Viking life, living history, experimental archeology, reenactment, history, craft.
It has been some days now since Anna pissihose the 9th of December, and the day people would normally start brewing their jól ale back in the days. Today, the 21nd of December, is called Tomasmesse, 'Tomas brewer' or 'Tomas full barrel'. The jól ale should be done and put on barrels by today, because …
Continue reading December 21st – Tomasmesse and the jól celebration
Soapstone is a very interesting material. It is a stone, but it is so soft, you could make a mark in the stone with your finger nail and therefore easy to process. The soapstone is also refractory and has had significant use as a building block, for fireplaces and household utensils. Many old church buildings …
Are you ready for some more runic inscriptions? As I have already mentioned, we have a ton of runic inscriptions form Trondheim, Bergen, Oslo and Tønsberg. The runic inscriptions found in the ground of these cities, are mostly from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, and they are referred to as 'the city runes'. Most …
Continue reading December 15th – Fuþork inscriptions from Trondheim
Jewelry has been around for a long time, and finger rings is something that we all have a relation to. Some love to wear them, others hate them. Although some wear rings just as ornaments, to dress up or to feel nice, others might wear them to show status or wealth. Rings also have symbolic …
September 4, 1950 was not going to be a normal day at work for those who at that time were digging the ground at Dronningens gate 10 in Trondheim. The reason for the digging was that they were going to expand the buildings of the Hovedpostkontoret (the main post office) in Trondheim. During the dig, …
Continue reading December 12th – The silver treasure from Trondheim
Yesterday I wrote a long post about my mother's uncle, Olaf A. Digre. If you want to read it, you can find the post here. Among other things, he worked as a priest, archaeologist, safety inspector and he was in charge of all historical coins at the museum in Trondheim. He also did a lot …
Continue reading December 11th – Archaeological finds handed in by Olaf A. Digre
Today is December 9th and, according to the primstav, today is Anna matris Mariae, or Anna 'pissihose', as it was called in the vernacular.A primstav is an old type of calendar used in Norway and Denmark during the Medieval period and until the 19th century. These calendars were usually made of wood and had a …
Continue reading December 9th – Anna pissihose and brewing jól ale
Christmas is getting closer by the minute it feels like, and it is time to tidy, clean, change the bed linens, polish silver and brass and iron all the table cloths. I remember when I was a child, my mother would hurry around, making everything perfect for Christmas. As she would iron the table cloths …
Continue reading December 8th – Seam smoothers and linen smoothers
If you have kids, you probably know the importance of putting tag marks with the name of your kid onto their clothes, on their toys, food boxes, backpacks and basically everything they own. You probably have tag marks on some of your stuff too. Perhaps you have written your name and phone number in your …
Continue reading December 6th: “Ormr á sekk” – name tags from the Medieval period
Today is 4th of December and according to the Norwegian primstav that means Barbromesse. A primstav is an old type of calendar used in Norway and Denmark during the Medieval period and until the 19th century. These calendars were usually made of wood and had a flat, rectangular shape – like a plank or a …
Continue reading December 4th – Barbromesse and spinning yarn before Christmas
A large number of runic inscriptions from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries has been discovered in Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim. These are referred to as the 'city runes'. These inscriptions were not made by professional writers, but rather by ordinary people who had learned the art of writing and reading. During the beginning of …
Continue reading December 2nd – Runic inscription N10607 from Trondheim
Tonje Rogersdatter - My historical life 