Viking Encampment

10/20/2026

The captain is not the only one going down with this ship - Fingar… probably

Cast: Tova, Yrsa, and Fingar

゚viralシ

10/19/2026

The general view of early medieval (and older) industry in Europe is that they were done in small groups with local crafts for the local populace with some trade elsewhere. Things made in the village were for those who lived in the village, primarily. There were some large-scale salt operations and other mining operations that were much larger than just local use and international trade certainly existed for this and other raw materials, however, the great preponderance of products were made for local inhabitants. A recent discovery has changed some of this view.
Specifically, the find of a substantial Viking-age textile production area. In Søften, Denmark, there was found a greater than 1,000,000 ft² site with a flax growing and processing area, with 80+ pit houses (partially sunken buildings often used as workshops and housing at this time) found showing of textile manufacturing. This evidence consists of many spindle whorls and loom weights as well as silver coins, glass beads and pottery pieces that were found in these houses. The layout of the location indicated a well-organized operation with only one residential building identified. Indicating a powerful individual controlled the site in both labor and resources.
The area itself has been of some interest for 30 years as people have found many silver coins and other artifacts there. A construction project in recent years led to some test digs which then led to a much larger investigation after discovery of many trenches.
Based on the size of the site and inherent focus, it is believed it was part of a larger economic trade area. Products and raw material from here would go to regional trade centers and then on to larger trade routes.
Further research into the details of what was specifically made here is ongoing.

Photo: The excavation site at Søften Denmark where evidence of industrial cloth production from the Viking age was found

10/15/2026

Here is the first episode of The Real Reel: with Bodil. Our guests have 30 seconds to tell us as much as they can about the topic I set. Only rules it has to be in the allotted 30 seconds and it has to be true.

Guests will have 30 seconds to tell me something true about the top...

10/13/2026

She said what she said…

Cast: Eabha, Roar, and Kjetil

10/12/2026

Hollywood has often painted the past as an ocean of muddy browns and grays with just a sprinkling of color in the clothing that people wore. History tells a different story. Through intensive analysis of the dyes that were applied to precious, intact textile samples, including UV visible spectrophotometry, and chromatography, dye sources could be identified.

Some of the most common dye colors found included:

Blue indigotin which could be derived from the woad plant, non-native to Scandinavia but was brought to the region by the Roman period. Found throughout Norwegian artifacts in particularly dark shades which required repeat dying to achieve.

Yellow dyes are difficult to hone into one particular plant and was often combined with other colors. It required no mordant (chemicals used to set dyes), ranging in shades that bordered brown and green based on the plant material used.

Madder-type dye was found on fabrics in wealthier graves of Norway to create a red colorant. Due to difficulties of the plant to grow and thrive in parts of Scandinavia and the knowledge that the dye was found in wealthier graves, it is likely to have been imported through the extensive trade routes. Native plants in the region were used to simulate madder dye and achieved a similar look.

Lichen-derived purple was a rare dye using a variety of Scandinavian-native species. This dye was used sparingly, identified in items such as embroidery silks.

While fabric samples a few and far between, thorough analysis of the artifacts gives us a glimpse into the colorful world of early medieval Norse textiles.

Photos: 1) various fiber that had been dyed 2) dyed fiber used in tablet weaving

10/09/2026

Come visit us at Viking Fest Minnesota this weekend 10th and 11th as well as next weekend 17th and 18th!

10/08/2026

A long day at fest will do that to you…

Cast: Hjorstein

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10/06/2026

We want to share something truly amazing about one of our own!

We are proud to celebrate our beloved Magda, who received the Unicorn Award this year at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.

The award is voted on by a committee of festival performers and "is given to those people whose talent and love of performing personify the magic of our village, who, with their special gifts, continue to ensure the artistic quality of the festival year in, year out, and all year 'round."

Magda has been with the Viking Encampment from the very beginning as she is one of the founding members. She has many gifts she shares with us - she teaches nålbinding, tablet weaving, showing off her best axes, and more. She boldly fights on our stage with her many axes. Magda even heads our kitchen crew, ensuring that all the Vikings around her are well nourished and cared for. We are incredibly proud to see her greatness be recognized by the festival as a whole.

Thank you for all that you do for us and our patrons, Magda Many Axes. Skol!!

10/05/2026

Another Minnesota Renaissance Festival season is in the books. We cannot thank you all enough for laughter, joy, history questions, and fun you brought into our encampment this year.

If you wish to have a few more days full of Viking fun - come and visit us and others at Viking Fest Minnesota

As our skald Roar sings in his song So We Row:

For the sun is rising
And the tide is up
And the gods are jealous
Of each empty cup
In a storm of thunder
Or if skies are clear
So we row so we row so we row

From all of us to all of you, skol!

Thank you Naomi Duffy for the photo!

10/05/2026

Among Odin’s most recognizable companions are two ravens: Huginn and Muninn, whose names are usually translated as “Thought” and “Memory” or “Mind.” But despite their popularity today, the surviving Norse sources actually tell us surprisingly little about them.

In Grímnismál, preserved in the Poetic Edda, Odin says that Huginn and Muninn fly over the world each day. He worries that Huginn may not return, but says he fears even more for Muninn. Because of their names, this has sometimes been interpreted as Odin fearing the loss of thought and memory, although the poem itself never explains what his concern means.

A more detailed account appears in Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, written in Iceland in the early thirteenth century, after the end of the Viking Age. Snorri describes the ravens sitting on Odin’s shoulders. Each morning they fly throughout the world, returning to tell him everything they have seen and heard. Snorri says this is why Odin is known as the “Raven-God.”

Archaeology suggests that Odin’s connection with paired birds may be considerably older than Snorri’s account. A tiny silver figure found at Lejre, Denmark, and dated to the tenth century depicts a person seated on an elaborate throne with two large birds beside them. It is commonly interpreted as Odin with Huginn and Muninn, although the identity of the figure has been debated by archaeologists.

Other Scandinavian imagery predating or dating to the Viking Age also shows warriors or important figures accompanied by birds, but identifying every pair of birds as Huginn and Muninn would go beyond what the evidence can prove. Likewise, most of our detailed written mythology was recorded in medieval Iceland, so it is difficult to reconstruct exactly how stories about Odin’s ravens may have differed between Viking-Age Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland.

Ravens themselves had a broader importance in Norse culture. They appear frequently in poetry connected with warfare, corpses, and battlefields, making them especially fitting companions for Odin—not only a god associated with wisdom and knowledge, but also with war and the slain.

Photo: a 1871 painting titled "Odin,the Northern God of War”