reenactment Archives - Vikings of Middle England Blog

A Year in the Life of a Viking Reenactor: February

Posted on 6th February 2024by Kori

Welcome readers and all-round wonderful people to the amazing and fun hobby that is being a reenactor. Thank you for returning to read the next instalment of A Year in the Life of a Viking Reenactor for our group Vikings of Middle England. In case you have forgotten since January’s edition, we are a Viking re-enactment, living history and combat group based in Leicester, UK!

This month, as we all have grown accustomed to being somewhat more active as a group, we all begin to tackle the many projects related to the success of the group in all aspects of living history.

Living History

Our Viking encampment at Cromford Mills in 2023

For the uninitiated, living history means experiencing a taste of life as the Vikings could have lived. As closely as we can at events, we remove many of the modern-day trappings we all are accustomed to in our daily lives. All whilst trying to be historically accurate and present an authentic impression of the Viking-age. This covers the following aspects:

Clothing and personal belonging.
Tools used to practice different crafts.
Daily activities undertaken.
Everyday equipment, utilities and living quarters.
Facts about local, regional and other points of interest from the Viking diaspora.

Note: To answer a question I hear you forming. Although we spend the odd few nights in tents over the year as part of the events we offer, we all do have homes, mobile devices and modern luxuries. Our lives are not based 24/7 in Viking camps! (although some wish they could!)

A joyous part of our group is seeing collaboration. Various members have wide ranging interests. We all have a different origin in our approach to the portrayal, and contribute to our living history.

Our collective knowledge comes from group discussions and workshops. Individual research on specific topics shared back to the group forum, general fact-checking and cross-referencing of historical texts, and reviews of published works by Academic experts. In this context, the available projects members can contribute to is vast. Whether it’s something simple like making a new cloak, more complex like setting up a new or expanded Living History display, or learning a new skill such as woodworking, there is always someone willing to help and be your sounding board.

Outerwear.

At our weekly sessions, Hrefna and Beigan have made savvy choices with the finishing off of their cloaks. Both of them have chosen the same colour and type of lightly felted wool. The difference lies with the contrasting-colour hand spun wool thread that each of them has chosen to finish off the edges. To do this they have rolled the cloak edges over and are doing a simple blanket stitch to add an adornment. It serves a functional purpose too – stopping the edges from fraying.

Don’t forget underwear!

þorunn (pictured above) is hand-sewing an undyed linen serk, a must have to wear under your thicker woollen kyrtle. This layering helps moderate your temperature whilst provides a comforting layer between your skin and the wool!

Boredom is not a complaint you ever hear us making! It opens up a creative part of the mind linked to muscle memory and learning through doing.

How about carving?

Our own Hermish (pictured above), coin master and Muster Caller Extraordinaire is this year embarking on a project to make a bag for his daughter who occasionally joins us on our weekend camps. She has seen people toting (pardon the pun) wooden bag handles. Some examples of these finds can be viewed here if you are interested. He intends to get some suitable wood and have a go at hand carving a set to go on a bag for her.

A walk in nature.

Later in the year, we will develop an interesting project that has stemmed from an interaction with a member of the public. They asked Lofthaena about the difference between the oak galls we use and the oak galls they had found themselves. Leading to finding the period correct oak galls for our Calligraphy display. We use oak galls for making ink for writing texts on parchment. Various species of wasp larvae cause galls to form on the underside of twigs and branches of oak trees. These galls are unsightly bumps, but when picked at the right time of the year and processed correctly, then added to the correct solution of water and iron oxide, turn the water dark brown and far more ink-like in colour and consistency than previously.

Hunting for wasps

Research so far discovered several types of oak gall wasp. Wasps have larvae that hatch and fall from the trees at different types of the year. Our challenge will be finding the ones belonging to the native species, the most likely candidate is oak apple gall wasps (Biorhiza pallida).

On the practical side, this project this will involve a woodland walk over surrounding regional areas to spot likely areas to find them. Then one of our favourite past times – experimental archaeology. Trying out what gets the best results and identifying future learnings to develop it’s potential. Look out for the November edition of a year in the life of a Viking reenactor where we check back to find out what happened with these projects!

Thank you readers for joining me on February’s a year in the life of a viking reenactor journey. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you want to meet us in person we will be at the Braunstone West Social Centre, on 14-2-24 from 7:45-10.15pm for our living history night where discussion will be on Viking Artefacts. Have you got a favourite Viking artefact?

