INSPIRED by British Museum's new Vikings: Life and Legend exhibition, Sarah Marshall visits Norway's rugged Lofoten Islands, where Norse legends and fishermen's tales abound.

My base for the next few days is Svolvaer, the archipelago’s capital, where I book into one of the waterfront red timber cabins at Svinoya Rorbuer.

Draped with frayed fishing nets and weathered buoys, the cosy self-catering properties have been designed in the style of fishermen’s houses. Modern replicas of oil lamps hang in the windows; a tradition practised by anxious wives waiting for the husbands to return home from often perilous days at sea. And I even find my own hjell on the doorstep, although to my relief it's not yet been hung with fish.

There is, however, a plate of cod fish waiting for me in the Borsen Spiseri restaurant. A meaty white loin is served with a milk jug of cod liver oil and a dense, salty sack of roe, dissected into slices. I’m told refills are available, and it becomes clear there’s no shortage of cod fish at this time of year. One of the waiters tells me that he recently caught enough fish in two hours to last his family for 12 months.

Fishing methods are far more sophisticated today, but to get an idea of what life at sea must have been like in the past, I visit Storvagan, one of the first fishing villages in Lofoten and an important trading post in the 1300s.

A short film playing at the Lofotmuseet features many of the lighthouse keepers who, up until 20 years ago, lived with their families (and later alone) at the edge of the world.

“This isn't an easy place," says Jann Engstad from Lofoten Aktiv, whose family has lived on the islands since 1608. But what we have here is very special."

Jann takes me on a Northern Lights hunt later that night, driving through snow-filled and icy valleys looking for a clear gap in the clouds. The full moon is so bright we don’t even need torches to find our way as we scramble along the rocky coastline.

The Vikings believed the lights were the reflection of a grand battle taking place in the sky, the flashing armour of Valkyries flying down to fetch dead souls. I don't encounter any battle mistresses on my travels, but I do witness winged warriors of a different sort swooping down to make a catch.

Rugged, wild, fearsome and marvellous; the Vikings couldn’t have chosen a more apt place to call home.

Travel facts

Sarah Marshall was a guest of Visit Norway. Rooms at Svinoya Rorbuer (svinoya.no) start from £150 per night, per cabin (sleeps four). Visit visitnor way.co.uk and northernnorway.com