By: Lexus Partipilo and Grace Soenksen
A silver maker starting a fire to work on Viking replica pieces. (Credit: Grace Soenksen)
At the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, on the outskirts of Wood Hall’s parking lot and near the Coffrin School of Business, the Viking House comes into view. As visitors inch closer, they see an entire Viking village and become eager to explore more. Thanks to the university’s annual Viking Festival, visitors can do just that.
On Oct. 4 and 5, the university welcomed its third annual Midwestern Viking Festival. The festival was originally founded by Professor Heidi Sherman in 2021 and has visibly grown each year in attendees, performances, and Viking demonstrators.
In 2013, Sherman met Owen and Elspeth Christianson. The Christiansons built their own Viking house in central Wisconsin. Sherman took students to the house for “Viking Camp” every fall, where the students experienced blacksmithing and Viking-age cooking. In 2017, the Christiansons donated the Viking house to the UWGB campus. Sherman stated, “We had our first festival in 2021 and, in 2022, were asked to become the permanent host of the annual Midwest Viking Festival, which is the largest educational Viking event in the Upper Midwest.” Sherman’s goal for the festival is to provide an educational opportunity that interests anyone. “To encourage the engagement of children, we have a quest in which kids must find certain Vikings and ask them questions… Parents like this activity because it encourages kids to learn from the historical interpreters.” The festival is free and open to all. Sherman said, “There is no charge because we raise money throughout the year to pay for the festival… to keep the festival as free, authentic, and educational as possible.”
A Viking vendor working with three young festival goers to create clay figurines. (Credit: Lexus Partipilo)
The festival encourages friends and family to gather and engage in learning Scandinavian history in an interactive way. Visitors can enjoy a variety of activities, from exploring the Viking age to meeting artisans of many kinds. These artisans are the backbone of the festival, providing an educational element. Alec Sveinn Tunheim and his apprentice Bethany Hopkins have attended the Midwestern Viking Festival since its inception. Tunheim stated, “I just come back because it’s always a good time.” Tunheim and Hopkins are silversmiths who turn raw silver material into jewelry based on 10th-century finds in Northern Europe.
Alec Sveinn Tunheim forging a silver ingot to create jewelry. (Credit: Grace Soenksen)
Hopkins explained, “This is a fun teaching weekend. I get to demonstrate how silver works… I like to let folks try it (silversmithing) out to see what it feels like, and to reintroduce an art form we basically had to reverse engineer ourselves to new people, hoping it will proliferate.” Tunheim and Hopkins look forward to seeing the festival continue to grow and sharing their experiences and knowledge with visitors.
Other craftsmen at this festival have multiple specialties. One of them is Phillip Patton, who has also attended the annual Midwestern Viking Festival for the last three years. Patton reflected, “Today is just the first day, but it seems like there’s always a good crowd of people that come in. From the first one to this one here there’s definitely more people on the first day.”
Patton is a Viking reenactor who has been involved in the Viking scene for 20 years. He creates all of his own gear for these reenactments, from his clothing and garb to the unsharpened weapons. Patton stated, “There’s usually a lot of people… they see the live-steel combat, where we fight with swords and axes that are real, just not sharp. From there, they get hooked and become more interested in the craft of making their kit.” Patton is also a vendor at the festival. His booth features different wood and bone carvings, such as wooden swords, combs made from cow bones, and althorns, also known as drinking mugs, made from the horns of domestic cattle (bulls), among other items, to help share his talents and creations with visitors.
Viking reenactors using dull weapons to put on a battle demonstration. (Credit: Lexus Partipilo)
The crowd of visitors is the main way Sherman measures the festival’s success. This fall, Mike, Anne, and their dog Jasmine — also known by their common names Friar Tuckusand Dame Gianna Chiltonia — attended the festival for the first time. Mike and Anne are Renaissance enthusiasts and were intrigued by the Viking Festival’s location. Anne stated, “We are big fans of Ren fairs, and I was just scrolling on my phone and came across the Viking Fest.” Mike added, “The price was right.” Mike explained that the Viking Festival was not what he expected. “I’m a little dismayed, maybe because not everyone is in costume… When we go to a Renaissance fair, as soon as you walk in the gate, everyone is in costume.” Mike continued, “Renaissance fairs are very commercial; their job is to make money. But here, the goal is to educate people and make sure they understand what is going on.” Anne and Mike recommended “getting the word out more” and look forward to returning to the festival in the future.
The festival is an opportunity for students and community members to learn about Viking heritage. Sherman hopes the Viking Festival will continue offering educational opportunities to the public and plans to offer a class next summer that will help students learn how to plan a festival. Sherman stated, “Students may also contact me directly to volunteer or participate in the festival. We always need volunteers.” More information about the Viking Festival and how to get involved can be found on the Viking House website at www.uwgb.edu/viking-house/.
