This is the Norwich Herred (battlegroup) page.

This page maintained by Lisanne Norman, the current Jarl of Norvik Hrafnswyrd.

All photos are Copyright and may not be reproduced without permission.
 
 

I joined The Vikings, N.F.P.S. back in 1979 and helped found the Glasgow Sveiter, as it was then called, with my friend Joyce Mains. She went on to become the group leader, or Jarl , of Glasgow a couple of years later, after I'd moved down to Norwich in 1980.

We have a long and old history attached to the Norwich Vikings, and I will tell you it. The group was first formed back in 1976 by Laurie Paye. The national society, then called simply The Norse Film and Pageant Society, was only 2 years old so we were one of the first regional groups. The Norwich Svieter, as it was then called, has continued in an unbroken chain since then. There have been the odd, unavoidable lumps and bumps associated with any local club or society that spends a large amount of its time camping and putting on displays for the public in all kinds of weather, but we have survived.

Laurie ran the group for about a year from 1976 to 1977 before meeting Fe, or Fiona, his first wife, and moving down south to be with her. I believe it was to Cobham where several Vikings were living in a Collective as authentically as they could. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of Laurie Paye.

The group was then run by "The Norwich Collective", a group of several members that included Tina Smith and Primus because no one person wanted to run it. This is a good point to tell you we also have a long history of anarchy. Free thinkers and individualists sometimes to a fault, we did things our way.

Meetings in those days were held in an upper room of the Golden Star pub off Duke Street. Rumour had it that even the pub landlord was a member at one time!

Twice a year the regional group leaders would meet with the Society Chieftain to discuss policy for the whole society for the following year. Obviously, a specific leader was needed for Norwich. Eventually, Gerry East, our Chieftain, demanded that a Jarl be chosen.

Tina Smith was chosen to represent Norwich as their Jarl. When I arrived to live in Norwich during the Easter of 1980, she still held that title. This is a photo of her with her son Nicky and one of our best warriors then, Steve Perks.

We used to meet at The Castle Pub on Ketts Hill, out in the beer garden pictured here if the weather was fine. My first show was at Earlham Park just after Easter 1980, and involved a single combat with Tina in front of about 5,000 people. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end! In the resultant melee, when we broke into two sides to fight each other, I was in the front line wall of shields. Now I'm a small person, only 5 feet 3 inches tall. My shield was locked in firmly with the others to the point that I was lifted bodily from my feet as my side rushed toward the opposing force. Luckily, our wall broke seconds before our shields crashed against each other and I was able to back off a little way to gain my balance again. It was at this point I decided I wasn't built for the front line! From then on, I stood at the end of the shield line as a flanker, one of the light, fast in-and-out warriors who would strike the end men and help weaken the wall there for the heavier warriors to move in.

Tina ran the group from 1979 until 1981. That winter, Norwich hosted the Society banquet in the University of East Anglia medieval Barn, and this photo shows the official hand over of leadership from Tina Smith to Stuart Andrews. Behind them is the sail from the Society Longship, now the main banner for our private banquets.

The Longship was given to us because of film work but unfortunately when it was stored in a container at a container dock during one winter, the whole ensemble was crushed.

I remember that banquet well. We decided to do the catering for around 100 people ourselves. Unfortunately we didn't get permission to use the Barn's old spit roasting fire in the center of the hall! Tina and her friend who lived opposite were the chefs, cooking the roast chickens. I helped Tina prepare them and the veg which we cooked in the Barn's kitchens. Hard work, but we had a great time doing it, and the banquet was a great success.
 
 

An interesting little tale that might amuse you about the Longship. It was made of fiberglass moulded to look like a clinker built (overlapping wooden planks) hull. Despite that it still needed constant work and of course, to be taken down the River Thames so the boat crew could practice rowing. I believe Laurie Paye, our founder member and several other Norwich members who had moved to London by the time were crewing the ship one autumn evening. Naturally they were dressed in full Viking kit, and no self-respecting Viking went anywhere without his sword or axe.

Vikings were well known for their love of ale, and our lads were no different, believe me. Rowing is thirsty work, and with all the water around them, the poor souls were parched. Now, along the side of the Thames out of the main city of London area, are many small pubs with small piers so folk on boating holidays could tie up and get out for a pint and pub grub. Seeing one coming up, the lads hove to, and headed for the landing stage, forgetting completely that night had just fallen and there was a mist on the river.

