16th June 2009 - Viking Festival in Hafnarfjörður Iceland.

The annual VIKING FESTIVAL was held in Hafnarfjörður. All too often I MISS this festival...

The day I decided to GO - was their day OFF! Isn't that JUST TYPICAL (for ME anyway!)
Since THAT day was a no-go, me and Eline (my best friend), decided to go shopping.
The picture below HAS to be the total OPPOSITE of what the rough / rustic Vikings
used to wear! (as you will see, when I went to the festival, the day AFTER.)

This stuff is PROBABLY NOT what you'd ever see a BIKER wear! haha...
Doesn't mean one can't admire the outrageously flamboyant colors!!! Wow!!!

The NEXT DAY the Viking Festival was ON!
Wooohooo!!!
On with the SHOW!

The first event at the Viking Festival
was the ... "DICK STICK GAME"
... THE WHAT???

Yeah, it was probably what they did before they had invented HIGH JUMP!
There was a pole, with holes in it, into which a STICK was put.
Then men and women held a stick, from behind, and through their legs,
and tried to JUMP, to touch their stick with the stick on the pole!
One could NOT avoid feeling that there was some sort of sexual innuendo in this game!

Guy jumping to try and touch the stick he holds, from behind, and through his legs, with the stick on the pole.
Great fun! - TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

The pole has a stick on it, and you have to JUMP holding a stick, behind you, and through your legs,
and touch YOUR stick, with the stick on the pole... Then, when everyone has had a go,
they RAISE the stick on the pole. Slowly eliminating those who can't jump high enough.
Both men and women take part. It's fun for all the family... and VERY amusing to watch!
Funny on so many levels. *sigh*

I didn't realize it until later... that underneath the fancy Viking attire, this was an old customer of mine!
(I had a home-based bookshop selling roleplaying games.)
(http://thor.110mb.com/rp/index.htm - TheStone = largest variety of roleplaying games (RPG) in Iceland.)

Then it was time for the:
 
LOG PUSH

2 teams push a log... and the team that gets pushed OUT loses.

... and they have it! - The RIGHT side won!

Who's RIGHT, and who's not, depends on where YOU stand!

This stand had balls made from wool. Quite ingenious!
Rolling colored wool together, to make balls, while other cultures made stuff with beads.

This vendor from Belarus was tuning his "Lyre".
It's quite an interesting instrument. You turn a lever, and it constantly plays up to 2 strings.
Meanwhile, you play the melody on wooden "keys" at the bottom, like a piano.
The whole thing sounds like bagpipes, but with STRINGS.

Humble peasant shirts. Heavy against winter, but loose enough to wear in summer.
Who are we kidding, Icelandic summer is never HOT.
It's always "cool" here in summer... must be the midnight sun!

Talking of COOL...
This lady was so COOL, one hardly noticed what she was selling!
It was those eyes!

I had to get a picture of her, as she looked over here!

In person, she looked even BETTER! Take my word for it. *phew*

*sigh* ... onto the next vendor.
Although one didn't really want to leave the cool lady!
... yeah, some weapons, and stuff.

hmmm... Axes and knives.
I thought it was illegal to have blades as long as this?
The customs guys made me cut off the BLUNT blades off my Freddy Kruger glove!
&%$#&%#&%$#
It's all about WHO you know, isn't it! Iceland is SO CORRUPT!

Ok, this is probably very MEAN to say...
but... That's a GUY on the left... and a WOMAN on the right!

Viking Neck Pendants.
The inverted-cross looking things are Thor's Hammer.
Ásatrú (Pagan) religious items.

The vendor was very AUTHENTIC looking.

Authentic looking Viking Trader.

Authentic looking Viking Customer, too!

Sadly the LAMB would not be ready until TOMORROW!
It takes about 12 hours for the meat to be ready,
and because yesterday was their day off.. well.
No lamb today.

Ye olde blacksmith shoppe.
Here all things were done as it was done in days of old.

Herbs... and smoked sea salt... All used in olden days, to season food.

Ok, you see the LINE sewn onto the robe the lady on the left is wearing?
Well, that is made by special CARD WEAVING.

You put a thread in, then turn the cards... closing the thread off.
Slowly you end up with a woven "ribbon" for lack of a better word...
Then that ornate woven ribbon is sewn on the edges of robes,
giving them a more refined look than just the plain robe.
Note how they were used to make the end of the woman's SLEEVE.
Almost like a "cuff".

Natural METAL being melted out of STONES. This is how you get the IRON they worked with.

Swords and Axes... Pouches and skins...

Drawing likenesses and patterns also had its place and was also popular in the old days.
No digital photography or computer connected printers here... All the hard work of TALENTed artists.

Carpenter at work making a cross between and ladle and a shovel.

Icelandic folk music artists entertaining the folk.

Delicious BBQ lamb is only second to the delicious Danish girl buying food, opposite.
Me and her had a discussion about raw meat later... She had never had "Buff Tartar".
One of the first things I had when I went to Denmark! She never had.

Doesn't matter where dogs are... They will observe for ANY food that comes their way!
LIKE A HAWK!

It was like being transported back to the time of the Vikings. In every way.
(Ok, except the coffee machines and thermos flasks over there.)

