Vikings, Skalds, and Other Upstanding Citizens

“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” said no one ever at a Skalds event.

It’s obvious what everyone is doing at the Festival of the Skalds. They are getting in touch with their inner Viking.

(Minus 10 points if you just mentally said, “Arrgh!” That’s not what Vikings say. Vikings say, “Uff da!”)

To be fair, some of us were more in touch with our inner Gypsy or bard. But that’s not all bad, since a skald was a poet in the court of a Viking or Icelandic leader. I suppose you could say a skald was a literate version of a court jester.

This past weekend we held the 2nd Annual Festival of the Skalds. We had a good showing of people in costume, and it was a blast. It was also the last invitation-only event. Next year we will be open for business to the public and we should be fully operational.

What do you do at a Skalds Festival?
As vendors, we hawk all kinds of cool stuff, including books by yours truly. Therefore the most important people at the Festival of the Skalds are the ones who buy books. Particularly, my books. I’m just being honest here.

Becky with the Falcon Series!

Other fun activities that we indulge in include ... food. We eat lots of food. We probably eat way too much food. We also try our hand at primitive weapons, and I’m pleased to report that there were no injuries. And, naturally, everyone checks out the costumes of everyone else. I have to say, this year there were a lot of really good costumes.

Decide for yourself; who are the ladies, who are the peasants, and which one is the hooligan.

So, now to the costume judging contest. There was not an actual contest, but there may be one next year.

There were several ladies of the court present. As you can see in the picture, they were forced to mingle with the commoners and other riffraff. This was not the entire crew, but you get a good representation of the cross section here.
One of these ladies looked like a princess trying to blend in with the rest of us peasants. Her prince was absent, but I suspect he was out with his valiant men rounding up highwaymen for the gallows.

In every gathering of hoodlums, there is an instigator. Jacinda and Micah are the chief instigators of the Festival of the Skalds. If the constable should come looking, we’re blaming them. They were, as always, convincingly dressed.
Which brings us to the award for the best costume. This year, in my completely unbiased view, I have selected Micah. His costume was pretty good, and he was well accessorized, and he had a weapon. In my view, weaponizing wins!

Stay tuned for next year’s Festival of the Skalds. You are invited …