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mmm new blog smell 😀
So I have started yet another blog, but I suspect this one will last longer than many of my other attempts.
As it states in my little info section, I am a Viking re-enactor and this blog is simply designed as a place for me to showcase and discuss what I am doing in the world of re-enactment. Sometimes I will post up about shows I have been too, other times it will be crafts I am working on and so on. Additionally, it should help me stay on track with certain projects of mine as I get sidetracked easily, but if I am writing about them here then I should stay more focused.
So what are these various projects?
Bone working display
Well, firstly, seeing as my authentic craft I demonstrate is bone working (and antler, horn etc), I need to build up the number of items I can display. Generally I have a tendency to make some really nice things and then sell them, leaving me with not very much to actually have as a display for the public. So I need to make more stuff to display.
Whalebone Plaque project
Secondly, I am currently researching whalebone plaques from the Viking Age. This is an ongoing project of a good few years now (along with my craft guide for working with skeletal materials). Basically I am compiling as much data as I can regarding these plaques, and trying to determine what they were actually used for (I really don’t buy the “ironing board” line, an average size of about 10″ x 10″ is too small). In case anyone is unaware of these things, here is a particularly fine example from Scar, Orkney
Living History camp
Next on my list is a stock check of our kit for the overall living history display of our camp and filling in the missing parts so that we can out on an even better show. This is going to require lots of making, firing up the forge and all kinds of other fun stuff.
Bone working guide
Finally, I have been working on a guide to bone/antler/horn working for quite a while now (5+ years). Included in it is a catalogue of example finds, how to prepare you material, how to work with bone etc, which bones to use for certain items and so on. Once it is finished it should be a good manual for a wannabe bone crafter. The problem is finishing it. I have many, many documents, pages, drawings etc filling up folders and hard drive space, but so far I haven’t actually got around to condensing it and writing it down coherently and with references. Hopefully this blog will help push me towards finishing it.
So there you have it, the opening post of this new blog and my reasons behind it. I know that this site is a little sparse currently, but I as get more photographs and such sorted out I will be expanding the pages and adding some galleries of artefacts and displays.
Thanks for reading,
Halldor
Halldor the Viking 
hello, just out of curiosity… that bone object with the birt on it ( i hope its bird) is it a lucet? if it is could you tell me which century and coutry? i am trying to lool like viking and i was looking for lucet and i fell in love with this one:-)
It is a bird on the artefact, but it is not a lucet. The item has been identified as a line winder for fishing. I have written a post about lucets though with some various bone examples (https://halldorviking.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/lucets-and-lucetting/).
Halldor
Hi Halldor, Love the page, very professional 🙂
I’m part of a student medieval re-enactment group based in St Andrews, Fife.
A group of us are looking to start doing some bone/antler/horn working, and we were wondering what safety equipment is needed.
We’ve heard the dust can be harmful, so some sort of mask is needed, but we’re not sure if cheap, disposable “dust masks” are ok, or if you need more substantial HEPA filter types?
If you could advise, that would be fantastic. 🙂
Many thanks
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the comment, always nice to know things look good to my readers 🙂
Oddly enough, you have actually asked a question that I am already writing up as the latest post for here. The short answer is that a FFP3 mask is probably as serious as you need to get. It won’t filter out everything, but the vast majority of the dust will be caught. It is possible to go to further with filtered airsystems and so on but most of those are overkill. It will be covered in greater detail in my post if you can wait a few days.
Halldor
thats great, thank you Halldor.
I’ll keep an eye out for that post then! 🙂