Viking Gotland

As members of the SCA, we have an opportunity to develop a persona, the story, skills and equipment that go along with trying to “be” a person from the Middle Ages. Having decided that the pre-1000 Scandinavians have the second-best textile ever (based on structural complexity, topped only by the pre-Contact Andes), I of course have to be from there!

Gotland, located in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden, was for centuries an independent trading power. The styles and fashions were a bit different than the rest of Scandinavia. This makes it, to me, more fun than the usual “generic Viking” you often see in the SCA.

I’m embarking on a long-term project, to learn the skills and buy, barter or make the stuff that a prosperous Gotland farmsteading lady would have known and had. What would she know how to do that I don’t? What items would she have? What fun!

I’ll be developing this further as I go. For now, a few links:

• Arkeodok Professor Dan Carlsson, an archaeologist working on Gotland, is extraordinarily friendly to the reenactment community, and has put a great deal of effort into making information about finds and excavations available to the general public. Lots of great information, both free and for sale.

• Frojel Discovery Programme More lovely Gotland archaeological information, this time from a specific excavation site at Frojel Harbour.

• Gute Sheep Oh my! There’s an archaic breed of sheep from Gotland!