Back from aviking-ing!

Halvgrimr · Post by **Halvgrimr** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 11:57 am

Hey all, got back from the 'great cold north' yesterday (I would have never believed it would be hotter/more humid in Canada than at home;)

It was a great time and applaud Torvik and its members for a great event.

Great Fighting, Great Friends, and copious amounts of drinking;)

The following is a "brief" report

I arrived in Toronto Tuesday evening and Talis picked me up at the airport. We went back to the house and there I meet 2 of the finest Brits I have meet yet, Eddie and Lance. They were kick ass guys and I cant wait to party with them again! Little did I know that this night would be the first of many nights of drinking and debauchery;)

Wednesday we got up and made our way to Talis and Kelly's shop. After oogling over all the pretty things we meet up with Fish (Dereck) and the newest member of Torvik (I forget his real name now but this weekend he was aptly named Guzzler;). We grabbed our war gear and marched several blocks to a park to get in some extra fighting before the event. Mark Patchett and Chris Kerr from Regia-CA soon joined us and we had a merry old time. I had corresponded with both Mark and Chris on multiple occasions over the years but it was a real treat getting to meet them face to face. I very much look forward to working with the fine folks of Regia Canada in the future! We fought for several hours, I took a few pics, and by the end of the day Guzzler had passed his Basic Combat Assessment and I had passed my Basic Display Combat Assessment, so it was a productive day all in all which in true Brit fashion ended again with drinking as we made the trek to Pete and Co's hotel for a few pints.

Thursday was suppose to be another day of extra fighting but due to a unforeseeable issue Fish couldn't make it so I joined the Brits on a trip to Niagara.
I wont say much about it but will say that even after seeing the falls on TV a bazillion times, nothing compares to the awe it inspires when you are floating next to it! Thursday was rounded off by...you guessed it! some good old drinking! Kelly had left that afternoon to start setting up the site, that left us boys fending for ourselves so Talis and I took Lance and Eddie to that good ol American past time Hooters! There we slugged back a few, had some hot wings and enjoyed the view! About an hour into it we decided that Hooters wasn't all its cracked up to be and headed to another 'fine clothing optional gentleman's establishement' where we closed the joint down!

Friday started off slow (we were still recovering from the last few nights;) but once we got moving we stopped at a local leather store that rocked, then headed out to the site. On the way we stopped by a liquor store and bought a god awful amount of booze, the check out guy was amazed, even more so when the Brits said "see you again tomorrow' as we left, which as it turned out was a self fulfilling prophecy! After that we had to stop at to buy a knife for Eddie, seems odd but the mane collects knives while traveling;) After that we hit site, unloaded the van and went to investigate the rings of steel from across the stream. We found Tump, Jed, Olaf and Melissant fighting. After the introductions were made we donned our war gear and got in a few extra hours fighting. Somewhere along the line Rob Elliott from the Nordhere list wandered in along with the other Regia members I was able to meet and Beth & Jared Patchett so again I got to put yet more faces to names. Several hours later we got to meet Paul Murphy for the first time. The man is a gentleman and a scholar, it was an honor to meet him (as it was with the rest of the Brits). At some point Pete and Co. pulled up in their campers too. We ended the night with ....wait for it!.... drinking! Myself, Pete and Matthew were the last folks to hit the sack that night, but before we did, the members of Rhuddlan arrived (Robert, Wulfric and Leofa), we sat and talked a bit as the fire died. As with the Regia members I had been corresponding with the Rhuddlan folks for some time and they were all great folks, and I am glad that now I have faces to put with names.

Saturday was the first 'official' big day of fighting, we had about 25 folks training in various forms. We split up into multiple classes and did allot of work that day. We ended the day in melees using the skills our instructors had given us that day, it was great fun. A friend of Kelly's is making a new documentary on "The New Vikings" she took lots of footage that day and I think she has a great start on what could be a very cool film. She is looking at traveling around to different events so that she can meet lots of folks and add to her library of footage, its a great project imo. Saturday also the beginning of many new friendships and first time face to face conversations, I meet allot of folks and know I will forget to mention some of you but please don't take offense, the whole experience was overwhelming;) Theo (Ted) and Alexandra stick out the most, I know them from the jomsb.org list, more great folks.

After the fighting, folks hit the showers, some then hit the pool, some just headed straight for the bottle;) Kelly had arranged a music presentation that evening, it was very nice, it inspired some singing and dancing which was again very cool to watch. Some folks wandered to the fire and the discussions were all pleasant and interesting, much much different that I have seen the same debates do on various lists;) I think I hit the sack early that night so I don't have much to say about the latter parts of the night.

Sunday, was another day of great fighting, we lost a few folks we made up for for the loss by ramping up the level of fun. Again we split off into multiple classes and again the level of training was outstanding! Myself and Tump took the written tests for RTT and then did some final testing before Paul announced we had both passed! As it stands we now have trainers in the North (Fish), Midwest (Me), and the South (Tump) so we have pretty good NA coverage now. The advanced combat techniques and testing was pretty rigorous so I dropped out as soon as that was over but some good fighting was still done. The film makers came back and the Brits scripted a quick show and it was outstanding to watch, cant wait to see it on film! As had become SOP (standard operating procedure) we ended the night with some drinking. The Authenticity checks where fun to watch, and the fire was great, but IMO the best part of the night was sitting around the fire discussing the UK scene and the history behind some of the great debates of the time. Very interesting and very enlightening to say the least.

