Welcome to my home on the web. You may have noted the mountains in the banner are the misty Blue Ridge of North Carolina. Did you know time traveling Highlanders live there? Read about them in the Highland Gardens series. Curious about the big cat? Florida panther~from the Crimson Storm paranormal novel, Sea Panther.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A Viking Encampment at a Celtic Festival and Highland Gathering? Hrafnvik Herlith

This past weekend was the 36th Southern Maryland Celtic Festival and Highland Gathering at Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum on the Patuxent River.
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Preparing Camp

Since my husband has been working with the Longship Company to get the Viking longship, Sae Hrafn (Sea Raven), ready for the season, we volunteered to help out at the Hrafnvik Herlith encampment.

Wrapping the wool
after spinning.

Hrafnvik Herlith is a living history group specializing in 800-1066 Norse culture and is a subgroup of the Longship Company who operates two reproduction Viking ships in Southern Maryland--the 20ft Grylfalcon and 40ft Sae Hrafn.

Gyrlfalcon - 20ft faring boat based on
the Gokstrad faring burial ship. 

Why a Viking encampment at a Celtic festival? The Viking age in Ireland lasted for nearly two centuries. It began with raids on Irish monasteries and ended with the Norse melding into Irish culture. Viking settlers also colonised parts of Scotland.

Is that a wolf skin on your shoulder?

Traveling blacksmith
mending helmets.

Practice.

Ready for battle.

Next Year's Southern MD Celtic Festival and Highland Gathering: April 25th, 2015
Sponsored by The Celtic Society of Southern Maryland




Looking for a romantic read for the period? Consider Renee Vincent's The Emerald Isle Trilogy -- Raeliksen, Mac Liam, and The Fall of Rain.



~Dawn Marie
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8 comments:

  1. Cathy MacRaeApril 30, 2014 at 10:45 AM

    Very cool, Dawn!

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    1. Dawn Marie HamilronApril 30, 2014 at 10:50 AM

      It was fun, Cathy. There was a Scottish group next to us depicting 1537. I'll post pictures from that soon. :)

      Delete
  2. Gerri BowenApril 30, 2014 at 10:46 AM

    Thank you for posting this, Dawn. So very interesting..

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    Replies
    1. Dawn Marie HamilronApril 30, 2014 at 10:54 AM

      Hi, Gerri! The members of the group were super friendly and happy to share their knowledge. They let the kids who happened by try on their chain mail and helmets and have photo ops.

      Delete
  3. DeniseApril 30, 2014 at 11:34 AM

    Thanks for sharing your photos. This is really neat. I shared it as well.

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    1. Dawn Marie HamilronApril 30, 2014 at 12:01 PM

      Thanks, Denise! I enjoyed hanging out with the reenactors. :)

      Delete
  4. UnknownApril 30, 2014 at 12:04 PM

    Great photos, Dawn. I'm deep into writing a novel featuring Vikings and would have loved to have been there for this. Thanks for posting.

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    Replies
    1. Dawn Marie HamilronApril 30, 2014 at 12:23 PM

      Thanks, Mairi! You would have loved talking to these guys and gal. They knew their stuff. Good luck with the writing.

      Delete

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