Posted on 08/04/2014 3:49:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Fifty thousand 'Vikings' landed on the shores of a small village in northern Spain on Sunday, as part of an annual festival which commemorates a Scandinavian invasion which took place a thousand years ago.
On the first Sunday of August, Catoria is flooded with ‘blood-thirsty’ men and women from all across Europe.
Dressed in animal skins and armed with the finest plastic weaponry, they disembark on the rugged Galician coast with the aim of capturing the Towers of the West, just as Norway’s King Olaf did a millennia ago.
The ‘blood’ spilt during the simulated battles does taste distinctly like red wine, but the visual effect it has when poured all over the fighters’ bodies is just as gruesome.
Catoira’s residents have proudly seen their local festival come on leaps and bounds since its first edition in 1960.
Declared a Festival of International Interest, it also includes musical acts by folk groups and a medieval market in the 11th century towers.
The occasion the Romeria de Catoira marks was recounted by local and foreign historians, as was the interest Vikings had in ruling over all of Galicia, Spain’s most westerly region, as they did with Normandy in France.
King Olaf II Haraldsson, first a Viking and finally made a saint when he converted to Christianity, called Galicia Jakobsland (Land of James).
Spain has their August Vikings, and we have our Zombie Walks or Burning Man furniture fires. Different forms of grown folks having a little fun. We used to have the Renaissance Faire in Novato, were the vendors dress in the medeval style and stay in character all day long.Back before the recession.
Any chance that the Vikings landed in medieval Arabia, spawning Islam?
Doubt it. Vikings had a code of honour.
“Vikings had a code of honour.”
Islamists, too, have a code of honor. They will kill their daughters and sisters to prove it.
I think the reason the ten fair went away is that blackpoint, which was a perfect place for it, got turned into housing.
Man, I miss it.
Oh my, “Sigrún, should I call you or just light a signal-fire?” LOL
Skol!
I went to a Ren Faire yesterday. I think I like the Viking thing better than the zombie thing.
You are right. I was a potter/sculptor merchant at a few northern Ren faires- Valhalla (destroyed when commercial managers took it over), and Folsom’s. Oh... I did a small one in Fresno at Kearney Park once and another in... Visalia, I think. I preferred the two close to home. Set-up and tear-down was brutal at times.
It was a great 20 years. The Scottish clans were the most fun. I loved watching the blacksmiths. Nothing like meat-on-a-stick.
50,000??
They were led by Harald Greycloak and Sven Bluetooth and his son Jarl Forkbeard.
Thanks nickcarraway.
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“Valhalla, I’m coming!”
My grandfather drove my grandmother up Kearney Blvd. to Kearney Park in his big, shiny automobile when he was courting her in 1909. Of course, Kearney Park was just the grounds of Mr. Kearney’s home then. She was mightily impressed.
A sword ping? Why not? What the hell... :-)
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