Re-enactment

A Year in the Life of a Viking Reenactor: January

Posted on 14th January 2024by Kori

Welcome readers and all-round wonderful people to the amazing and fun hobby that is being a reenactor. I’d like to share with you tales from a year in the life of a Viking reenactor. The group I am part of, as you probably gathered if you have navigated to this webpage, is Vikings of Middle England (VME). A Viking period living history and combat group.

I invite you to join me on a journey through a year of re-enactment with our group. Along the way I’ll share our highs and lows, we’ll encounter some of the group’s characters, and feel like part of the kindred.

So with a high energy introduction to kick start 2024 lets jump into action! Anybody already feeling a little bored with the new year promises made around fitness or doing something new like joining a new social group etc., etc? Then read on.

Viking warriors charge! A Vikings of Middle England demonstration at Elvaston Castle Country Park in 2022

Where Vikings meet

Vikings of Middle England meet on a weekly basis, Wednesday nights 7:45-10.15pm at the Braunstone West Social Centre a great venue for our activities, the added benefit of being close to 3 bus routes, as well as free on site car parking, a rarity in Leicester!

This weekly session is our regular catch up with members who contribute to the living history part of our group as well as those who participate in our unique theatrical style of combat. I should probably say here – yes our weapons may be blunted but they are still very real, made of wood and steel. It’s quite a treat to hear the clash of swords in person and watch our skilled warriors practicing their techniques.

Combat sessions start with a brief warm up which helps us avoid injuries, and we can nicely warm up the vocal chords if we are so inclined. Particular focus is given to the shoulder muscles given when we fight we use a combination of weapons and a shield. This can be Seax, Axe, Sword or 1-handed spear (Javelin). The exception to this is those who use a longer spear, which is used as a 2 handed weapon, so no shield.

Combat Training

In our group the first weapon you start with is the Seax or small knife. We can train in all of the weapons but we have to master the basics first to use them safely – another reason for a weekly session.

After the warm up are a series of group activities where we recap previously taught skills. How to survive a 2 person verses 1 person fight, activities to target endurance and general confidence, etc. As well as the physical focus, these exercises teach tactical thinking, evasive manoeuvres, situational awareness and builds the ability to work together. This all enables us, year after year, to put on breathtaking shows which make our audiences laugh, cheer AND when a real battlefield villain makes an appearance, boo and hiss as well. Look out for these tales in the July edition of a year in the life of a re-enactor.

Leading the first combat session of the year on 17-1-24 is Throst our Stallari (You may also be familiar with more modern terms used for this role: leader, captain, sensei etc., etc.). Throst was kind enough to share some thoughts with me about combat for 2024.

“Some members are in the middle of training with a new weapon and several have discussed starting training in something different. Our combatants have a personal training guide which showcases a variety of areas to try out. Working through weapons is usually a solid starting point but there are also resources to lead a new game or try something you may not get the chance to do elsewhere. Our combatants work towards combined goals and have a shared knowledge ethos. Questions are always being asked so we can always help each other develop and improve.”
Throst, our Chief Training Officer

At the end of the 2 hour session, we have worked on our cardio, muscle strength, and incorporated footwork and balance, ensuring our fights don’t start or finish in a dangerous position. As well as a generous use of our voices as we cheer and encourage our fighters. Guaranteed, buckets of sweat have been shed and we have had a wonderfully fun workout we will feel the next day but still be talking about weeks later.

Next time in A Year in the Life of a Viking Re-Enactor

If you are still reading this my thanks to you. In February’s edition of A Year in the Life of a Viking Reenactor: you will be meeting some of our members and finding out about particular living history projects they will be undertaking over the course of the year. How they developed the idea from a research and personal point of interest. Do you have a passion project that you want to make this year?

~ Kori

Clothing Daily Living and Pastimes Material Culture Re-enactment

Viking Kids Clothes

Posted on 15th June 2023by Kael

Part of the fun of belonging to a community of Viking Reenactors is bringing the family along! That means making our 5-year old Viking kids clothes. In fact, we’re up to his third Viking costume. We know precious little about children’s’ clothing in the Viking Age, so really we are just scaling down the little we really know about adult viking clothing!

Excavated remains of textile fragments belonging to garments are staggeringly rare, so it’s hard to drawn solid conclusions about the tailoring. But, we do have significant hints from places like Skjoldeham, Guddal, and Hedeby, where pieced fragments show the general shape and seam treatments. Some things we can glean from contemporary artwork – manuscripts, jewellery etc.

