News of Norway, issue 6, 1997
Asmundson, whose parents came from Iceland, grew up in Selbu, a little community just south of Trondheim. Asmundson worked as a pilot and skipper from 1948 in the North and South America region, but after retiring in 1991, he settled in Tennessee. He still travels back to Norway every fourth or fifth year, and it was on one of these visits that he stopped by the Viking Museum.
"He asked if we had any upcoming projects, so we told him about the plans to build a smithy," said associate curator Geir A. Johansen. Asmundson said he donated the money for several reasons: it is a good project, he was impressed with the museum, and a friend of his is slightly involved as a project advisor. Asmundson said that the smithy is a warm memory from his childhood, a place down the street where he would go on cold winter days and watch the blacksmith make something out of anything.
The memories must have been very fond because Asmundson wrote another check equaling his first donation of 50,000 kroner to be used for inventory for the smithy. Both donations came from a Norwegian account that Asmundson had kept all these years. According to Johansen, Asmundson’s donation has been a tremendous help and should cover roughly two-thirds of the costs.
The smithy is largely based on archaeological excavations from L’anse Aux Meadows in New Foundland and will be built close the reconstruction of the largest Nordic Viking House discovered by archaeologists at Borg in the 80s. The museum has a blacksmith apprentice who will be running the smithy when it opens next May. She has also been given the task of planning a grand opening. Asmundson said that he is planning another trip to the museum next year.