Imagine the scene. There you are, sitting by the river side, enjoying your pint with your partner, when suddenly, out of the mist looms a Dragon headed prow of a ship which noiselessly glides to the side of the small quay. As it grinds to a halt, out jump some dozen Viking warriors in full kit, armed with swords and axes.

Yep, you got the picture. They didn't, and as yells and shrieks of fear split the air, all the customers ran back inside the pub for safety,. Our gallant Longship crew were totally baffled - until they walked into the pub. After explanations, laughs were had all round and they got a booking to do an event a few weeks later!

During the time Stuart ran the group, we did a series of Sunday afternoon shows at a local holiday camp. They were small shows, with only about ten of us there, and at the side of a small lake. Needless to say, on hot days, one or other of the men managed to get themselves dunked! Stuart ran the group from Winter 1981 for two years then Georgie took over.
 

Georgie remained Jarl for the next couple of years before retiring from the Society. Here she is at a school fete taking a very necessary break. The school was the one Tina's sons went to and we did a series of fetes there in the early 80's. They were great fun. They had one with pony rides and I've got a picture or two of certain mail clad warriors on horse back! I think they had almost as much fun as the kids.

Around that time, I was teaching in a local Middle School and we were asked to do their fete for them. The children had been studying the Vikings and had even built a huge papier mache longship. We had to loose flaming arrows into it to set it on fire as the finale. It seemed a dreadful end to so much hard work by the children, but they cheered and clapped as it went up in flames. I won't tell you that that was when we realized we needed some serious archery practice! Not one of our lit fire arrows landed in the ship! I had to run forward and pick one up to toss into it from behind the scenes! Well, you try balancing a tip heavy arrow with a wad of cloth tied round it for several seconds till someone sets fire to it. It's a rather difficult balancing act, never mind the fact we were shooting into the wind because of the audience position, and it was blowing the flames out.

Stuart Andrews took over again in 1983 until 1991. During that period, Norwich, under his leadership, grew at one point to be over 30 strong and hosted many major Society shows. Among them were the famous East Albion Fairs, medieval events held over long weekends with even the stallholders and the public all wearing costumes.

In the September of 1991, I was elected leader, or Stuersman. The group had its own internal problems then, which I inherited. This eventually led to an amicable parting of the ways at the end of 1992.

Norwich Herred, renamed to the more authentic sounding Norvik Hrafnswyrd, continued under my leadership with the help of my two Officers. I was finally appointed Jarl in October 1996 by the Chieftain under the new society rules. Though elected as leader, everyone has to wait at least 2 years before this honour is given. Mine was delayed by ill health.

Here I am at the banquet just after receiving my Jarl's Banner. It says on it, "The Konungr (Chieftain) entrusts in me Understanding, Loyalty, Wisdom, Strength and Command."

Our Group name translated from Norse means Norvik for Norwich, and Hrafnswyrd for The Way of the Raven. Ravens were the birds of Odin, chief among the Norse Gods, and known for their wisdom.
 
 
 
 

In this older photo, I'm being presented with the Five Year Award, given only to fully trained members who have been in the Society in excess of five years.

The Chieftain giving me the award was Geoff Carter, and on the extreme left is our original Chieftain, now Life President, Gerry East. I was one of the first to be given the new award - my pendant of Odin has number 5 on the back of it . Before you assume I'm one of the longest serving members, let me assure you I'm not. There are one or two still with us who've been in The Vikings right from the beginning.
 
 
 
 

Our membership in Norwich Hrafnswyrd rose to 10, then unfortunately myself and Judith went down with permanent medical disabilities, preventing us from being active members. Judith's sister left, again because of bad health, and another member went to live with her partner. Though we don't currently run shows any more, we're still able to contribute to the Society because of our many years of experience.

18 active years re-enactment on my part, two of them as the Society Archery Officer in charge of deciding policy, safety and training for all archers.
 
 

11 years for our Theng, or Officer, Chris Dumont. He was our Battle Leader, and later our Training Officer, and is now one of the Society Training Officers. He works closely with Ulf Stahm in this capacity. We have yet to get a photo of him that he's satisfied with. When I do, it will be here.
 
 
 
 

Judith Dumont was one of those involved in the drive to make the Society costumes, arms and armour more authentic, and is our Group Authenticity Officer, going to national meetings etc. to decide what items of clothing and jewellery could be worn by us. This is vital when you consider that we are putting on educational shows for English Heritage and members are involved in photographic sessions for school text books on the Saxons, Vikings and early Normans.