We wanted to approach “Hikke’s” Viking kids clothes in the same way we approach Viking adult clothing, so we read the last costume works (such as Viking Dress Code by Kamil Rabiega), chose the materials carefully, and hand sewed all of his clothes.

2018/19

Hikke’s first costume was when he was just a few months old. A friend, and member of the group, made a simple t-tunic of linen, and a woollen outer garment based on the shirt from Skjoldeham, Norway, complete with decorative front-neck panel and collar. It’s worth mentioning here that throughout history, children (male and female) wore simple shifts or gowns, with no legwear. This is likely also the case in the Viking-age. Before a child is toilet trained, there may have been a ‘napkin’ worn to collect waste. Again, there’s no evidence in the Viking-age, but we have to collect the poo somehow! 😬 For pragmatic reasons, we did make some wool trousers to cover his modern nappie.

viking kids clothes - Hikke at 6 months in Skjoldeham shirt — Hikke in linen shirt

A year later, and growing at pace, he still mostly fit into the woollen clothes as we left significant seam allowed and large hems, but the shirt needed to be replaced. So into the stockpile of clothing hand-me-downs we went! In the hot summer we found a simple linen kyrtle in club kit. It’s a wide-skirted and knee-length tunic. This silhouette is seen in many early medieval manuscripts (on adult figures).

2022

The next year was the pandemic, so with an 18 month break, he needed an entirely new outfit! This time we went for a simple woolen kyrtle and again raided the club-kit for a shabby looking linen undershirt.

The bonus of being in an established group that it has had many families over the years. That means there is an abundance of Viking kids clothing! (Though some would be gently retired from excessive wear, or just because they were made with a different understanding of Viking clothing).

We made legwear, also in wool, based on the cut of the Thorsberg trousers. This cut is very practical, with a large crotch and butt panel, and gussets in the legs. These proved to be remarkably hard wearing, coming through the hardest of pre-schooler trials! We also started to accessorise. We made a hood, again based on a find from Skjoldeham, Norway, and bought a superb belt buckle (which I’ll talk about later).

viking children in their viking kids clothes

2023

In 2023, Hikke has once again had a growth spurt so we made him a whole new set of viking kids clothes. This one was a little more well thought out, now that he has properly proportioned limbs. 😅

We made a linen undershirt in a t-tunic style, and a Kyrtle made of a 2/2 twill wool with a bead neck-fastener. We also made with mittens from the same material. The Kyrtle and tunic are patterned with a simple poncho-cut with the neck hole cut into the length of fabric. Sleeves and side gores are then added in. This is a simple cut that creates the look of the silhouette seen in period artwork. Gores are seen from extant garments and fragments.

The Kyrtle doesn’t have the close fitting tailoring (rounded shoulders, separate skirt etc.,) or front and rear gores seen on other period garments. This is mainly for practical reasons. He still needs to be able to grow into it for the rest of the year! The Kytrle is completely hand-sewn using period stitches and seam treatments. Parts are sewn with thread made from the same yarn as the fabric itself!

Once again, we made leg wear. A pair of Thorsberg-style trousers (of course!) and breeches or ‘braes’ – shorts basically. But Hikki often goes around without anything underneath!

Viking kids clothes - viking child in yellow tunic , mittens, holding a wooden sword

Accessories

The mittens are patterned from a couple of finds. That of the child’s mittens from Heynes, Iceland. These were kept together with a sewn-on lace that could be threaded through their sleeves to stop them from losing them. Second was a mitten from the Lendbreen glacier in Norway and the cut of the pattern is based on it.

The bead is based on the blue bead of the man in grave 511 at Repton. It was worn on a necklace with another bead and a Thor’s Hammer. In this case we’ve used the bead for a neck fastening. It’s a simplified version of the silver-bead fastener and braided loop on the shirt from Skjoldehamn, Norway. The bead was made by Tillerman Beads.

The antler buckle which we bought last year is based on a find at the excavations of Fishamble Street in Dublin (NM E190:6273). It’s decorated with ring and dot incision and the tongue is held in with a metal pin. It was made by Gear and Graith.

Making Viking kids clothes isn’t a daunting task, and with help from a family oriented group, it’s easy to keep your children involved. (Even if sometimes they just need some peace and quiet in a tent with a tablet!) If you are looking for a new family adventure, want to get started in re-enactment, then check out our website for more information, catch us at our weekly training in Leicester, or drop us an email at membership@vikingsof.me!