Viking afterski

What's better, after a good beating in the hill, then toasty hot dogs over a bonfire? Ah yes, the wintertime bonfire. A grand norwegian tradition!

Average Viking outdoor activities

Some more A.V. winterscenery

X-files, starring Thor and Odin

December 9th, 2009 I had a pretty extraordinary experience. So did alot of people in my region of the country. I was driving to work, running a little late, so it was just after 7.30 in the morning and pitch black. I saw a light in the sky ahead of me, and at first I thought it was the moon, but then realized the moon should be behind me at that time in the morning. I then realized the light was in motion, and as I watched it, I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm a pretty down-to-earth kinda girl,  but this made my chin drop and I stopped my car  in the middle of the road and got out to watch. This is what i saw.

The quality of this video doesn't do the phenomenon justice, but here are some pictures that better captured the experience.

So yeah, I kinda freaked out a little. I got to work and realized I was the only individual (out of 126 employees!) that saw it, and they all looked at me weird when I told them what I saw and that "no, this was definetly NOT northeren lights!". My first injection was that somebody had a huge spotlight or laser of come kind, up in the mountains and were playing around with it. And then of course my mind grazed by the supernatural. I have a weakness for alien movies and TV-shows, but I wouldn't really say I spend alot of time wondering if we are alone in the universe. Anyway, I called up our region newspaper, and asked if they had gotten word of this not-so-average viking insident, and they told me that yeah, the phone lines had gone off the hook all morning, and it wasn't long before I found the first pictures, videos and theories on our big, national internet newspapers. That rules out the big-spotlight-theory; no spotlight in the world could do that and be seen by people from around half the country! Turned out I wasn't the only one who thought UFO, and there is still speculations as to what actually happened. At first it was said that nothing man-made could result in this. However, as the day went on our experts claimed this was a rocket explotion (!?) in space. The russians got blamed (as usual, what a cliché!). It was said to be a test-launch and that it could have been launched from a submarine. We never really got a clear answer from any authoroties, but most of the people who spoke up about it joined in on the theory of a rocket-or satelite explotion, and I guess people accepted that. I'm not sure what to believe, but I guess Norway doesn't really have enough conspericy theoretics to make any real noise about it. Below you can see a newsbit about the insident in english, where they claim to have "solved the mystery". Live long and prosper!

Nidaros cathedral, Trondheim

Trondheim is one of my favourite cities in Norway. Very cozy, with warm, welcoming people, amazing historical buildings and it's so beautiful. Among other things, Trondheim is know for Nidarosdomen, or the Nidaros Cathedral, as it is translated in to. It was the cathedral of the Norwegian archdiocese, from its establishment in 1152 until its abolition in 1537. Since the reformation, it has been the cathedral of the Lutheran bishops of Trondheim or Nidaros in the Diocese of Nidaros. The architectural style of the cathedral is Romanesque and Gothic, and famous for being so elaborate. Historically it was an important destination for pilgrims coming from all of Northern Europe. Now it is a popular tourist attraction, but is still used for it's purpose on occations. Some members of our royal family got married there not to long ago. Tourists often follow the historical pilgrim routes to visit the spectacular church. It is also featured on the cover of the black metal band Mayhem's album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. It is also said to be haunted.....;)

 The clip below was originally filmed for my boyfriend when I visited Trondheim in the fall of 2009, but I'm going to share it with you, so pay no attention to the "I miss you's";)

Wasn't that just lovely...
Just for kicks I'll throw in a clip of the lights over Trondheim at night, in case that should hit the spot for anyone....

Snow

Northeren Norway always has long winters. The amount of snow we get, however, varies. This year we have alot. Some say we haven't had this much in 14 years!! Here are some pics from after my dad dug out our porch lights:)

Behind the snow you can see the chimney of our built-in grill/fireplace.

Aqua

One norwegian (and ok, danish) band that made it big internationally is Aqua, among others with their huge hit "Barbie girl". The average viking has not forgotten the song that made (some) americans (and of course other nations) realize Norway is not the capitol of Sweden. Although we mostly prefer music that goes better with war and plundering, once in a while we have to let our silly side rule....

Average Viking Collegeparty

The Troll Hunter - Official Trailer

If you liked my bit about Trolls I really recommend you try to find this movie. It is like blair witch on steroids....with vikings.....and trolls!

Todays frosty average viking

Know your norse mythology

This past Halloween (spent in the US) me and la boyfriend had kind of a viking theme going on. He made a very impressive viking costume (emphasis on made!) and I decided I wanted to go as a valkyrie (actually got the idea from Moline). So while Matt was learning how to sow fur on his cape, boots, wristbands etc, (not to mention his made-from-scratch wooden shield. In fact the only thing he bought was the hair and beard, and sword) I was looking into how to discribe a valkyrie to the common american.

My costume was made up by a female wrestler costume (ever heard of the Glamazon?) that came with a kind of roman-warrior-looking chest plate over a grey mesh rag of a dress with some random chains and other confusing details. I added a battle ax, black wings (it was impossible to get through doors!) and devil horns, spray painted white (the paint, however, never properly dried so I was stuck with alot of white paint in my hair for the next month). I added some cosmetic details, like "blood" at the edges of my nails, and found an idea for facial make-up, zombie style, online. I was pretty content, and also spent way too much money.
Anyway, Halloween came and went, had a good time and actually won a prize in a costume contest (althought the judges suggested I was a vampire! Grr!). I realized that while most of you have heard of Thor and Odin, valkyries are more peripheral characters in norse mythology. In advance I decided to make little notes with descriptions of what a valkyrie is, to hand out to all the ignoramuses our there. I also printed out a snappy comeback for anyone who might suggest I was dressed as a vampire or some goth-zombie.
As I predicted, not alot of people knew what a valkyrie was, (and really, why would they know?) so I thought I'd enlighten you guys (mostly cause it's a cool story). The next time you meet a scandinavian, you can flaunt this piece of Average Viking knowledge in their robust, frecled faces.

The word valkyrie derives from Old Norse valkyrja (plural valkyrjur), which is composed of two words; the noun valr (referring to the slain on the battlefield) and the verb kjósa (meaning "to choose"). Together, they mean "chooser of the slain".  They are typically female "angels of death", sent by Odin to keep an eye on all wars and battles fought. Odin lets them choose who is to fall in battle, and then take them back to Åsgard (a big fortress for the gods), where they become "einherjer"; the gods chosen army, selected to fight side by side with the gods in the "final battle". Only the really brave warriors are worthy of this honor.
Valkyries are typically dressed in full armor, and are armed. They can ride through air and water, all over the world. They always travel in pack (so I really should have assembled a little army myself for halloween....). In Vallhalla they are also used to serve mead and meat, and for entertainment. Some of them are to "out of control" or mischievus and can only be used as slaves.
That was the short version. The long version(s) are all in poem-form, and I don't really wanna get into enterpreting that right now.


Norse mythology holds alot of facinating tales of the viking gods, much like greek mythology, and I use wikipedia a lot to find out more about all the different characters, which is where I found the story of the valkyries. You can read more about them here, including the previously mentioned poems. Good luck!

Matt the Mighty and his loyal valkyrie, Halloween 2010.