the Norse Encampment
Living History for the Viking Age

The 'Norse Encampment' is the collective name given to a series of living history programs, which illustrate daily life in the Viking Age. Historic interpreters, employing replica objects, bring the past to life through typical activities of the Norse, and portraying historic styled characters. Throughout the series exceptional care was taken to ensure everything involved in a presentation was reflective of current archaeological research. One cornerstone of all the presentations was reference to the Vinland voyages by the Norse, circa 1000 AD.

Encampment INDEX

L'Anse aux Meadows NHSC

Artifacts and Replicas

A Teachers Guide

Research

Interpreting the Viking Age

Experimental Iron Smelting

Dark Ages Re-creation Company

from the Wareham Forge

LINKS

Links to the Viking Age

Selected Internet Resources

This is only a very few of the large number information sources about the Norse available over the internet.
Great care has to be taken with material gathered over the web! Although there is considerable material available from serious amateur researchers, the author's references should be examined carefully. (Special care should be taken with any information presented referring to Norse religious practices.)

Loosely grouped by subject. Note that there is likely to be some duplication from the main Wareham Forge links page.
An attempt has been made to ensure accurate information, but be aware that revisions to this page are only made on an irregular basis.

Last Revised January 2011


the World of the Norse

The World of the Norse was a major project undertaken from April to October 2003. This 1000 square foot exhibit was commissioned by the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills MI. It consisted of three realistic room settings containing about 175 individual replica objects that portray daily life in the Viking Age. It was installed to accompany the presentation there of Full Circle - First Contact, to better put the artifacts into living context.



Vikings into the Millennium

A separate sheet of information and links concerning upcoming museum events to mark the 1000 years since the Norse first traveled to Vinland can be found here.


Museums

L'Anse aux Meadows HNSC

The official information guide by Parks Canada on the L' Anse aux Meadows MHS.

They have recently updated the site with a section on the Viking Encampment program (summer 2003). The text used there was taken from the handout materials I wrote for the 1997 presentation. It should be noted that the characterizations listed are the orginal ones - these have been altered, and describes the orginal staff members (only 'Bjorn' still remains). The photographs used are actually from the 1996 demonstration. (The bearded fellow you see so much is me.)

www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows/ne/viking_e.asp



History Hall - Canadian Museum of Civilisation

This is the information from the Canadian Museum of Civilisation in Hull, PQ (Ottawa). In their 'history hall' the sequence on the exploration of Canda starts with the Norse in Vinland.

www.civilization.ca/hist/canp1/ca01eng.html



Yorvik Centre

In York, England the remains of the Viking Age city of York (Yorvik) were unearthed while constructing a shopping centre. Due to the waterlogged soil, a wealth of everyday objects of wood and leather were discovered. The Yorvik Centre displays this information.

http://www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk/


Academic / Personal Study

Viking Resources for the Re-enactor

Despite the title, this series of articles details Norse clothing construction, from both a scholarly and practical viewpoint. Home page author is Carolyn Priest-Dorman. The work here is top notch, and represents the quality of work possible by 'serious amateurs'. Carolyn provided the 'Norse Textiles' section for the staff training manual for the Viking Encampment.

http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/vikresource.html


Footware of the Middle Ages

This series of articles by Marc Carlson details construction and pattern of a large number of shoes based on a number of archaeological finds. About a dozen from the Norse and Anglo Saxon period (including the Oseberg shoes used in the Encampment).

www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/shoe/SHOEHOME.HTM


Viking Pastimes

This set of information by Neil Peterson covers gaming and aspects of drink. Several solid articles. Neil was one of the interpreters for the 1996 demonstration of the Encampment at LAM. He also provided the research inot the rules for the Viking Game project. Neil is one of the driving members of our own Dark Ages Re-creation Company.

www.treheima.ca/viking/pastimes


the Medieval Sword Resource Site

This is an excellent series - providing considerable information about Migration era swords. Has expandable photos of the artifacts, information on construction and embellishment, various commentaries. This page is designed primarily for collectors, but will be of great interest to both sword makers and students of history.

http://www.vikingsword.com


Links Pages

The World of the Vikings

An excellent collection of links to other related pages, including museums, academic sources and reenactment groups. This site is operated by Past Forward, the company that markets 'the World of the Vikings' CD ROM.

http://www.pastforward.co.uk/

Re-creations & Re-enactors

Regia Anglorum

Regia Anglorum from England is perhaps the largest re-creation group centred on the Early Middle Ages. Not only excellent links, there is considerable information available here on a wide number of subjects.

http://www.regia.org


Angelcyn

This is another excellent page from a British re-creation group, in this case centred on the Anglo Saxons, mainly from the period just before the start of the Viking Age.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2471/


The Longship Company

This group - who maintain two Viking ship reproductions, are located in the Maryland USA area. They have the full sized Fyrdraca (32 feet), as well as the smaller faering Gyrfalcon. The group is a special arm of the Markland Medieval Militia, a re-creation group centred on the Early Medieval Period.

