Come celebrate 10 years with us!
FEBRUARY 21-23, 2025
Festival Hours:
Friday 5pm-11pm Saturday 10am -11pm Sunday 11am- 4pm |
Mead Hall Hours:
Friday 5pm - 11pm Saturday 12pm - 11pm Sunday 2pm- 4pm (No Alcohol on Sunday) |
Vendor Market Hours:
Friday 5pm- 9pm Saturday 10am- 8pm Sunday 11am- 4pm |
The Viking Berserkir
Berserkirs were battle-frenzied warriors devoted to the god Odin, who fought in a state of complete fury and reckless abandon. Berserkirs were said to channel the bear's spirit (or, in the case of the the úlfheðnar, the wolf's spirit) and take on the berserkergangr – the berserkir’s rage – to become almost invincible. But this incredible valor and prowess were accompanied by highly erratic behavior – howling and bellowing, biting the rims of their shields, bizarre physical movements, and sometimes even foaming at the mouth.
Some scholars propose that that the berserkir rage was caused by self-induced hysteria or epilepsy, or through the consumption of large amounts of alcohol or drugs – such as hallucinogenic mushrooms, or the plant henbane Hyoscyamus niger (in 1977, archaeologists excavating near Fyrkat in Denmark found seeds from the plant in a Viking grave).
In 1015, Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson of Norway outlawed berserkirs. Grágás, the medieval Icelandic law code, sentenced berserkir warriors to outlawry. By the 12th century, organised berserkir war-bands had disappeared.
Some scholars propose that that the berserkir rage was caused by self-induced hysteria or epilepsy, or through the consumption of large amounts of alcohol or drugs – such as hallucinogenic mushrooms, or the plant henbane Hyoscyamus niger (in 1977, archaeologists excavating near Fyrkat in Denmark found seeds from the plant in a Viking grave).
In 1015, Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson of Norway outlawed berserkirs. Grágás, the medieval Icelandic law code, sentenced berserkir warriors to outlawry. By the 12th century, organised berserkir war-bands had disappeared.
Thank You to Our 2024 Sponsors
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De Lau Fire Services
Doolittle and Associates of Ameriprise Financial
Sons of Norway - Kalamazoo
De Lau Fire Services
Doolittle and Associates of Ameriprise Financial
Sons of Norway - Kalamazoo