Here is an older picture showing myself and Judith with our Herred flag. In those days it was the FenWolf because we live in the Fenland area of East Anglia. Now our symbol is the Raven to fit in with our change of name. You will notice the wolf head is based on the one used by the Society on its flag or longship sail.
 
 
 

In February 1993, a second group started up in Norwich, called Ulf Stahm, led by one of our previous members, Stuart Dunion. It is now run by Danie Ware. We are sister groups, and share the same, rich past. Ulf Stahm has a more Saxon bias than we had. We preferred to be Norse. In the past six years, they have put on some truly excellent shows, both in the fields of combat skills and Living History. I hope to be able to put a link to their pages here soon.

The criteria for joining The Vikings in the early days were very different from those of today. Then all you needed was enthusiasm and loads of either fake or real fur, a bit of leather, and a sword or axe. We were 9th Century Viking raiders, come to English shores for plunder and land. We'd trawl through the Sally Ann (Salvation Army Charity) shops to find old blankets and leather or fur coats to cut up and make our kit from. Everyone had furry leggings tied round their legs to look the part, and nick-names abounded. Like John Klutz de Guy Ropes, so named cos even in the bright light of day, he'd find every tent guy rope and trip over it! He also left a trail of bits of his body armour behind him as it was held together by an assortment of paper clips, glue and string. Swords were cheaper then, too. My three cost me from around £20 to the most expensive at £36. Nowadays you're looking at over £100 for a similar blade. Having said that, today's blades are lighter and thinner yet still as safe. In the early days they were made from car leaf springs and far thicker.

Under Geoff Carter's Leadership, the Society began to rethink its aims. More and more large shows were asking for totally authentic costuming in line with the more recent finds at various Viking graves and settlements across Europe. We began to look to changing our image as Viking Raiders of the 9th Century to the armies of the 10th Century. Around then, Chris of Nottingham took over as Chieftain and completed the main phase of our Authenticity drive. Out went the furry leggings and the leather, and in came wonderful naturally dyed costumes of wool and linen. The emphasis that we'd always had on Warrior skills also changed to bring the neglected Village skills to equal importance. Today, belonging to the Vikings is opening your life to an experience that is rich and fulfilling whatever your interest is.

We have historians and archeologists among our number, and to be a member, it isn't necessary to take an active role in the Society's shows. However, if you do, you'll meet many interesting people who know a wide variety of skills, travel to the far corners of Britain, and entertain the public in a way that is second to none in my opinion. Beats chasing little balls around a field any day in my books!

We value acting skills - where would we be without the villagers who make the times of the ordinary peasant in the 10th Century come alive? One of my favourite shows was the one in which I and a fellow member called Rosie played the parts of a noblewoman who'd had her brooch stolen by a peasant. I was the peasant thief who was dragged before the visiting King Alfred for justice. I was told I did a lovely job of grovelling for mercy!

Then we have a wonderful storyteller, or skald, who when you visit his corner of our village will ask you to choose a wooden strip with the name of a story carved on it in runes. When you give it to him, he will tell you that story.

We have metal workers making and repairing jewelry and household implements on a reconstructed forge, we have women and men carding, spinning and occasionally dying wool, we have the campfire with women and men cooking a meal that they will later share - in fact any craft that was practiced then, we will have someone who is either demonstrating it or who can tell you about it. And we have village huts and furniture of the times. When you are in our village, you will swear you have walked back to the times of the Saxons or Vikings in England.

As you can tell from the above, men are as involved in the village as women. But our warriors haven't been neglected. We have hauscarls dressed in ring mail to protect the local Lord or King, and we have the levies. That's the main force of our fighters. And the archers. I have led a troop of archers on the field into battle and believe me, it is exhilarating.

Within the fighting ranks, there are many weapon skills to learn. Sword and shield, axe, axe and shield, Dane axe, and Florentine if you are lucky enough to be ambidextrous - that's the skill of using two swords. And there is also a cavalry troop. These are some of the skills taught by people like Chris Dumont, our Combat and Battle Silver Theng, and one of the Society's Recognized Training Thengs.

I can give you only a taste of my experiences over the years, but if you'd like to learn more, follow the links below to our main pages and read what they have to say and see some of the wonderful photos they have there. You should also be able to find a list of Events where the Society will be present if you wish to see us for yourselves. Should you be interested in asking questions, or seeing more of our kit, or even joining, please do approach our members. They will be only too happy to help you.

We've recently acquired several new members ourselves, so we're hoping to be more active in the future.
 
 

The Vikings NFPS UK homepage

The Vikings NFPS USA page

To my home page.