Funny to see people eating bananas and oranges at a Viking Kiosk.

Christianity was represented by this obese, and self righteous, Monk.

The Hero! The guy on the right WON the semi-staged battle.
He said so himself... He does not ALWAYS win.
It all depends on how the fight goes.
This day he was victorious.

... and like in Viking Society, to the victor goes the extremely CUTE girl! *sigh*

At their tent, with quite a charismatic personality, was a maker of silver magic rings and pendants.

Icelandic Magic Symbols.
Pagan Runes made to inspire Destiny to bring their power about.
Each one has a different meaning and power.
Some grant wishes, some cures, some curses.
What are you looking for? They have it.

Somber moment at the Viking Festival.

Sadly, the meat will not be ready until tomorrow.

The Lyre.
You turn the handle for the rotating wheel to play 2 strings constantly, like a violin.
Meanwhile, you play the MELODY on the keys, like a piano.
Cost over $1500... but this one was not for sale.

It was REALLY funny to see this Viking Girl on a cellphone! haha...

This may be a bit strange... but... Later...
During the fire show she stood by me the whole time.
When the show was over, we turned to each other and...
Our eyes met... and it was like the moment would last forever.

You ever get that?
Probably the stuff that "love at first sight" is made up of...
but there was an obvious age difference... and probably all sorts of complications
if we were to act on it... but it was a very "special moment".
I wonder if she felt the same. She looked a bit SHOCKED that it happened.
Probably her first.

You ever get that? - I've had a few.
One time I was at the local flea market, and was just making my way through the crowd...
Suddenly, into a small clearing in the people, came a VERY thin girl, in a beautiful flowing white dress.
It was like she was unreal! - I was spellbound! We looked at each other... and time seemed to STOP.
We could have been there forever, neither of us wanting to break the moment.
...but...
Time resumes... and she went her way, and I went mine... but...
That moment? - It stays with you... always.
I still remember it. Vividly.

Talking of the
FIRE SHOW

Before we had TV... we relied on street entertainers!

Wanna see if it's REAL FIRE? TOUCH IT!
Everyone: "eh... no thanks!"

"Yes, ladies and gentlemen... this is real fire... Just watch as I... AAAAAAAAAA!!!"

You know... WOMEN, they are attracted to someone with LESS body hair!
This is well known! They aim to IMPROVE the species... So what did the Vikings do?
Removed their ape-like body hair!
This is the Viking way of getting rid of unwanted BODY HAIR!
It wasn't the painless but it worked well... AAAAAAAAA!!!

Works well on ALL body hair!
AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

"Hey! What do you know! It's gone OUT! - The hair down there must be thicker than I thought!"
That's probably how they discovered the first extinguisher!

The entertainer was an excellent juggler as well as fire chain dancer... twirler.
STEP BACK EVERYONE! OR YOU WILL BE IGNITED!

"I am the God of Hellfire... and I will take you higher...
Lord Almighty feel my temperature rising... with your Burning Love"

There were frequent SHOWS taking place the whole day... and it was very entertaining...
as well as getting some very important points across to the young people in the audience.

This tale tells of how Merchants came to Hafnarfjörður and had finely crafted goods they had made.
Note the Christian Monk observing, and wanting the finely crafter goods.

The Christian Monk uses the Greed of the people who respect him, as being a man of God,
to convince them to ROB the traders, as opposed to forking out for their hard work.

A crazy battle then breaks out between the greedy and the craftsmen.
(Also note the nuclear hydrogen powered bus passing by.)

The battle outcome is NEVER the same... It always depends on who gets the upper hand in battle.
They do "pull" their blows, it's an all out struggle, and obvious HITS by an attacker
are considered as such by the opponents, who fall of their own free will,
if the blow would have been lethal in a real fight.

Note, now that the traders have defeated the thieves, the Monk that started it, has fled!
There's a moral in there somewhere.

The Viking Restaurant and Tavern, as it is normally, in Hafnarfjörður.
Here are some pictures of my motorbike at this tavern, when there was no Viking Festival

The Viking Festival Stalls.
Like the traders before the battle, these people are also selling their hard work.

The meat roasting area. Slow cooked meat means it does not burn. Just gets cooked.

Beautiful home-made hood on a beautiful woman.

They had sold the last black one just before I arrived,
but they will be making a black one, with a silver thread for me.
I look forward to that. - Reminds me of an Executioner's Cowl.
Something I would have wanted to wear on stage if I was ever in a Death Metal Band.

Many Faced Statue.

When people in appropriate dress met, casually, it was like one was back in old times.

I was WRONG! The Vikings DID have flamboyant colors if they WANTED them!
What an eye opener!

This boy looked like a WOLF! The hide he wears is Reindeer.
He seemed so CAVEMAN LIKE!

On the way home I spotted this amazing car in someone's driveway!
Although I DID fall in a DITCH, on my motorcycle, in Wisconsin, the last time this happened...
I HAD to stop take a few pictures!

I learn NOTHING from my mistakes! - It's now OFFICIAL!

Wow... Just so... mmmMmmm!!!

*phew*
What a beautiful, beautiful car!