Rural Missouri - October 2010 - (Page 20)
Above: In the Knox City viking village of Ravensborg, reenactors from several states
gather to celebrate their Scandinavian heritage. Right: Rival viking warriors John
Chadwell, left, a member of the Skjaldborg group from Iowa, and Joseph Eckwahl
of the Jomsvikings of Texas, practice their sword skills. Below: Viking women work
together on an ornate piece of needlework. The vikings were skilled at many crafts.
Live like
Reenactors gather twice a year to
in the viking village of Raven
by Heather Berry
hberry@ruralmissouri.coop
L
ooking out across the fi ve-acre lake on his
farm in northeast Missouri, Sam Shoult’s
eyes come to rest on a shallow-keel viking
warrior longboat tied to a tree near the bank.
“She’s named Yrsa, after a Scandinavian heroine,”
he says of his ship, which is a replica
of a wooden vessel dating back to
950. “She’s an accurate interpretation
of what a viking warrior or burial ship
would have looked like.”
So why does a Knox City school bus
driver and substitute teacher have a
28-foot-long viking ship in his lake? If
you’re a viking reenactor, it probably
doesn’t seem odd at all.
In 2007, a group of Missouri-based viking
enthusiasts called Ravnsgard (formerly known as
Norsa), desired to have its own permanent gathering
place. Sam and his family, active reenactors, looked
around at their 160-acre farm and thought it would
be a great place for fellow vikings to gather.
Ravnsgard, an independent viking group, wants
to keep its viking heritage alive. Here, they would be
able to preserve the lifestyle and culture of a viking
fortifi cation and trading post.
“It’s a little like the movie ‘Field of Dreams,’” says
Sam, “An, ‘if you build it, they will come,’ thing.”
20
That summer, Sam, several local Amish men
•
Knox City
and many of the reenactors came to Knox City and
began working on the viking longphort, a fortifi cation
on a grassy knoll overlooking Sam’s lake. Within
two months, the group had built the 65-footlong,
25-foot-tall Mead Hall, a cook hall and named
their viking community Ravensborg.
“Many members in the group pitched in with
the labor and helped fund the project. We also
had the Amish come in and cut down the oak
trees and mill the lumber for us,” says the
Lewis County Rural Electric Cooperative
member. “We worked side by side with
the Amish framing the building up. This
building is solid — they made sure it’s
here to stay.”
Sam says the Ravensborg project
is a perpetual one. Now that the long
hall is done, the group is completing
a gatehouse. It plans to add walls around the longphort
and other period buildings, such as a forge
and iron smelter, as time and money allow.
While not permanently inhabited, Ravensborg is
intended for use as a reenactment and living history
site for the Ravnsgard vikings and similar groups
from across the United States, Canada and Europe.
The group’s October 2007 grand opening event
drew nearly 50 reenactors. In April 2010, Ravnsgard
held its fi rst “Return of the Sun” event, which
begins the fi rst Thursday after April 18, the same
RURAL MISSOURI
day the vikings in Iceland celebrate the return
of spring. The event will take place each April at
Ravensborg.
“This year we’re add-
ing a fall gathering called
Return of the Dead,” says
Sam. “It celebrates the
end of the growing season,
the harvest and the
coming of winter.”
During the autumn
celebration, which falls
on Oct. 28-31 this year,
Ravensborg will open
to the public from dusk
until 10 p.m. on Oct.
30 so families can bring
their children to meet
the viking reenactors,
trick-or-treat and enjoy
hot chocolate and goodies
around the campfi re
or inside the hall if the
weather’s too cool.
Whether the public
attends the free spring or
fall events at Ravensborg,
the viking enthusiasts
want people to understand
their mission.
Birte Nellessen, left, and Askjel M
ter, Inga, 3, the youngest membe
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - October 2010
Rural Missouri - October 2010
Contents
Comments
Columns
Good Times on the Berryman
Elk in Missouri?
Mail Bag
Right-of-Way Management
Out of the Way Eats
Live Like a Viking
Two Men and a Cave
Hearth and Home
News Briefs
Paddlin' for a Cure
Get in Touch with Ghosts
Marketplace
Around Missouri
Neighbors
Just4Kids
Rural Missouri - October 2010
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