Historical - Vikings / Norse

Vikings

A Viking is one of the Norse (Scandinavian) explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century.

These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far west as Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland. This period of Viking expansion is known as the Viking Age, and forms a major part of the medieval history of Scandinavia, the British Isles and Europe in general. Few periods in history stimulate the imagination as much as the Viking era.

Scandinavia, the British Isles, The Low Countries, France, Russia, Spain, Italy, Greece, all the Mediterranean, the Black sea, Africa and even America were normal destinations for Viking longships. Sailors, pirates, colonizers, merchants, town and nation builders the Vikings were all of these and more.

A romanticized picture of Vikings as Germanic noble savages emerged in the 17th century, and especially during the Victorian era Viking revival. In Britain it took the form of Septentrionalism, in Germany that of "Wagnerian" pathos or even Germanic mysticism, and in the Scandinavian countries that of Romantic Nationalism or Scandinavism. In contemporary popular culture these clichéd depictions are often made to be irony with the effect of presenting Vikings as cartoonish characters.

Viking/Norse Reenacting

Since the 1960s, there has been rising enthusiasm for historical reenactment. While the earliest groups had little claim for historical accuracy, the seriousness and accuracy of re-enactors has increased. The largest such groups include The Vikings and Regia Anglorum, though many smaller groups exist in Europe, the UK, North America, New Zealand, and Australia. Many reenactor groups participate in live-steel combat, and a few have Viking-style ships or boats.

On 1 July 2007, the reconstructed Viking ship Skuldelev, renamed Sea Stallion, began a journey from Roskilde, Denmark to Dublin, Ireland. The remains of that ship and four others were discovered during a 1962 excavation in the Roskilde Fjord. This multi-national experimental archeology project saw 70 crew members sail the ship back to its home in Ireland. Tests of the original wood show that it was made of Irish trees. The Sea Stallion arrived outside Dublin's Custom House on 14 August 2007.

The purpose of the voyage was to test and document the seaworthiness, speed and maneuverability of the ship on the rough open sea and in coastal waters with treacherous currents. The crew tested how the long, narrow, flexible hull withstood the tough ocean waves. The expedition also provided valuable new information on Viking longships and society. The ship was built using Viking tools, materials and much the same methods as the original ship.

Fröjel (Pronounced Fro-yel) is a family based Viking re-enactment society depicting the Vikings from Fröjel harbor on Gotland, one of the richest Viking trading centers in the Viking world.

A member's aims are to re-create the clothing, weapons, tools, jewelry, games, foods and furniture of the period, to enjoy an escape to a simpler more relaxed time while putting on displays for the public and getting together with like minded people.

Of course battle re-enactment is a little more strenuous but strict safety procedures are adhered to at all times by those who want to test what they have made. More...