For the Longship Co.
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~eowyn/Longship/index.html

For the Marklanders
http://www.markland.org



Darrell's (mostly Viking Age?) Bookmarks


The following are taken from my own working collection of bookmarks from around the internet:

Museums / Excavations

2000 Year Traveling Exhibits

The Vikings: Master Mariners, Traders, Colonists and Artisans
Full Circle - First Contact
Battery Radio - Vikings based on Full Circle

Vikings - NAS

V I K I N G S : T H E - N O R T H - A T L A N T I C - S A G A
Vikings - NAS Smithsonian (flash intro)

Host Insitutions

Vikings NAS - American Museum of Natural History
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Science Museum of Minnesota - Vikings NAS
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Home Page

Denmark

Heltborg Museum
Lejre Experimental Center
Nationalmuseet - National Museum of Denmark
The Viking Center Fyrkat
Ribe Viking Museum
Ribe Vikinge Center
MoesgÂrd Museum
Viking ship Museum
Roskilde Museum

Norway

A longhouse at Avaldsnes
Kaupang
Osebergfundet the Oseberg Ship Burial

Sweden

Riksantikvarie”mbetet - The Birka Project
Welcome to Fr–jel Discovery Programme
Museum of National Antiquities - Sweden
The Museum of Foteviken

United Kingdom

Anglo-Saxon Ceramics & Glass - at the Museum of London
York Archaeological Trust
Danelaw Lving History / Murton Park
'The Prittlewell prince:
ArchSearch: Sutton Hoo: Introduction

Vinland

L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada - The Viking Encampment: Vinland 1000 AD
CMC - Vikings in History Hall
WHTour : Anse aux meadows : Repros (Boat)
LAM NHS - What's New (Encampment)
L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, Newfoundland, Canada
Man, Culture and Environment in Ancient Greenland
The Greenland Norse, part 1
Bird Cove Archaeology Project, Viking Trail, Newfoundland (Linkspage)
Vikings in America
Nordic Explorers - Norse Expansion into North America
Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History - the Norse in North America
Analyzing the Vinland Map : Is it a fake?
The Vikings Return! to Heffenreffer Museum

General

Northvegr: The Northern Way (Caution - also a Neopagan site)
The Vikings - NOVA Online Transcripts
Greenland Resources - Archaeology
The Oakeshott Institute
Educational resources for archaeology
Nordic Museum Seattle
Novgorod Archaeology

Bayeaux Tapestry

Bayeux Tapestry (image)
The Entire Bayeux Tapestry (image / described)
Battle of Hastings 1066 Chapters

Arts & Crafts

Textiles

Viking Resources for the Re-enactor (Thora)
Birka-Style Tablet Weaving Recipe (Thora)
Footwear of the Middle Ages
Regia / Crafts - Nalebinding
Thora on NÂlebinding

Metalworking

General

Smide och Konstsmide - Danish smiths
Viking Blacksmithing - Bruce Blackstone
Anglo-Saxon and Viking Iron Working - Regia Anglorum
Vikingbronze Index - Anders S–derberg.
Viking Age Metal-casting. - Anders S–derberg.

the Mastermyr Tool Chest

Mastermyr Artifacts (image scans)
The Mastermyr Project
Mastermyr project detail

Weapons / Armour

Sword Forum International
the Mediaeval Sword
A.E.M.M.A. - Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts
Bronze Age Craft (Sword Festival 2007)
Norse Swords by Alfred Geibig
De Norske Vikingesverd (The Norwegian Viking Swords) by JAN PETERSEN
Oakeshott's Typology
Higgins Armory Museum - Worcester, MA - A Museum of Arms and Armor
myArmoury.com - the Sutton Hoo Sword
Gransfors Bruks 'Ancient Replicas' Axes (at Winter Outfitters)
Viking Shields
Armour from Wisby

Technical

Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI)
MatWeb - The Online Materials Information Resource

Iron Smelting

EARLY IRON Group

The Rockbridge Bloomery
Eindhoven Smelt Report - Williams
Teeny-tiny Bloomery - Williams
Bloomery - Skips Links
Dark Ages Re-Creation Company - Iron Smelting

Research

BELLOWS - Stronger Than a Hundred Men:
Archives of ARCH-EXPERIMENT@JISCMAIL.AC.UK
The Historical Metallurgy Society
INAGINA, the last house of iron
HEPHAISTOS / Ancient blooms
African Furnace Construction

Museums / Experimenters

Smelting at Rievaulx Abbey - U of Bradford
Whitehall Farm Roman Smelt
Wealden Iron Research Group Home Page
GeoArch / Tim Young
OXFORD MATERIAL SCIENCE- Chris Slater
Medieval Technology and American History
Jens JŻrgen - Heltborg Muse...
Danish Iron Smelting - Michael Nissen
Making iron at Fyrkat 2007
Ironbridge Gorge Museum - Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron
Ancient Metallurgy Research Group: University of Bradford
IRONSMELTING.NET by˝ Xander Veldhuijzen
Surveys, excavations and experiments in Tranemo, Sweden.
Jernmagerens vĘrksted

Ore

Geochemistry in Archaeometallurgy
virtual teacher / LAM & bog iron
VIKING CHEMISTRY
USGS Report - Bog Iron Ore

Boats

the Shearwater Lapstrake
Elf faering
Viking Age Vessels
Norse Navigation

General

Viking Age Foodstuffs (Thora)
Cauldrons and the Development of Cast Iron for Domestic Use
Overview of Cooking Equipment in the Medieval Kitchen
Neil Peterson on Viking Game
RUNES - by Peter Pettersson
Glass Melt Data Sheet

Norse / Early Medieval Re-Enacting

Group Web Sites

Viking Network Web Index
TorVik Home Toronto, Ontario - Canada
Dilettante Viking Links
EarlyPeriod.com
Hurstwic - New England area
Midgard Home Page
Fr–jel Gotlandica Viking Re-Enactment Society.
Dark Ages Society Hompepage
Geforőian Strand - Regia Anglorum North America
Regia Anglorum (Uk) - Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Norman and British Living History 950-1066AD
Viking Resources for the Re-enactor
Nordhere Ontario - Canada
Longship Company

Retail Sources

Swordcrafts by Wolf Live Steel Fighting Blades
Raymond's Quiet Press.html Books, Cast Bronze replicas
Amber World
South Tower Armouring SCA armours, etc
Wholesale Beads - South Pacific
Jelling Dragon General Re-enactors Supplies
Shipwreck Beads
Birka Traders Home PageGeneral Re-enactor's supplies
The Northerner - sweden scandinavia lapland sweÖ
Nordic Arts
T & T Trading | Beading

Teaching

DARC Educational support / Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology
Long Ship Company - Journal
The Vikings: DiscoverySchool.com
Nordic Sagas: Viking Ships
Kid's Online Resources - History (viking)

General Research

Book Sources

Barnes and Noble
Dover Publications
Oxbow Books
David Brown Book Company: (North America)

Searching (to purchase)

Book Finder
Addall
Alibris
Bibliofind on Amazon
Abe Books

Journals / Conferences

Journal of the North Atlantic,
Fornv”nnen: Journal of Swedish Antiquarian Research
International Congress on Medieval Studies Homepage
Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums

Library / Indexes

WorldCat.org
Google Scholar
Librarians' Index to the Internet
Medieval Sourcebook: Introduction
WWW Medieval Resources
NetSERF: The Internet Connection for Medieval Resources
The Online Medieval and Classical Library
Medieval Technology and Everyday Life - Links
Medieval Institute at WMU, index
ArchSearch: Library: Medieval Archaeology
The Labyrinth
University of York - Library & Archives
University Library at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Converting

Online Translators
AltaVista - World / Translate
Northvegr: Icelandic Dictionary
An Icelandic-English Dictionary

Other Materials

The Icelandic Festival of Manitoba
The Viking Network Web
Index of Images !
BBC - Viking Quest Game


Readers are also referred to:
This ongoing blog collection contains many shorter 'articles in progress' discussing aspects of both iron smelting and metalworking from the Viking Age, as well as topics of interest to historic re-enactors in general. A separate index is also available (updated quarterly).

Darrell Markewitz
Interpretive Program Designer

The Wareham Forge
The Hamlet of Wareham, R.R. #2
Proton Station, Ontario
CANADA - N0C 1L0
(519) 923-9219 // info@warehamforge.ca


Who is Darrell Markewitz?

Content © Darrell Markewitz
Other images credited to the individual sources, who retain full copyright