12. Entrance adults Dkr60 (£5), children Dkr35 (£3).

In Skane, Lund's Kulturen Museum (0046 46 35 04 00; www.kulturen.com) is at Tegnersplatsen. Entrance adults Skr40 (£2.80), children free. Foteviken (0046 40 45 68 40; www.foteviken.se) is at Halorsvagen, S-236 22 Hoellviken. For more information contact Wonderful Copenhagen (0045 33 25 74 00; www.visitopenhagen.dk) or www.visitoresund.info.