How to creat a persona

Hello readers,
I'm thrilled that all of you are enjoying the the new blog series. I'd still love more feedback on what you guys would like to see next. Till then, I'll continue to expound about living history. In this article I'll be going into more detail on how to go about creating a persona for a living history group.

The steps I'll be writing about are very basic and from a base for starting out. Once these are done, you'll need to flesh things out more as you go but hopefully this will help get you started.

The first step to creating a persona is choosing a name. for many people who are not familiar with Norse names here's a link for Norse baby names and their meanings. Norse baby names.

Once you've chosen a name, you'll want to decide what you personas lot in life is. Are you a noble? A shield-maiden? Perhaps a Merchant or Farmer? There were three primary class tiers for Norsemen. At the base were slaves and Bondsmen. These were both referred to as þræll. This is an older Icelandic word for slave. The next tier were the Karls. Karls were the land owners, soldiers, raiders, farmers and traders. The third class is considered the ruling class known as Jarls. A Jarl was the head man of the local community or of several communities. Ranging in power from an Earl to a King. A Jarl often made rulings on disputes, funded raiding parties and was often viewed as the strongest in battle.

Once you've completed these steps, your well on your way. Once you've fleshed who you will be, you'll want to begin to figure out what you should wear and determine what type of weapons. tools and accessories would be appropriate for your personas life. You can acquire all these things either purchasing them online are by making them with the help of other members of your Living History Group.

The final steps are learning and practicing the skills that your persona would possess. Whether that be basket weaving, swordplay, cooking etc. That way once you go to your first Living History event your able to not only participate but educate others and perhaps even generate an income if you become skilled enough to make products that others will want.

As far as education goes you should study. Learn more about vikings and how they lived. You'll know more about how your persona lived and you'll be able to educate others about a very important time in history. The Viking Age ranges between about the years 700-1100 AD. The best way to learn more is to talk to your other group members. They'll be able to point to the best resources for expanding your knowledge.

I hope all of this has helped you get started and if you'd like to learn more feel free to leave a comment about what you would like to learn about next.

Phil
Viking Living History, Viking Clan Drengskapr 

What is living history?

Hello readers!

Many of you may have read my previous post and asked yourselves, "what's living history?" I'll do my best to answer that question in here.

Most of you are probably aware of what historical reenacting is. This is where a group of people dress in period accurate clothing and perform the events of some historical event. This an many ways us very similar to living history.

what a living history group does, is instead of selecting a particular event or day in history, they select a group of people during a period in history with a max range of a few hundred years. The members of the group create personas or characters. This process involves several steps. First they select a name, a station in life and a profession. The next step is making or purchasing clothing and equipment appropriate for the persona they've created. The next step is to learn the skills and responsibilities associated with the persona created. The last step in the process is for the group to hold events where the members spend time living as though they were their personas. operating as real members of the selected historical period and place. These events are usually open to to the public to walk around, talk to participants and observe a "day in the life". This can be very worth while, entertaining and educational for the public and very fun, entertaining and enriching for the members involved. Although many events are public, others are often only for the members. somewhat like themed celebrations but with allot more sharp objects and fire.





















These are just the basics but I hope it has help to enlighten you as to what I am working towards thit my Vikings Living History group. If you are interested in being a living history student and want to learn more, feel free to let me know and I will expand even more in the future.

~Phil

Looking for Kindred Spirits

Calling all Nordophiles! I am Phillip Dahlager, I can also be known by my persona, Thorvaldr Egilson. I am currently trying to start up a Viking living history group here in MN. The reason I'm starting one is a result of an attempt to find one to join. Unfortunately I could not find a proper option. I found a couple of old time clubs that cost allot of money to join and do little to enrich and educate it's members. I am aware of the "Viking Encampment" group over an Ren Fest and familiar with some of the members. They a great bunch and do an excellent job of what they do.

That all being said, I want to start a free/very low cost group, that meets year round that helps educate and enrich the lives it's members with a community. Where members with specific skills and knowledge help other members to learn new skills, make better gear and round out their historical personas.

So here is my official call to arms. I have started a group (temporarily only on Facebook)  called "Viking Clan Drengskapr." It can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/255004581353866/
This group will be for members only. If you would like to join you can request to on the page.

I also started a community page:
https://www.facebook.com/Viking-Living-History-356362597813283/timeline/
For those interested in a more casual sense and to connect with people interested in event's put on by the group. It is also the companion page to this blog which will hopefully help spread the word and garner interest.

I will hopefully be able to put up at least one blog post a month, maybe two. I look forward to what lies in store for the future and to finding others interested in being a part of this community.