A roving band of Viking marauders came up from the Gold Coast on Sunday to occupy the primary school grounds. They are still building their long boat but waiting in ambush on Long Road, they managed to attract many who were driving down into their car park. Well, the Primary School's car park to be exact.
It was a fine day and around 50 people helped to set up combat fields, a smithy, field kitchen and displays of Celtic arts and crafts. About 25 warriors also turned up to settle some old scores. And several hundred people came and deposited a gold coin to buy their way into the festivities.
The leader of the band was Luke Payne. Luke described the group as a new Varangian Guard, based on a group of roving mercenaries from middle ages.
Sigurd the Serious (Todd) preparing for battle in a chain mail suit. They are real swords - heavy but thankfully blunt!
"You know that a Viking was not a nationality. It was something you did, Luke said. "They'd go on a Viking! You know, to rob, rape and pillage. So Viking is an activity not a nation".
"For example", Luke went on, "Each warrior kept his own nationality.
There were Danes, Swedes, Dutch and a number of Arabic fighters in the guard.
Today we have two members who are dressed in authentic Arab influenced armour as well".
The Varangian Guard that put on the display on Sunday was the Gold Coast Jorth Gar Historical Society. They are based on the pagan Norse warriors that were the mercenaries of the 11th and 12th century.
"These were an elite group of warriors," said Nick Payne, "Whose nick-names included the "Axe Bearing Guard" and the "Emperors Winebags".
And yes it's not a rumour, they actually did drink a lot - even on the job!"
The events on the day included drill and combat training, archery contests, axe and javalin throwing, group combat display, Holmgang or Viking duelling, a display of Viking board games and warrior poetry.
For nearly an hour the audience listened spell-bound to a Viking tall tale about three brothers with supernatural power. The story enraptured young and old alike.
The storyteller was Wulfgar the Scald (David). At one point wielded a heavy viking sword as he described a man who had the spirit of an elk trapped inside him.
In an age of video games and special effects, it was interesting to see the power of a single voice to hold a large crowd for nearly an hour.
Carrie (Asta) wearing traditional dress and jewellery. Cooking was over open fires and storage jars were clay or wood.
There were also craft, art and cooking displays and one of the fascinating displays was the Viking smithy who was making and repairing weapons and household goods in the style of the middle ages.
James the Fletcher tests an arrow shaft for length & trueness that will make it fly fast and straight
A local fletcher was making arrows for the bowmen in the traditional way. Shafts are cut, dried and straightened and then three matched feathers - or fletches - are attached to the back of the shaft.
These feathers help the arrow to fly straight when shot from the bow. An arrowhead is then attached to the shaft and fixed using natural resins. James was making the arrows using mostly the traditional methods.
The village blacksmith was an important man in Varangian guard. He made and repaired the armour, swords, arrow heads, battle axes. He also provided the cooking utensils, pots, pans and knives.
Using hand powered bellows, a charcoal fire and heavy hammers and tongs, the smithy would heat and beat metal till it was useful. Hard work. Exacting work. And essential work.
Not only was the blacksmith normally a big and powerful chap, the things he made were the very things that made life bearable . . . so you didn't mess with him!
A full throated battle dispatched many warriors quickly. Left to right: Todd (Sigurd the Serious), Dana (Hakim abd al'Aziz abd al Arabi) & Shay (Torstien)
Out on the field there were individual and massed battles using axes, swords and spears. The fights moved quickly with cut, thrust and jab. The sound of swords on shields was a dull thump. The swords on sword a sharper clang and occasionally there would be the loud clunk as sword was applied to a helmet. This thunk generally heralded one less combatant.
Men and women watched on with slight smiles or with a mixture of fear and fascination while many small boys and girls saw and heard their first "real" battle, one not staged on a screen with special effects and in stereo sound.
Two of the Jorth Gar warriors doing gate duty on Long Road made a fearsome sight to passing motorists. Marko (Loki) & right is Shay (Torstien).
When a warrior was injured, there was a convincing display of triumph as the victor swung his sword or axe in triumph. Did any one get hurt? Well not today anyway.
"We train hard so that the displays look realistic," said the troop leader, Luke Payne. "But we are competitive and the guys do try hard to win".
These are real weapons. The edges might be blunt but occasionally we do have scrapes and injuries".
Not as much as the original Varangian Guard did. They were a deadly and feared army.
The Vikings warriors had been traveling to Byzantium for at least a century before 988 A.D., when Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev (later Saint Vladimir) sent six thousand 'Varangians' (probably mixed Russian and Norse troops) to Constantinople to serve Emperor Basil II, in return for Christian baptism and the hand of a Byzantine princess.
The Russian troops were called Rus', (with the apostrophe). Like other Vikings and the Rus' before them, they served with distinction in the regular army.
Traditional wood-carver Daryl Rowley (Einer Grey Fox) - an admirer of the Norse god Odin. Not fighting today because of injury.
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| The Norse warriors on a "Viking" or raid arriving by long boat |
Sometime around or before the middle of the eleventh century, Varangians replaced the existing native Imperial guards.
Their boldness, bravery and unswerving loyalty is recorded by Byzantine chroniclers.
These Emperor's Varangians were primarily Vikings and Rus until the late eleventh century, when a large influx of Englishmen fleeing Norman persecution significantly changed the ethnic composition.
Scandinavian involvement revived during the Crusades, and indeed, the heyday of the Emperor's Varangians seems to have run from the late 11th to the mid 12th century.
After the destruction caused in the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 A.D., the Varangian Guard continued to exist in name but became a hereditary ceremonial guard, largely drawn from internal Byzantine sources.
This troop of Varangians are the Jorth Gar. There are around 50 members with 25 warriors; the rest being civilians workers or family. The troop used to be based on Tamborine Mountain but now train on the Gold Coast every every Saturday.
Their home ground is Burchill Park, Nerang, QLD and anyone wishing to keep the old Norse traditions alive is most welcome to come join in.
CONTACT: Daryl Rowley
Ph: 0438 231708 (Mob)
email: darylrowley@austarnet.com.au
www.jorthgar.com