Viking Days!
Partying like a Viking in Seattle
Photo: Solveig Lee
Clockwise from top: Modern-day Vikings battle it out with (wooden) swords and shields.
Solveig Lee
Mount Vernon, Wash.
What a fun day to visit the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard! The grounds of the museum abounded with a Viking encampment, Scandinavian hearths where one used Viking bucks to buy foods such as Danish æbleskiver, Finnish open-faced sandwiches, Icelandic baked goods, Norwegian sweets, and Swedish meatballs. The Viking Grill offered brats, hot dogs, salmon, and clam chowder. Then, there was the Valhalla Beer Garden.
Photo: Solveig Lee
Æbelskiver were among the many Nordic foods on offer.
There were those who really got into the Viking spirit! Viking helmets and swords to use for protection were available in case a battle erupted. To be sure, one did watch those all dressed in Viking attire with the gear for protection as they battled during the afternoon.
Photo: Solveig Lee
A child learns about weaving on a loom.
Other Scandinavian talents were also displayed throughout the grounds, such as rosemaling and carving.
Photo: Solveig Lee
A fiddler entertains crowds in the Nordic Heritage Museum’s auditorium during Viking Days.
What a wonderful two days when Scandinavian heritage came alive once again in that most Scandinavian area of Seattle, Ballard!
This article originally appeared in the Sept. 25, 2015, issue of the Norwegian American Weekly.
