Glasgow Vikings!
The Glasgow Vikings spent two whole days providing educational workshops, immersing children from Arrochar and Luss Primary Schools in all aspects of Viking culture! From an introduction in old norse, to explaining how Vikings were buried and the scary tale of Fenrir the wolf, Roskva Ragnarsdottir, Thorgrim the Grim and Skulki Bjarnison introduced the children to the realities of Viking life – whether as a slave or a jarl….
The brought written resources, clothes and objects based on archaeological evidence, the Glasgow Vikings represent the ‘Hiberno-Norse’, who were the original Viking colonists of Scotland. A few of the many highlights of the workshops included:
- An display of traditional Viking weaponry
- A look at what would be left in a Viking burial for the archaeologists to discover
- A demonstration of the effectiveness of chain mail
- Explaining how a jarl would be crowned, to explain the hierarchy of Viking society – would you rather be a slave (thrall) or a farmer (karl)??
- The enthralling tales of Fenrir the wolf, and of how Loki recovered Thor’s hammer from Thrym the Frost Giant
The Glasgow Vikings also visited the annual Arrochar and Tarbet Gala to promote information and history about the Vikings to an even wider audience. They pitched their cultural encampment on the very spot where the Viking boats would have entered Loch Lomond, and demonstrated traditional Viking foods, clothing, and weapons, as well as using a forge to show how knives and other metal implements would have been made.
They spent a day teaching the pupils about Icelandic sagas and the potential for history to not always be what it seems! They then had the honour of 'launching' the school's beautiful, playground boat, 'Den Syngende Skipet' , made by the GalGael Trust, and destined to become a wonderful outdoor musical instrument for all the children to enjoy! All the children wrote their own version of 'brimrunar' (or 'wave runes'), as mentioned in the saga of Sigurd, where one of the Valkyries told him to inscribe a spell of protection for his ship - "Though high the breakers and black the waves, thou shalt safe the harbour seek".
Check out the gallery for more photos.
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