June 11: The weather, which was supposed to be rainy, was not. In fact it was almost a perfect day for a Viking event. Cloudy skies, windy, cool, but warm where the sun shone. Much better for wearing Viking clothes than our usual summer weather in the Midwest.
Einar drove me to Avaldnes Church, the 13th Century stone church where my great-grandfather was baptized, and we walked together down the slope, along the shore and over the footbridge to Bukkøy. About half a mile in all, I’d guess, and much of it on hills. I have described the walk and climb to the church several times in my Erling books, but I’d forgotten how steep and high it is. (I wore my modern shoes to climb, with my Viking shoes in a backpack). I met the leader of Vikingklubben Karmøy, and she told me I’d been assigned to be the fire guard in the longhouse from 1:00 to 3:00. Another woman gave me more detailed instructions. Basically, keep kids out of the fire, close the door if you get more than 40 people inside, put fresh wood on the hearth when it burns low. I felt I could handle this.
I wandered around to familiarize myself with the layout. Naust (boathouse, used as the great hall when they filmed the first season of Norsemen here). Longhouse. Some other smaller buildings, and lots of tents where reenactors camped. Many booths for merchandise sales. Chatted with Vikings. Met a couple Vikings from Poland. Saw the Viking ships at the docks. Finally 1:00 came around (13:00 in Europe) and I went in to do my job.
A musician was on duty there, telling stories, playing instruments (flute, jaw harp, lyre) for passers-through. We talked about various reenactment matters. Good guy. Then met Kjell, who set up his collection of ancient instruments so he could lecture at 2:00. He told me he was a former member of Wardruna, a famous Viking-period musical group, and has worked on the Vikings: Valhalla TV series and The Northman movie. I was impressed. Very tall fellow. He lectured on the history of music – I gave up trying on to keep excess people out in the end. My efforts were becoming disruptive.
After that, I basically wandered about, or found stones to sit on and rest. I was tired and jet-lagged. People kept asking me for photos – I expect to show up in a beer ad one of these days. Finally called it quits at 5:00 p.m. and walked back up to the parking lot. That climb up to the church was as bad as I feared, but on the positive side I didn’t have a heart attack. Most strenuous thing I’ve done in years, though. Nodded off a couple times while Einar was driving me home. It was a good day – really a fine one, and better than my expectations. But I am tired, and rain is predicted tomorrow with considerable confidence.