Monday was only a half a day but because the demand was there the Brits taught an Advanced Spear class and by the end all six participants had passed, a very extraordinary thing according to Paul since most of the time at least one person in a class that big fails. I had planned/arranged for a two weapon assessment that day but somehow wretched my neck the previous day so I opted out of fighting that day. After the fighting the Brits headed out, we cleaned up site and I headed back to Talis/Kelly's to pick up some of the stuff I didn't take to site with me. From there Olaf and Melissant picked me up and we spent the night in a hotel and headed to the airport the next morning.

So all in all it was a grand trip, loved it and again I applaud Torvik and its members for hosting an awesome event.
I also would like to thank the Brits (Lance, Eddie, Paul, Pete, Denise, Geoff, Alison, and even little Pinch, for without them none of this would have been possible!

I am in no way trying to 'steal the thunder' from Torvik but I will sort of announce that next spring Norsa will be hosting a 'Last chance to be assessed in the US by Brits before Hastings' event in Missouri.
We want to do it in early spring, before the storm season sets in, but have to plan around several other events so at this point a firm date isn't set but stay tuned for more information (with the Joms event in Feb, the Waco event in April it really only leaves us with Jan or March)
Pete James has committed to the event, Lance and Eddie say the want to experience the Midwest so they will probably be there, and Norsa has talked about flying an Authenticity officer over as well so its got the potential to be a great event already.

I didn't get the chance to take as many pics as I had hoped but here are the ones I was able to take.
http://www.vikingsna.org/gallery/Norsa

Halv

Maeryk · Post by **Maeryk** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 12:03 pm

but once we got moving we stopped at a local leather store that rocked,

In Toronto? Was it NOrthbound?

Maeryk

Halvgrimr · Post by **Halvgrimr** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 12:10 pm

Maeryk wrote:
but once we got moving we stopped at a local leather store that rocked,

In Toronto? Was it NOrthbound?

Maeryk

I think it was Fine Leathers
It was right next to the 'For Your Eyes Only' strip club we visited the night before;)

Maeryk · Post by **Maeryk** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 12:11 pm

Oh. Theres a place (I think its right on Yonge street) in Toronto 'Northbound Leathers".. they have a front room (mainly biker and fashion gear) and a back room (fetish gear).. some of the nicest (and in some cases, scariest) stuff I have ever seen.

I _love_ Toronto.

Maeryk

Wil · Post by **Wil** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:57 pm

I was supposed to go

Sounds like fun, perfect combination of inter-group productivity and liver-bruising debauchery

. If the good folks at TorVik throw another one next year, I'll try harder to make it.

~Wil

InsaneIrish · Post by **InsaneIrish** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 2:06 pm

very cool. Makes me want to make a period kit and play

Don't suppose I could wear my Lamallar?

one questions though, whats the deal with the coleman camp chairs?

Halvgrimr · Post by **Halvgrimr** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 2:18 pm

InsaneIrish wrote:very cool. Makes me want to make a period kit and play

Don't suppose I could wear my Lamallar?

one questions though, whats the deal with the coleman camp chairs?

--no on the lamellar
and as for the chairs, this was a training session.
And while it was open to anyone to attend this was not a public show so things like camp and kit standards arent as strict.

I myself only have one set of good kit so I wore alot of my SCA kit (of course my average SCA kit is better than average;)

course there was that day when it was just to damned hot and I only wore pants to fight in;)

Halv

Halvgrimr · Post by **Halvgrimr** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 5:05 pm

more pics at http://www.vikingsna.org/gallery/album05?page=1

Halv

Halvgrimr · Post by **Halvgrimr** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 8:59 am

a link to videos
http://www.vikingsna.org/temp/temp/

40002 is 4 MB and 40001 is 12 mb

scenes contain mild violence and hot sweaty men;)

also remember this was being done for the camera so lots of grunting and shield bashing was the point

the purpose of the spot was for Geoff (the little fellar) to burry his axe into my shield.
trouble was it took longer than we thought;)
the shield did its job, go figure;)

Halv

Alasdair MacArthur · Post by **Alasdair MacArthur** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 8:15 pm

So, didja have fun? Sure sounds like it.

I'll have to see about taking some pic of my own, taking leave to do a week and a half in Ireland. Oh, and an event in Dublin.

Alasdair Mackiltedfyrd

guthroth · Post by **guthroth** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 3:02 pm

Hi

I finally got my pics up as well

http://www.colanhomm.org/Toronto/

Thorstenn · Post by **Thorstenn** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:01 pm

Do you make the leg raps or buy them ?. If so how can I get some or instructions to make my own. Im in the SCA and I want to look more real

Thank you,
Thorstenn the wronghand

Halvgrimr · Post by **Halvgrimr** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 7:48 am

see http://www.geocities.com/baldurstrand/w ... ingas.html

Halv
who buys/barters for his

Thorstenn · Post by **Thorstenn** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:22 am

thank you verrrry much

. That helped a lot. One more step to looking better.
Thanks

Thorstenn the wronghand