(E5) Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Revenge (Cataclysm Part 1)

Today we lay the foundation for the violent (and eventually horrifying) era that will forge the Norse of the Viking Age into existence, by diving into the ultra ‘off-grid’, independent, and warlike Norse way of life, walking through the Longhouse and farmstead, and immersing ourselves in the ‘engines’ of the Norse world: Honor, Kinsmen, and the Tribe.    REFERENCE IMAGES   Image 1: Longhouse layouts during the early/late Iron Age. Credit: Frands Herschend and Lotte Hedeager.      Image 2: Nydam style features swirling geometric designs, often with stylized animals ( sea-creature-like, birds, or half-human hybrids) along the edges. The “motif” is both supernatural and pattern-driven. It is a precursor to the famous “Norse Interlace” of the later Viking Age.      Image 3. I’ve uploaded a series of different images of what Norse beds could have looked like. Box beds look super cozy tbh. Don’t come a-knockin if the box bed’s a rockin.     Image 4. Norse quern.You pour the grain in the hole in the top and rotate the top stone. As it rotates it grinds grain and the flour falls out the side.      Image 5. ‘Hnefatafl’ is what board gamers call an ‘asymmetrical board game’: one player defends the king (who is in the center); the other attacks him with a larger army. All the pieces move like castles (rooks) in chess. The win condition is different based on what side you are playing. If you are the ‘middle’ (outnumbered) army with the King, you win by getting the King to one of the four corners. If you’re on the outside, you have to capture the king. Pieces are captured by sandwiching them on two sides (except the King, who needs to be boxed in on all four sides). The game is super fun because the rules are simple but there is massive depth to it. Check out this video, but set the playback speed to 30 or 40% (to slow it down to ease understanding it). https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-3ufysDeJN8    Image 6: Norse upright warp weighted loom’s allow women to weave wool yarn into clothing and blankets. The little sacks on the bottom are filled with light weights to keep the thread ‘taut’ (pulled firmly down). The weaver passes a thread horizontally across, weaving it over and under the vertical threads to form clothe/clothes. Very time consuming. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MccYNjahW1k    Image 7: Barley was the workhorse: it grows super fast, is semi frost tolerant, tastes decent and can make beer. Rye was a ‘safe play’ choice: it handles low quality land and colder temperatures well but the bread and beer it can produce are bitter. Oats was another safe play: it handles cold, wet weather well, but it can’t make beer, and its bread quality was low. Wheat was the luxury grain, as it makes high quality / good tasting bread–but wheat requires very nutritious soil and it takes longer to grow, making wheat a ‘flex’ in the Norse world of Iron Age Scandinavia.    Image 8: Norwegian Elkhound / Swedish Jamthund were used in Scandinavia for thousands of years as a combination hunting, herding, and guard dog, which is interesting because (in a way) it perfectly reflects the needs of the Norse farmstead. The Elkhound averages ~45 pounds (20kg) and, like it’s name suggests, will track and hold Elk at Bay for Hunters to catch up and make the kill. The dog is ‘stocky’, intelligent, and protective: they are known to charge and bite bears. Here are a few videos of them confronting large animals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpKmmSVF5rY  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKdTVlLFnNc