Friday 13 January 2012

Viking's 12th Night Celebration Part 2

My husband has been dressing up and partaking in Viking activities for over 2 years now. My daughter decided to join in this summer and we got her "kit" ready. My son and I were a little bit slower to go whole hog into this dressing up part of history re enactment. However in order to attend 12th night at the Mead Hall everyone must be in their "kit" so I finally ordered my son's and my outfit. I had to make a few adjustments to my son's in order for it to fit properly but here is the whole family in our viking gear.




at the hotel before leaving for the celebration
















Pictures and videos were allow for only a short period of time as once the main meal began no modern items were allowed to be seen. This was done in order to keep the evening as authentic as possible. All my pictures taken were during this time.



The hall was lite only by fire and candle light. Here is our family's table settings, wooden bowls and spoons, boned handle knives and horn cups.




















My children were in awe of the huge fire pit, plus it was warm there:)



This is my favorite picture of the evening








I believe there were about 60 attendees that night, all dressed in their Saxon finest.











I tried to take pictures with and with out flash to capture the mood of the evening









































This gentleman is the leader of the Regia group and one of the original founders. He has been working with Regia for over 25 years.












lighting the candles to hang from the ceiling, I am sure these things have a proper name but I don't know what it is:).














The meal consisted of 5 courses and it was delicious!

















In between each course there was entertainment. I don't have any pictures of this but I wanted to include a poem that is in ole English written by one of the Regia members. Try to imagine yourself in a fire lite Viking hall surrounded by Saxons all listening to the retelling of the Battle of Hastings...it is amazing!

There are English subtitles so you can understand but it is also cool to listen to the old english



At one point I had to take my son outside to get relief from the smoky fire and it was so eery to be in the dark outside the building hearing the voices and laughter, and seeing the light from under the large wooden door. I could almost hear Grendel (from Beowulf) in the distance. It was like being in the opening scene of a viking movie...Truly an amazing experience.













One last picture of the family wearing our woolen cloaks, inside the Viking Mead Hall, to keep warm. We look forward to going again next year!!!















I will be linking up to the Homeschool Field trip hop





12 comments:

  1. Wow! You guys are awesome. You look amazing. I can only imagine what a wonderful (truly magical) memory it made for your family.

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  2. Wonderful pictures. Your children will have so many stories and memories to hold on to. What an amazing experience.

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  3. Oh this looks like so much fun! I wish I homeschooled nearer you...

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  4. That looks like a REALLY great event! How lucky you are to live near that outing!

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  5. Great pictures once again. Thanks so much for sharing this.

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  6. Very cool! Thanks for linking up with Brag Time Thursday!

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  7. How awesome! Incredible experience all round.

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  8. What a neat experience! Thanks for linking up to BTT and FTF!!

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  9. Kind of makes you more appreciate things like cotton and Spandex, don't it? Looks like it was a lot of fun and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the fire pit photo of your kids.

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  10. I bet the kids loved this. I know my dd would!

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  11. We really ARE our ancestors, aren't we.

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  12. We really ARE our ancestors, aren't we.

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