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After coming home to Bergen after a week at Gudvangen Viking Market, we washed and hung up our wool and linen to dry and went to bed, only to wake up in the morning for our next adventure. This time we were headed for my second homeland, Iceland! ♥ 
We had ten wonderful days staying in our cabin by my grandparents' farm on the West-coast of Iceland. We went to our annual family reunion, hiked in the lava landscapes, and went on a road trip with my brother to explore some new as well as some more familiar places. Gullfoss, "the golden falls"... 
We camped in the geothermal area of Haukadalur, where we arrived late at night and were able to spend some time there alone with the area to ourselves, getting private shows by the geyser Strokkur in the quiet darkness of the night. What a lovely feeling it was! I had only been there at daytime before, when the place is usually crowded with people. When we woke up in the morning, I made sure to get some photos in daylight (tourists included this time). 
Visiting Þjóðveldisbærinn, the Commonwealth farm, a reconstruction of a farm that was buried during the eruption of the volcano Hekla in year 1104. (As many other places in Iceland, it is also a location from the Game of Thrones series.) 
My brother was hiding inside one of these skyr-barrels trying to scare me, and of course it was the one where I just happened to lift the lid to take a look... XD 
Þingvellir is a national park and world heritage site, where the Icelanders held the Alþing (the national parliament in Iceland) from year 930. It's the oldest parliament in the world, adding an exciting historical significance to its beautiful surroundings. It's a geologically active area, located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia meet (which is very visible in the first photo below, where the ocean ridge can be seen on land). 
The area was chosen for the parliament due to its location being accessible from the most populated places in the north, south and west. The longest travelling chieftain would still have to take a 17-day long journey by horse to get to the meetings, which lasted for two weeks every summer... 
The Alþing also functioned as a supreme court, with all the good and bad aspects that may be associated with such a place. Punishments by execution were not carried out during the Commonwealth period, but became common after year 1262 and grew especially after year 1565. Men who were sentenced to death would be beheaded while women would be executed by drowning, or burnt at the stake during the witch hunts. The names of the various places in Þingvellir bear witness of various such atrocities, such as the water in the photo below called Drekkingarhylur ("drowning pool"). Thinking of how many women drew their last breaths before this pool, makes this a heartbreaking view... 
At the top of the volcano Eldborg, which is not so far from our cabin. 
With my cousin and dear friend Anna. We've had many adventures up in these mountain plains above the family farm in our childhood summers, most of which involve trips on horseback—be it sneaking out in our pajamas during the night to go riding, getting lost in the dark, or having perilous encounters with the depths of the marshlands. Never had a boring moment together ♥ 
Thank you for now Iceland, I am missing you and looking forward to our next visit! 🇮🇸🍃 # Comments
Gudvangen Viking market is always one of the highlights of the year, located at the end of the stunningly beautiful Nærøyfjord in West Norway. We travelled there with the rest of our Folkvangr-group and enjoyed a week in our camp of Oseberg tents, went for walks in the area, swam in the fjord, and enjoyed nights with great company, good food and mead... 
The construction of a permanent Viking village in Gudvangen started two years ago, with a goal of forty buildings based on traditional Viking Age styles, with authentic decorations, paint and ironwork. The second of three building stages is currently ongoing, and the village (called Njardarheimr) is growing by the day. It feels lovely to walk around on the paths between the houses and be surrounded by spectacular nature and historical artwork everywhere you look. ^^ 
Mirek and Dorota gave me these two bottles of their 18-year-old wedding mead! We will be saving them for Yule :) 
Christian had a birthday during the market, and we had a nice birthday breakfast in the camp. ♥ I gave him a puzzle with a binary code to solve—not very Viking I grant you, but perhaps it could be considered a modern form of a runic riddle? When he had figured it out he could read the words "We are going to Rome". We will be taking a trip there in October! 
I met the sweet Mathilde Brandt at the market, and we made sure to get a photo together :) I also met some other fellow bloggers and instagrammers, and I really wish that the week would had been longer so that I would have had time to get to know people more. That will be a goal for future summers! 
I had made several new pieces of clothing before the market, a blue linen tunic decorated with tablet-weave for Christian, a natural colored linen underdress for me (pictured above), and the red woolen Hedeby aprondress below which was also handsewn with wool thread in the same style as my recent blue one, only with a longer train as well as red and brown braids along the decorative darts on the back of the dress. 
Every summer there is a glíma championship in Gudvangen. Glíma is a Scandinavian martial art which was practiced in the Viking Age, and as well as being the most widespread sport, it was also used for entertainment during gatherings such as the Þing. Glíma is mentioned in several medieval texts, for example in Gylfaginning where we can read about the Norse God Þór's journey to Útgarða-Loki, where he looses a glíma-match to an old woman whose name is Elli (the personification of old age)... There may not have been any old women attending this time, but I got some nice action shots of this year's contestants. :) 
The European historical martial arts instructor Colin Richards gave daily lessons in Viking style swordsmanship. 
Einar Selvik had a concert in the camp on Friday night, where he talked about the background of his various songs and performed them on his tagelharpe, Kravik-lyre and goat horn, accompanied by his chillingly beautiful voice. 🌿🎻 
A walk along the fjord... 
And, as always, the week flew by and all of a sudden the market was over and it was time to pack up the camp and head back home... I am left with a lot of good memories and summer feelings, and we will definitely be back again next year. Thank you once again for a wonderful time, Gudvangen! ♥ # Comments
A few weeks ago we travelled down the Western coast from Bergen, back to visit the Hafrsfjord Vikings at their annual Viking market by Møllebukta in Stavanger. A historical location, welcoming people, singing and storytelling—it was a pleasure as always! 
