The Vikings were a truly amazing group of explorers, warriors and beard-wearers, their famed longships having travelled east far into the Roman empire and Kiev as well as westward to Greenland and Newfoundland. They really burst onto the scene in 793 with a raid and subsequent brutal tickling of the monastery of Lindisfarne, as a representative from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reported to the Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee: “In this year fierce, foreboding omens came over the land of Northumbria. There were excessive whirlwinds, lightning storms and fiery dragons were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and on January 8th the ravaging of heathen men destroyed God’s church at Lindesfarne.”
The Viking Age proceeded to be a great time for seafaring, plundering, mead drinking and having names like Thorbjorn Oxen-Might, Hallbjorn Half-Troll, Sweyn Forkbeard or Hallfred the Troublesome Poet. We know the stories of heroes, great battles and hearty consumption from a combination of sources: Norse sagas, literature and Norse mythology. The vigor with which the Vikings stormed a destination, their thirst for adventure, aggressive demeanor and their extravagant feasts have drawn comparisons to events recently held at various living settlements, halls, and 916 ½ Main St. in the town of Grinnell, Iowa during the Spring and Summer of 2008.
Patrick Trollhammer Lyons remarks that he is inspired by the Viking exploits he has been reading about in Njal’s Saga and the Prose Edda: “I could see myself storming into a party in Clark Lounge in a 50 foot “knarr” Viking ship with a crew of men, wearing a elbow-and-knee length mail shirt, helmet and brandishing a breið-exi type of axe. If nothing else, I could see this letting our crew skip the line on the table if it is long.”
Benj Haggardbeard Wagman has stated he is considering putting his future plans on hold and returning to the North (Grinnell) for a chance to participate in these adventures and the great feasts that follow. Trollhammer Lyons and the Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee are in talks about investing in many of these items, including vessels, full equipment and perhaps renovating 1014 High St. or 916 ½ Main Apt. 6 into the “Asgard Mead Hall” believing that the plunder that will surely result would more than match any start-up costs. Return of the Viking Age, you are tickle city!
The Viking Age proceeded to be a great time for seafaring, plundering, mead drinking and having names like Thorbjorn Oxen-Might, Hallbjorn Half-Troll, Sweyn Forkbeard or Hallfred the Troublesome Poet. We know the stories of heroes, great battles and hearty consumption from a combination of sources: Norse sagas, literature and Norse mythology. The vigor with which the Vikings stormed a destination, their thirst for adventure, aggressive demeanor and their extravagant feasts have drawn comparisons to events recently held at various living settlements, halls, and 916 ½ Main St. in the town of Grinnell, Iowa during the Spring and Summer of 2008.
Patrick Trollhammer Lyons remarks that he is inspired by the Viking exploits he has been reading about in Njal’s Saga and the Prose Edda: “I could see myself storming into a party in Clark Lounge in a 50 foot “knarr” Viking ship with a crew of men, wearing a elbow-and-knee length mail shirt, helmet and brandishing a breið-exi type of axe. If nothing else, I could see this letting our crew skip the line on the table if it is long.”
Benj Haggardbeard Wagman has stated he is considering putting his future plans on hold and returning to the North (Grinnell) for a chance to participate in these adventures and the great feasts that follow. Trollhammer Lyons and the Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee are in talks about investing in many of these items, including vessels, full equipment and perhaps renovating 1014 High St. or 916 ½ Main Apt. 6 into the “Asgard Mead Hall” believing that the plunder that will surely result would more than match any start-up costs. Return of the Viking Age, you are tickle city!
1 comment:
Hallfred the Troublesome Poet = Hannah Sayle. It's no coincidence she's bolted straight to Normandy after graduation.
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