Just a short post today, because there’s better reading to be had at the Scandinavian Aggression site.  Check out Rowdy Geirsson’s (true?) account of modern Vikings and some of the hilarious trouble they caused a few years back. I’d buy this book if it were available. Fight on, Rowdy!

I have a new favorite Viking. Her name? Freya Svensson. If you haven’t heard of this Swede and the problems with her Swedish steed-of-the-street (kenning translation: Volvo XC70) , check it out. Something tells me Freya’s tactics are going to pay off.

Here follow some vids where you can witness Freya’s assault on Volvo North America and Rusnak Volvo — the dealership that’s (allegedly) screwing her around:

Do NOT miss this next one — Freya lamenting Volvo in Swedish song. Awesome:

Here’s where it gets really good: Freya has issued a call for service records for any Volvo owner who cares to send them to her. She’s going to compile common Volvo ownership problems and go public with them. You can follow and cheer her on at her Rusmacked Volvo blog, here:

http://rusmackedvolvo.com/

Go Freya!

Welcome to another Tuesday Althing. Today’s Scandinavian randomness comes recommended by Jill Johnson, US Project Manager for a band called Krauka.

Krauka

I hadn’t heard of Krauka, but I LIKE ‘EM. Here’s what they’re about — from the Krauka website:

Krauka was formed in 1999 around the idea of combining storytelling and music from the Viking Age. The band takes you on a journey back in time to an era when life was all about battles, pillaging and drinking. Krauka’s music is played on instruments reconstructed after archaeological findings, but modern elements interwine, creating an intense and often wild atmosphere inspired by the sagas and the Nordic forces of nature.

Intrigued? Me too. Here’s a video of the title track from their most recent album, Odinn:

Did you notice the chrome sculpture in the background? By Thor! It’s the thunderer himself — Mjollnir raised for smiting — being pulled in his chariot by his tireless goats.

To learn more about Krauka or to listen to some free songs, you can hit their website here. To get straight to the music, go here. Do yourself a favor and listen to the song Gimli — a crazy good tune where Viking folk music collides with Talking Heads. (I don’t speak Danish or Icelandic, but I’m guessing this song is less about the dwarf of Tolkien fame and more about the the gold-roofed hall in Asgard where good men were said to go upon their death.) Awesome.

Hope you enjoyed the music. Thanks again to Jill Johnson for giving me the head’s up on Krauka.

Thanks for stopping by!

At today’s Althing I’m taking a break from things Nordic in order to talk about other random goodness. But, like the legend of Asmund Frægdegjaevar that I’ve been pimping the last couple of months, today’s subject does include a warrior.

Sort of.

Maybe he’s more of lovable loser. He’s definitely a hero. His name? Skip. Skip Lipman. And he’s the real-life star of a docudrama called Darkon.

Don’t get me wrong, Skip isn’t heroic in the soldier/cop/firefighter sense — but I think you’ll agree that in the arena of the human condition, he’s got all the right stuff: he’s true to himself, he’s true to his family and friends, and he’s got the balls to scorn societal convention with every turn of his foam-padded sword.

See, Skip is what’s known as a live-action role-playing gamer. Yep. Along with hundreds of other folks in Maryland, Skip dresses up as a warrior — specifically a Roman centurion, I believe — in order to wage feudal war against other groups/countries in the Darkon Wargaming Club.

If you’re unfamiliar with such organizations, consider the sorts of exhibitors you might see at a Renaissance festival. If you’ve ever wondered how deeply those personas carryover into people’s personal lives, I think Darkon might give you some insight. Here’s a movie trailer — the first guy you see is our man Skip Lipman:

I can’t recommend this film highly enough. I DARE you not to pull for Skip — both on the battlefield, and off! Rent or buy Darkon the movie without delay.

Special thanks to Philip Martin for recommending Darkon for a slot at the Tuesday Althing. Also thanks to Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer for directing this bit of genius!

And to you, good reader, thanks for stopping by.

Today we reach the end of the Asmund Frægdegjaevar legend via the 13th and last song off the album by the Norwegian band Lumsk. This is supposed to be a happy song, but to me it sounds kind of sad. But keep listening beyond the organ/singing and you’ll soon feel downright jiggy — Lumsk gives us a cool bonus with a fiddles-only version of the most excellent I lytinne tva.

So, back to today’s tune: Der e ingi dag’e, which the album liner notes explain:

Asmund returns
The King and queen are looking out on the fjord as Asmund returns with their precious daughter Ermelin.

Listen:

So that’s it. Thanks for listening these past weeks. Did you buy this album yet?

I hope you’ll stop by next week, when I’ll start earning my keep around here again!

Only two songs left to play from the awesome album Asmund Frægdegjaevar by the Norwegian band Lumsk. Here’s track 12 — a tune called Kampen mot bergetrolli — and here’s what it’s about, from the liner notes:

The battle against the mountain trolls
Asmund slays all of the trolls and sets off from Trollebotten with all the gold and silver he can find. The magical horse takes [him and Ermelin] across the sea as if the water was made of solid earth.

Witness:

Thanks for stopping by! See ya Tuesday for the last song on this album, and of course for the conclusion to this highly truncated telling of the Asmund Frægdegjaevar legend.

Here’s track 11 from the album Asmund Frægdegjaevar by the Norwegian band Lumsk. It’s a long but good song. Here’s what it’s about, from the liner notes:

The magical horse
[Asmund] wonders how much gold the horse would want for helping him across the fjord. The horse replies that he must sacrifice his right hand (lay down his sword). Asmund confers with his God and agrees upon this term if both Ermelin and himself are taken safely across. He tells Ermelin to gather gold in a box, while he swings his sword one last time.

Behold:

Thanks for stopping by! See ya Tuesday.

Here’s track 10 from the awesome album Asmund Frægdegjaevar by the Norwegian band Lumsk. This one’s an instrumental, but here’s the portion of the Asmund story that this song represents. From the liner notes:

In the far north of Trollebotten
Asmund finds his way out of the mountain-realm, but his ship is gone, and so are his brothers. He heads back into Trollebotten where he meets a magical horse.

Listen:

Thanks for stopping by! See ya Tuesday.

Here’s track 9 from the album Asmund Frægdegjaevar by the Norwegian band Lumsk. It’s the first song I ever heard from this album and I still love it! I posted the video on this blog before, but now that I own the album I actually (kinda) know what it’s about. And so will you. The name of the song is I lytinne tva. From the liner notes:

Cut in half
Asmund fights the Troll-mother. She claims that she is stronger than him by far, since she has been fighting Christian men before. Asmund wounds her in the gut and she tells him that the only way of saving her soul is to chop her in half and walk in between the two parts. He replies that he will cut her in half, but only the devil himself would walk in between them. As she is dying she swears that Asmund will not make it out of Trollebotten alive.

Behold:

Thanks for stopping by. See ya Tuesday!

Head’s up, yo! Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is alive and well and, well, we’ve published our second issue. I co-own and help edit this mutha. Check out some cool adventure fantasy — stories and poems — here:

http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/

Thanks for stopping by. See ya Tuesday!