The fragments were found in 1904 in Norway inside of a well-preserved Viking ship, along with numerous other grave goods and two female bodies.

They had also been pressed together in hard "cakes" due to the clay and soil that filled the inside of the ship, which had also been a very difficult job to disintegrate.

[2] At the entrance of the ship that the robbers had created, the skeletal remains of two people were found lying on the beds of the burial chamber.

[4][5] The women were assumed to be some kind of royalty due to the elaborate nature of the burial mound and its contents.

[5][1] Some personal effects that were found with these women were chests, buckets, and carved posts in the shape of animal heads.

The tapestry is an example of both Viking Age narrative art, and decorated textiles from Scandinavia in this period, both of which being extremely rare survivors.

[6] The two largest, which are also the most well-preserved fragments, depict figures of armed people and animals moving to the left as if they are part of a funeral procession or religious ceremony.

[6] The fragments also contain a scene featuring two black birds hovering over a horse, possibly originally pulling a wagon as a part of the procession.

[3] Between them, there is an assortment of male and female figures walking and riding together, some carrying objects such as spears, which were seen as Odin's special weapon.

[6] Due to the loss of most of its original coloring, the material of these fragments consists mostly of shades of brown and grey.

[3] Anne Stine Ingstad interprets these birds as Huginn and Muninn flying over a covered cart containing an image of Odin with a horned helmet, drawing comparison with the images of the goddess Nerthus who is attested by Tacitus in 1 A.D.[7] The tapestry is stylistically similar to the Bayeux tapestry, because of its narrative art style, colors, and overall movement of the forms.

[8][9] The fragments are all made from wool and silk, as well as other plant-based materials such as flax, which have since disintegrated prior to their discovery.

[10] Inhumation was the most common form of burial, typically in some kind of coffin, or in more elaborate cases, in a chamber.

Some grave goods also served a symbolic function, such as boats and wagons, like in the Oseberg burial, were a representation of their journey into the afterlife.

[11] Textiles from the Viking Age are very diverse, with a variety of different weave styles, along with colored patterning, dyeing, and decorative additions.