A Walk through the Village

 It's a misty morning with the glistening dew still lingering on the grass, and a few people are up and about in the village. Before long, other sleepy bodies emerge from their tents and soon there is a smell of woodsmoke and bacon cooking over the fire. Traders are busy setting up their stalls and we hear the clatter of wooden platters being washed, ready for the meal. Children appear, running about with wooden swords, and fleece or leather balls. A woman shouts, telling a child to go play away from the fire.

 

         Further along we meet Hrolf.

 

 This highly-skilled leatherworker is already tapping away at the tooled leather for a fine belt pouch ordered by an English noble, friend to the Jarl. Hrolf's shoes, belts and weapon scabbards are well-regarded throughout Mercia, and even sought after among the five boroughs north of the border with the Danelaw.

 

Rowena, his wife, was up at dawn in the nearby woods, hunting the herbs, fungi and other plant material for her medicines and ointments, and the dyes she employs to colour handspun wool and linen, before it is woven into the cloth for which the settlement is renowned.

 

Thorfinn Gunnarsson, merchant sea captain, occupies the next tent. The Icelander is always on the lookout for someone to tell a story to. These tales tell of trips, trading, adventures and the Old gods, and are made fascinating by the many curious artifacts that Thorfinn has to hand.

Often Hrolf and Thorfinn will sit chatting while Thorfinn prepares the trading manifest for the next trip of the knarr Thorr's Lady and Hrolf puts the finishing touches to some fine piece of leatherwork which will fetch a pretty penny amongst the nobles of England and Scandanavia.

Don't be surprised if you hear Thorfinn relate his unusual use for monks, as he stubbornly remains a staunch pagan in the face of the new religion!

The hammering you can hear is Erik Valhellison.

If you watch quietly, you will see him fashion broaches, bracelets and other ornaments with his clever fingers from the bright metal at his side. Many of the adornments worn by the more prosperous villagers are examples of his work. He is always ready to pass the time of day with a passer-by, but it will take more than one horn of ale to persuade him to tell the secrets of his past!

 

 

Lady Ragnhild is busy instructing her personal thrall Lech the Breekless.

It is his task this morning to prepare breakfast for the entire encampment, no mean feat as there are some real trenchermen in the company of Dahrg de Belne!

Once assured that he has his instructions for the day, Lady Ragnhild Sigmundsdottir, wife to Jarl Olaf Haroldson, will tour the village to see that all is running smoothly before returning to her loom, where she will continue to weave the fine cloth for which Dahrg de Belne is justly famous.

 

 

The Jarl himself is being elusive this morning… But as we wander past the magnificent tent which serves him and his lady as their home from home, we hear a deafening snore from behind the pavilion, and there lies Olaf Haroldson, sleeping off the effects of last night's banquet. There was a brawl last night at the Raven and Entrail, and everyone wondered where the Jarl had gone afterwards. Now we know!

Leader of the settlement, clothier to Eadred's court and licensed monier, devout supporter of the Church and wily trader, Olaf is hospitable to visitors in his encampment, and can be relied upon to tell one or two tall tales himself!

 

Thank you gentle reader, for joining us in a walk through our village…

With all the noise and the smells, it is very easy to get into the atmospheric feel of our encampment. Sudden outbursts from the people in the street make it sometimes difficult to remember that you are in a field, on a castle site, or even in a park with a fairground at the other end.

But if suddenly a bunch of burly, bewhiskered marauders run past you and head off to slay a few foemen, don't forget - it is all just re-enacted living history. Or is it…?

 

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