I was off line during our big Midsommar Holiday, and have lots to share about it, but I'll start by telling about today... a midsommar post is forth coming!

Sweden: Land of The Vikings

When we arrived in Sweden, we noticed a national love affair with pirates and the jolly rodger flag. Swedish children seem to love pirates, and their tree houses often fly a pirate flag. I think they should turn their eyes homeward to their own mythological heros, and play viking more often.... There are certainly many inspirations to be found in Skåne. We visited the Foteviken Reserve for the viking Market again this year, and found there are plenty of grown ups willing to play viking.

Children Happily playing Vikings. The Skelton in Armour by Longfellow is a good Viking poem, and The Sea Fight of The Jomsvikings a good tale of battle.

At Foteviken, people from all over the world are invited to come camp for two weeks at the viking historical museum grounds as long as they vow to act like authentic vikings, and eat over cooking fires and drink from ceramic wares, sleep in canvas tents on furs, and wear period clothing.

For authentic Viking Literature, you can read The Poetic Eddas in English, the sagas of the Vikings. My girl fell in love with a young Viking warrior she watched in the reenactment battle named Saga. It is a Swedish name, the name for the Norse Goddess of the Runes, writing, poetry, and history. The strong position of women in Scandinavia is guessed to go back to the viking era. Women could own property and go into battle. There are viking era homes to be toured, all the wood in the cabins is axe cut since vikings predated the use of saws

The Viking Fortress at Foteviken

Overlooking the Sea towards Denmark

The Viking Market viewed from the Fortress

Bag Pipes

A little sound of the Vikings

Horns used for Drinking and Blowing as Horns for sale at the Market

Wild Boar Skin, many many animal skins for sale at the Viking Markets

And handmade fabric dyed with plant dyes

Fabric

Patterns for Viking clothing can be found at Wikingerkleidung, use google translate function to translate from German

Hand made leather shoes

Plant Dyes for Sale

Yarn!! Maybe this is the year I will learn to knit.

It takes careful weaving to make these trims. I met a weaver making them on a small loom last year.

I am not sure I could get away wearing this next winter....

Armor for Sale

Viking Carving

Wood carving

Baltic Amber.

Glass beadsViking Family
The Skåne Elag hold viking weapons practice every day of the week in a different location in Skåne

About to begin a Viking war reenactment

Love this helmet, and the red beard with it.

Ready to start a war

Charge!

Battle
The Carnage

Showing off a Skåne Shield

Warriors

The Tents used for Camping
Th Fur, wow.

Working Iron at his campsite on an anvil

Viking Kitchen
Many things cooking over fires
Making Handicrafts in the Tents
The fur covered be in the background
Another Kitchen
Vikings at the Fortress

People love dressing up like folks did back in the day and trying their hands at nearly forgotten crafts. I went to a cracker homesteader craft fair with a civil war reenactment in Florida when I was in the USA this winter. Let me say it is alot more enjoyable to watch Vikings battle it out in Skåne than to see people reenact the civil war. I get too creeped out watching people who wish to dress lik rebel soliders camp out under the Dixie flag. It feels good to know however bloody the history of the vikings, they were battling it out on their own land with their own people. But if not for Leif Erikkson and the Viking sailing expertise, perhaps europeans would not have headed to the Americas. So perhaps it is all a tale of viking bloodshed anyway.

Reenactment, Florida Style from Winter trip Home

Fotevikens Museum:
The Viking Museum If you want to live like a Viking, Fotevikens is the place to be. Every summer this viking museum offers for people to come inhabit it's historical viking town, so long as they act like a viking all summer long. Click here to learn how to become a viking for a summer.


From the website:
"The Village community of Foteviken
In 2001 the development of The Viking Reserve had proceeded far enough for the establishment of a village community. In November 2001 The Village Community of Foteviken called "Byalaget" was founded. As a member of The SVEG you have the right to apply for membership in the village community. The village community congregates every month. At these meetings everybody participating are dressed in their Viking costumes of course.

As a new member of the village community, you will belong to a Viking Age household and get the possibility to learn and develop your talents and skills concerning different Viking Age techniques and activities, which you find interesting and fascinating. There are many interesting activities to participate in, like fighting, sailing a Viking ship, pottery, coining, smithery, sawing, tanning and building houses."

We stopped by for market day. The weaver we spoke to from Germany called it by far the best expereince of it's type for crafts people. I asked about Visby, Gotland and she said that place is for Japanesse tourists, that this place was the real thing for people who wanted to, whatever you call spending a summer acting like a viking. Oh. then I took a picture of her hand spun, plant dyed yarn.

She was most proud of this. I think these colors are hard to acheive.

There were kitchens set up all over with hung, cast iron pots on open fires. The folks were making a bunch of sausages. I kinda guess they probably killed the beast and stuffed its guts full of meat themselves.

Don't tell PETA. This fur trader sold bear claws, thats what those are right next to those foxes. There was also seal skin for sale.

For your viking hunting pleasure, there were many arrows, look at all these tips...and for battle, swords and armor.