Anja & Claus ♥ 
The weather might have been windy and wet at times, but Lars Christian was prepared with his leather rain pants and hood. ^^ 
Friday night by the common fire 🍻🎶 
 
 
The monument below, "Sverd i fjell", commemorates the battle of Hafrsfjord which took place toward the end of the 9th century. The largest sword represents the victorious king Harald Fairhair while the two smaller ones represent the defeated kings, and the swords are symbolically planted into the rock, never to be raised again. 
Two weeks until our next Viking adventure, when we'll be travelling the the end of the Nærøyfjord to spend a week at the Gudvangen Viking Market! # Comments
Last weekend it was finally time for the most beautiful adventure of the summer, Bjørgvin Viking market right here in my home town :) The weather in Bergen has been really sunny and warm for the last month, and the historical grounds of the Hordamuseum were all green and luscious as always. 
The dry weather has led to a complete fire ban in the area, as even a small spark could be enough to start a forest fire. It felt a bit strange to have a whole market without the smell of bonfires and evenings sitting around the fire, but we were difinitely never cold (quite the opposite)! Luckily we could cool down by wading in the ocean and relaxing in the shade... ^^ 
My beautiful friend Viola came visiting with her two (soon to be three) little Vikings :) 
Strolling around the various market booths (so many temptations)... 
Enjoying refreshments from "Saladin's souk"... 
Saturday night feast! 
And before we knew it, it was Sunday morning and time to get up and out before risking to melt inside our sun-scorched tents :) Here we have LC waiting for food, in one of his usual funny sitting-positions. 
Our next market will be Hafrsfjordkaupangen in Møllebukta in the upcoming weekend, so stay tuned for more lovely Viking market feels! 🍃 # Comments
I've made a new addition to my Viking wardrobe, a hand-stitched reconstruction of the Heiðabý (Haithabu) aprondress. While most of my Viking wardrobe consists of greens and browns, this time I went for blue, the color of our group Folkvangr. 
My reconstruction is embellished with two decorative darts running down the back, decorated with 6-strand braids in grey and blue. While it is not known how far down they extended on the original dress, I chose to make mine run from the back and all the way down the hem of the skirt. 
I'm happy to have managed to get this in place in due time for my first Viking market of the summer (tradition dictates that I sit up all night for a few days before the season starts making last minute garments). But I like the feeling! Ready for this summers' markets, and to spend time with the best of friends—living, sleeping, cooking and eating under the open summer sky... ♥ References and further reading:
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The trefoil fibula is a brooch that is typical of the Viking Age, and has been found in various designs in a relatively large number of graves in different parts of Scandinavia as well as in other European countries. 
This particular one is based on a very well preserved find from a womans grave in Tranby, Buskerud, and is adorned with a Borre-style pattern. The original was in bronze and somewhat larger (8 cm). 
Another addition to my raven's nest of historical jewellery. ^^ Music: Myrkur - Två konungabarn # Comments
Yesterday was the first day of spring, but according to the Old Icelandic calendar, we have now just entered the last winter month, Einmánuðr. The weather is unpredictable, snow, rain, sun, frost, helter-skelter, but the earth is thawing and I can feel spring approaching—before we know it will be time to greet summer in one of the main feasts of the year. 
Music: Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik - Hugsjá # Comments
A youth club in our city is arranging a small viking event in a public park by the city centre of Bergen this weekend, and of course we had to visit and take a look. :) Temperatures were freezing, but the sun was shining and we had a lovely day outside wearing many layers of wool. 
It felt great to have such an early taste of the Viking market season, and I am looking forward to summertime more than ever! # Comments
We've had a great winter this year, and the weather has been especially lovely lately, sunny and cold. ^^ Christian and I had a wonderful time skiing at Voss with friends this weekend, one and a half hour from home. No Viking garb this time though, although I have been thinking of getting wooden skis...so perhaps next year? 
The super Norwegian jacket I'm wearing above is what I guess we could call vintage, I have some great childhood winter memories of my parent's wearing these jackets when skiing when we lived further up north where the winters were always snowy. 
The famous "Voss water" is actually not from Voss, but they do have a lot of good beer :) 
I fear I may be a bit stiff at work tomorrow—they say Norwegians are born with skis on their feet, but I had a few falls in the slopes today (bear in mind that I am only half Norwegian)! # Comments
Skartgripur, is an Icelandic word formed by the Old Norse "skart" (adornment, jewelry) and "gripr" (precious item). 
I wanted to show off this wonderful handmade torc that was given to me for Yule! Torcs, or neck rings, have been used in many different cultures and styles for thousands of years and were also common in the Viking Age. 
The original on which it is roughly based was actually an armring, twisted in silver threads with gilded animal heads dated to the Viking Age, found in Gotland, Sweden, where several armrings of this type have been found (More info & original photo by Ny Björn Gustafsson). 
Ps. The fur in these photos was another gift, it is not farmed but a wild red fox hunted in Norway. Red foxes are hunted here to control the stock and maintain species diversity, but while hunters often throw away the skins because they are time consuming to prepare and don't sell well, this one is put to good use and keeps me very warm during reenactment events. ^^ 
~ Music: Danheim - Nóatún # Comments
Happy new year dear followers! Til árs ok friðar! 
A new year means that it's time for my annual overview of Viking and Medieval events in Scandinavia. :-) You'll find a link to each event that provides more information. It's still early so some dates have not been set yet (TBA), and some markets are biennial and/or will not be arranged this year (N/A). The list will be updated continuously, at this permalink. If your market or event is not listed, please let me know and I'll make sure to add it!
I am so excited about the upcoming market season and looking forward to this year's new adventures! Perhaps I will be seeing you at some of them this year? Music: Moonsorrow - Tuulen Tytär including Soturin Tie # Comments |
 
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