Author: Valkyrie 1066

Beware of Scam Bots on Social Media Pages!

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To our followers, a quick PSA!

On many of our posts, especially those dealing with applications, tickets, merchants and such things (maybe even this one now that I’ve typed those words) we inevitably get scam bots commenting as though they are associated with us saying something along the lines of “We still have vendor spots left! Send me a message to get signed up.” These are never associated with us and while we frequently purge the comments and accounts, it is a neverending onslaught and occasionally a few sneak by unnoticed.

To help you avoid falling victim to these scam bots, please take note of the following!

-If we are communicating with you, unless you happen to be a personal friend of one of our committee members, it will be through our Facebook page. (Northwest Viking Market). Link is below. We will also only post merchant announcements and other such news as actual posts, unless replying directly to a comment or message.

-Noting terminology, we use the term “Merchant” rather than “Vendor”. It’s not 100% foolproof, but most scam bots don’t use the term “Merchant”.

-We do not charge for merchant spaces. We charge a refundable $75 deposit for merchants outside of the Northwest Viking Alliance, but no booth fee. If this changes at any point, we will make an official post!

-We have an online application that is only open once we make an announcement. This has to be filled out and we have to approve the application before requesting any deposit. It is available on our website as well as our Facebook page.

Keep these things in mind and stay vigilant!

https://www.facebook.com/NorthwestVikingMarket

Til árs ok friðar,
William, Seth, Robert, Cici, Shaun, Heather
The Northwest Viking Market Committee

Featured

2025 Northwest Viking Market!

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What is the dress code for guests coming to the Northwest Viking Market? Pretty much whatever they want! There is no requirement for what type of clothing people wear to the event (as long as it’s legal, anyway). For those who want to get into the theme, though, we’re happy to provide recommendations.

Via the link below you can find our Villager Standards document. This is the level of historical clothing that we have asked our villagers to meet, and which we would encourage for those who would like to dress for the theme. And while there are a multitude of patterns, materials and even ready-made items available online, feel free to reach out for more information!

Villager Clothing Standards

Lastly, to preserve the type of positive and educational atmosphere that we’re aiming for, we would appreciate if guests refrain from wearing clothing with political messages or other such themes. Any clothing with hate speech, etc. on it will result in the wearer being asked to leave.

We’re looking forward to creating a fun and immersive experience for our guests and participants, and we encourage everyone who wants to add to that atmosphere to do so!

Oct 11-12 // Dragon’s Gate Brewery // Milton-Freewater, OR

Photography: Kevin Alexandrowicz

Second Annual Northwest Viking Market!

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Join us for the second annual Northwest Viking Market! We are creating a fun, immersive and educational Early Medieval market experience including:

• Three live musical acts playing traditional Scandinavian and Viking Age inspired music

• Merchants selling historical reproduction wares.

• Living history demonstrators showing crafting and daily life skills of the Viking Age

• All historical encampments

• Viking style ship with a museum explaining how they are built.

• Participate in a shield wall. Team up with your friends or make new friends in the heat of battle as the Northwest Shield Wall war master teaches you tactics of Viking Age combat.

• Test out a bow or two in the Seven Suns Archery range.

• Steel fighting demonstrations by the Northwest Viking Alliance steel fighters.

• Blacksmithing demonstrations.

• Several food carts.

• Locally brewed beer by our on-site brewers and sponsor for this event. A variety of different beers, meads and wines will be available.

• Games including hnefatafl, bjørnefødsel, kubb, daskus and more.

• The Old Norse Lay of Thrym as performed by members of the Northwest Viking Alliance.

Hours

Saturday, 11 Oct: 11AM – 6PM
Sunday, 12 Oct: 11AM – 4PM

Merchant and Villager applications will open in early 2025; tickets available starting July 2025. 

What is a Viking Market?

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What is a viking market, and how is it different from a festival?

This is a question that we got a bit of last year, especially being the first year of the event. “Viking market” and “viking festival” are both terms used in reenactment and living history events that focus on 9th-11th century Northern Europe, especially in Europe itself, and both of them are essentially festivals to some degree. Both also include merchants selling historical replica or historically inspired wares, which can add to the confusion. There are a few factors, though, which differ between the two.

The first of these, and the easiest to see, is size. Viking festivals are generally large events which may draw thousands of people, participants and public, from multiple countries. Viking markets, on the other hand, tend to be smaller events by design, though size can still vary from one market to the next and they can still have people traveling longer distances to participate.

A second factor along with size is scope. Viking festivals tend to have a broad focus which may include general history, heritage, battles, music, etc. Some such as Midgardsblot in Norway even combine reenactment and metal music into one large event. Certain festivals may also have a central theme such as the Battle of Hastings or the Viking Period history of York. Viking markets generally aim to recreate the atmosphere of a historical marketplace, focusing primarily on merchants and crafts. They do often also incorporate things such as historical music and combat, though with less of a central focus.

A third factor, and one which is often more difficult for the public to spot, is authenticity. Viking festivals, partly due to their size and scope, tend to have looser requirements for participants and allow a greater number of things in personal kits and wares which may not be completely accurate to what we know of the period. Being larger events, it’s both more difficult for organizers to enforce strict requirements and can also negatively impact how many participants they have. Viking markets, being smaller in size and narrower in focus, generally have stricter authenticity requirements for participants in their kits, camps and wares. In both cases, this generally does not apply to the public who come as guests for the day.

In creating our event, we decided that we wanted to focus on putting together an immersive experience that especially highlights historical crafts and the people reproducing them, rounded out with demonstrations of combat, music, games and other aspects of Early Medieval life. We hope that if you join us as a guest or a participant you can clearly see this in the presentation!

The Northwest Viking Market will take place October 11-12 at Dragon’s Gate Brewery in Milton-Freewater, OR.

Photography by Dena Cowlishaw / Wicked DD Photography

2024 Northwest Viking Alliance Althing was absolutely wonderful!

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Last weekends Northwest Viking Alliance Althing was a fantastic camping event! This year it was held in Pe Ell WA. Despite the warmer than average weather, there was a strong turnout of members and a variety of activities, from classes to steel fighting tournaments to games and a grand feast! It truly was a memorable weekend full of comeraderie and learning. This is an immersion event that the Northwest Viking Alliance holds annually for its groups and members. Here are a few photos from the Althing. Courtesty of Alliance Elder, Dena Cowlishaw