BjarnarFolk
Who are we?
Bjarnarfolk is a 9th Century, Viking re-enactment group, based in Hampshire, England.
We reenact an exciting period of history, representing a Norwegian band of warriors who are part of the Great Heathen Army. We engage in living-history, combat displays, historic craftsand educational talks.
You can find us on facebook below.
What do we do?
Crafts
Our group members are interested in historic crafts including:
- Spinning, and dyeing wool,
- Woodworking,
- Bone working,
- Leatherworking,
- historic-kit making
We carry out research to understand the practices that were used during the Viking and Saxon period to better understand and replicate the past.
Living History
As part of our events, we like to give a feel for what Life was like in Viking times, to do this we engage in historic crafts, as well as having displays of recreation artifacts from the period.
Working with our friends at Butser Ancient Farm we are fortunate to be able to be able to get a small taste of what it would have been like to live in a longhall (spoilers, very smokey!)
Our displays often include:
- Historic crafts,
- Recreation weapons and armour,
- Niceties of Viking life, including cleaning tools and games
Combat
The Vikings are famous for their combat, using a variety of weapons that are suitable for the period we discuss different combat styles.
We also engage in small combat displays and tournaments to give a real sense of what combat would be like (don't forget to cheer for your favourite warrior!).
The weapons we normally demonstrate are:
- Spear and shield, including working in a shield wall,
- Axe,
- Sword,
- Seax and Langseax
Historically themed family activities
Our goal is to bring history to life, but we also want to make it fun!
To help make history memorable we run a variety of activities that allow people to engage in history, including:
- Our Viking Mystery game,
- Viking shield making for kids (or adults!),
- Learning the runes,
- Talks on various topics about the Viking period
Where do we do it?
BjarnarFolk is based in Central Hampshire, but visits a variety of sites across the UK, and is always happy to work with partners from other areas.
Currently we work closely with local historic institutions including, Butser Ancient Farm, Hampshire Cultural Trust, and the Bourne Hall Museum.
The group meets bi-weekly for training on a Friday in Petersfield.
Contacting us
The easiest way to reach us is via our facebook page, which you can find here: BjarnarFolk's Facebook page.
We always welcome interest from people looking to organise an events, and while we are a small group with a limited membership capacity we like to hear from people with an interest in the historical period.