DANES LIVES IN NATURE AS VIKINGS FOR 6 MONTHS
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STORY
Vikings have returned.
In the largest Viking Village in Denmark thousands of vikings are gathering now – again.
Vikings traveled around in the world from 700 to 1050 – and now they meet again in the Viking Village in Denmark eating, making cloth and enjoying life in nature as a Viking for up to 6 months over the summer.
Daily Manager: Christin Vesterager Clausen, tries to explain: “Of course, they know they’re not Vikings, but they pretend to be Vikings dressed in wool and with scarves on, cooking their own dinner in clay pots or in iron pots. And we do that every year for six months, actually”.
Ribe and surroundings was one of the most important Viking areas and many archeological Viking items have been found in the ground lately, confirming that all of Denmark was a big Viking country.
This has made many Danes curious about life as a Viking. Many Danes are now seeking life as a Viking in the nature, being a Viking in an outdoor village and re-discovering the inner Viking man or woman.
Viking Mads Buchwald from Denmark also tries to explain about the cloth that helps you transform into becoming a Viking: “It is quite nice to wear viking clothes because, as today, when we use the clothes, as it was in the Viking age. basically everything is custom made” and Viking Mads continues:” We also try to make the clothes as traditionally as possible which means that there goes a lot of time and effort into it. We want to color it by using plants. We want to sew it in our hands. So we are quite fond of our clothes.”
From the Viking graves of wealthy individuals, clothes were definitely important.
Ordinary Viking clothes were made of local materials, like wool – and fur.
Viking woman Magnhild Lysholt Krag, has lived in the viking village for several days and feels like a Viking woman now: “I feel like I’m part of the time. I feel I just belong in it. I also like to be in it around my house because it’s so comfy, you know, nothing sits tight, nothing sits and irritates your body anywhere.”
The area of Ribe is the first and oldest town in Scandinavia from 854. Vikings from other regions came and traded. Slowly you feel right in the middle of the international trade in the Viking Age with the smell of smoke, food and horses, as well as pottery and jewels being handcrafted in the original viking designs. You feel Ribe was an international trade center for all Vikings. As you walk and get connected to the life outdoors in a Viking village, you discover a life without modern kitchen, TV and electronics. Viking Eva Van Loo from the Netherlands tries to explain it: “At home I’ll be watching TV a lot. And here we just sit around a campfire, talk, laugh and sing. And I don’t miss it”.
The transformation 1300 years back to a time and into a Viking is something all feel as you take a stroll down the areas passing a blacksmith, a carpenter, a farmer and a warrior.
German Viking Gunnar Duerkop, explain why people love this “The moment you are here, you can be authentic. You can be you, and you can just live the day and you do not have to dictate modern life. So this is really what makes the big difference.”
In around 1050 the Viking time ended right here in Ribe, when Viking King Blue Tooth decided to become Christian. Vikings became farmers and not warriors, and created the countries in Scandinavia as we know them today Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Island and even parts of European regions in Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the Baltic sea.
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SHOT
- Drone Ribe Viking Village
- Viking walking towards tents
- People in viking clothes conversing
- Viking cooking using fire
- People seen Vikings throwing spears
- SOUNDBITE Christin Vesterager Clausen, Daily Manager:
“Well, every year in May, at Ribe Viking Center we have this market. And that’s the week where people come, real actors come, they dress up like Vikings. Of course, they know they’re not Vikings, but they pretend to be Vikings dressed in wool and with scarves on, cooking their own dinner in clay pots or in iron pots. And we do that every year for six months, actually.
But in May and in the summertime, we have a lot of real actors coming in and doing things like this.” - Vikings walking other Vikings sowing and knitting
- Close up of Vikings knitting
- Vikings in tent
- SOUNDBITE Mads Buchwald, Viking.
- “It is quite nice to wear viking clothes because, as today, when we use the clothes, as it was in the Viking age, basically everything is custom made.
So we’re really wearing tailor made clothes, which is why it fits so nicely. It’s comfy and it’s well fitted. The downside is, of course, that it’s incredibly expensive. We also try to make the clothes as traditionally as possible which means that there goes a lot of time and effort into it.
We want to color it by using plants. We want to sew it in our hands. So we are quite fond of our clothes.”
- Viking couple cutting fruit and vegetables
- Viking sitting drinking tea/coffee
- Viking and guest looking at fabrics
- SOUNDBITE Magnhild Lysholt Krag, Viking
“Of course I do. I feel like I’m part of the time. I feel I just belong in it.
I also like to be in it around my house because it’s so comfy, you know, nothing sits tight, nothing sits and irritates your body anywhere.” - Drone of viking village
- Viking crafting arrows and rope
- Viking decorating clay glas/cup
- Child showing necklace
- Viking guide speaking to visitors from the Netherlands.
- SOUNDBITE Eva Van Loo, Viking, Netherlands
“I do stay away from electronics at home. I’ll be watching TV a lot. And here we just sit around a campfire, talk, laugh and sing, and I don’t miss it. I don’t miss it at that moment – so I don’t miss electronics.”
- Viking crafting knives and sleeves
- SOUNDBITE Gunnar Duerkop, Viking, Germany
“At the moment you are here, you can be authentic. You can be you, and you can just live the day and you do not have to dictate modern life. So this is really what makes the big difference.” - Viking walking in Ribe Viking Village
- Drone of Ribe Viking Village