About Us

The Viking Age Club began in 1985, when Dennis Rusinko and Gary Anderson decided a group was needed that would portray the Vikings authentically. No horns on helmets, no bear-skins (or not many), and where demonstration of Viking crafts and skills would be as important (or more important) than weapons and fighting.

Since that time, the Viking Age Club has been giving lectures and demonstrations at schools, festivals, and celebrations throughout the United States, Canada and Norway.

The Viking Age Club & Society is a sought-after resource for schools and communities across America. Our encampment was a featured part of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994, and we provided interpretation for the St. Paul visit of the Smithsonian's Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga exhibition.

With the explosion of Viking studies since the middle of the 20th Century. Discoveries in archaeology have enriched our knowledge of the Vikings and their lives. It is our business to keep up with this new information and it is our goal to pass it on as accurately as possible to the public.

If you attend a few Scandinavian ethnic festivals in the Upper Midwest, you're likely to see the distinctive wedge-shaped tents of our club.

History is just plain fun, but especially the Viking age! So come closer (or bring us closer) so you can watch our reenactors demonstrating Viking Age crafts, listen to a lecture on life in Viking culture and (if your timing is right) get a chance to see a combat demonstration!

MEMBERSHIP
Membership is open to anyone! People join the Viking Age Club & Society for many reasons. Some members join for a scholarly interest in the fascinating history of the Vikings, others for the beauty and fun of Viking crafts, and some join for the glory of fighting with real weaponry in our live steal combat! The majority of us join because of a combination of all of the above.

Because we do real enactment, dealing with fire, sharp tools and such... In order to join our club one must become or be a member of a Sons of Norway lodge for insurance reasons. (You don't have to be Norwegian to join!)

To join a Sons of Norway lodge you can visit their website or just click here. If you do not have a lodge, we are affiliated with a Minneapolis lodge, Syttende Mai 1-517 and are most welcome to join us.

If you do not have viking gear (or things for a Viking Kit as we like to call it), that is okay! Most members start our by building their Viking kit slowly, starting with a simple costume or tunic, and growing from there! Patterns for making tunics are available and so are places were you can buy one. (If you buy viking things it is suggested that you ask other members about items before you buy them so you can avoid getting something that is a fantasy item vs historical.) Our members are always happy to help each other improve their viking personas!