Vikings

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A Quick Note

I just wanted to toss up a quick post to let you all know that I have, indeed, not fallen off the face of the earth. I’ve still been twittering, but I’ve been struggling with a bit of blogger’s block – that is, I’ve not really had much to say, or at least haven’t found the way in which I want to say it. Maybe I’m just not digging deep enough, though.

In either case, a regular, more substantive post shall be forthcoming relatively soon. I promise. If nothing else, I’m going on a day long Viking boat voyage on the Ohio river this Saturday, which should give me something interesting to write about. Hopefully it amounts to more than “damn, do I have a bad sunburn!”

In the meantime, I hope all of you stay well!

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I came across something in one of the books I’m reading right now that made my stomach curl up in a little ball and hide. The book is Viking Age Iceland. Here’s the section, from page 50:

When a dead whale was found like this, how were the pieces of meat and blubber stored? The Saga of Gudmund the Worthy provides some information. It mentions that after a long stand-off, a chieftain rewarded the men who had stood by him by opening his brother’s whale storage pits [hvalgrafir]. He gave each man three loads of whale meat, which they carried home with them. In such pits the meat and blubber fermented, a form of preservation. In a similar manner, Icelanders down to modern times preserve and eat rotten shark and skate fermented in their own juices, the process benefiting from the ammonia found in the urine.

Erm… yuck? So, they take rotten shark meat, and then place it in a vat so it can be preserved by its own ‘juices’, including its urine. I try to be fairly open-minded about food, and I’m usually willing to try anything once, but… rotten shark meat preserved in its own ‘juices’? No thanks. :|

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Hobbit Vikings!

The other day while sitting in a classroom, waiting for my history class to begin, I was doodling and writing in one of my notebooks. While writing, I wrote out the phrase “Hobbit Vikings!” Since then I’ve kind of played with the idea, and come to really find it funny.

Before all you nay-sayers jump in, it’s at least vaguely plausible that the Stoors could have become Viking-esque in their lifestyle. From Wikipedia:

In their earliest recorded history the Stoors, like the other Hobbits, lived in the Vale of Anduin. They were a riverside people that dwelt in the Gladden Fields, and were fishermen. They were broader in build than the other Hobbits, and had large hands and feet. Among the Hobbits, the Stoors most resembled typical Men (for as Tolkien later says, Hobbits were properly an offshoot of Men rather than a separate race, though they themselves considered themselves separate).

Stoors were the only Hobbits who grew facial hair, and only some of them could at that. A habit which set them apart from the Harfoots who lived in the mountain foothills, and the Fallohides who lived in forests far to the north, was that many Stoors used boats, and could swim. They also wore boots.

The bold bits are my doing. So, they’re broad fellows, perhaps more similar in stature to dwarves than other hobbits. And, they swim and use boats. Already we’re getting a picture of (rather short!) Vikings, aren’t we?

And look at their location! Right on the Brandywine River, which they can use to get out to the sea. And, if they were feeling very rambunctious, they could strike out west from the Shire, kill the few Elves at the Grey Havens (silly Elves), and set up base there. The Gulf of Lune would be an excellent place to set up a basecamp to raid from!

To top all of this off, if there had been Hobbit Vikings, I’m sure they would’ve been more than happy to help out Frodo and Company. Instead of doing all that bloody walking (and walking, and walking, and walking…) East, the Company could have went West instead, to the Grey Havens. Hopped in a (small) longship or three, and down the west coast they go, straight to the Bay of Belfalas. Seeing as Viking vessels were faster than any other boats in the water, there wouldn’t have been any concern about Orcish sailors catching them. I can’t see a name on the river, but there seems to be a river south of Harondar, which drains into the sea. It goes right up to the southern bit of Mordor! Straight up the river, over the mountains, bing badda boom, and the Ring is no more. All with the aid of Hobbit Vikings. They could have even stopped off here and there along the coast, raiding for second breakfastes, elevensies, afternoon tea, etc.

And, as if you need any more convincing of this wonderful concept*, I give you a fearless Hobbit Viking:

Hobbit Viking!

Terrifying! I’m sure Sauron would have given up, just like that, upon seeing such a terrifying enemy.

* It’s silly. I know. Work with me here. ;)

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Off to play a Viking

I’ll be heading out tomorrow morning to attend the a small Viking event that the Viking boating group I’m in is putting on.

There’ll be a few of us puttering about the site (event site, not this site!) all weekend, dressed up like Vikings and doing Viking stuff. Should be fun. :)

Blogging will start back up Sunday night or Monday. Have a good weekend!

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I posted a couple of days ago about a Viking-style overnight voyage which I was going to be taking part in. The plan has changed a bit; I won’t be attending. After thinking things over a bit more, I decided that I’m not experienced enough for it.

A few different bits of information:

  • I’ve not been on Blackbird for quite a while. I don’t have an exact date in mind, but it’s been at least 6 months, and most likely quite a bit longer.
  • I only recently learned how to swim. I’m definitely not a good swimmer, by any stretch of the imagination. A few months back on a camping trip, I lost my balance and fell off of a kayak. We were out on a very small, shallow lake. I panicked, floundering about like a drowning hobbit. When I think about how I would react if we capsized our boat on the Ohio, the picture is not pretty.

Taking these bits of information into consideration, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be part of a 3 man crew going down the Ohio river during the tail-end of October.

I hadn’t really thought of any of this until my mom, wife, and a friend all brought it up. Basically, the general consensus was, “This voyage is a bad idea. There needs to be more practice / experience / planning before you guys go on the Ohio river, particularly in late fall. The Ohio can be a really, really bad river. The weather can change instantly, and you can find yourself in big trouble.”

As they brought things up, my feelings about the voyage kind of did a U-turn. When the voyage had first been brought up, it sounded like a great time. Drop the boat into the Ohio and head off, just like the Vikings! I was suffering from what I have come to call Viking euphoria. The excitement over the voyage led me to not really think much. I was just giddy over the prospect of going on an overnight voyage. This euphoria blocked me from looking at some of the hard facts.

Cas mentioned this in her Sunday Roast:

One word sprang to mind when reading of Josh’s plans to sail a viking boat on the Ohio – why? Followed by a secondary thought that this boy is insane. Which was followed by “good, that’s perfect behaviour for one of my Minions.”

Humor aside, I think me going down the Ohio in late October in a small Viking faering is insane. As noted by my friend Grania, it’s just too big of a jump from what we’ve done before. While I’m probably being a worry-wart, there are just too many major “what if’s” that I feel haven’t been planned for adequately. That’s on top of the fact that I just don’t think I’m experienced enough for such an endeavor. Not yet. It’s not something that’s totally out of the question; I think in time, I’d be confident enough to do it. But that time hasn’t come around yet. I feel a bit bad, like I let the other 2 guys down; but as one of them noted, it’s a personal decision, based on risk vs. reward. I currently think the risk is a bit too high.

I’m not sure if the other two guys are going to try and still go; it’d certainly be doable, but probably more difficult than it would be with 3 crew members. However, on the up side, they’d have far more storage room.

In other, happier news, I’ll be attending a small Viking event this coming weekend. Some classes, some boating (on a lake, not the Ohio River!), and all around Viking fun. I won’t promise any pictures, because I probably won’t be dragging along my digital camera, but I’m sure there’ll be a story or two to tell, anyway.

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