Winterstammtisch in Hamburg-Harburg

On December 20th (yes, we're going back in time a little but then that's normal for re-enactors), we went to Hamburg-Harburg for the annual Winterstammtisch. This time, 'we' was not just Schatz and I but also Kees, Danny, Marion and Janneke from Holland who drove up here for a long weekend. See also Kees' blog entry of December 23rd.

do they have cheese in Harburg?

As I mentioned before, history or rather re-enactment enthousiasts meet in Hamburg-Harburg once a month on a Friday evening for a meal, a drink and some merry-making.

Wall of rememberance in the FZ Nöldekestraße pub

And in December, around the Yul weekend, we meet for a lavish banquet.

Everybody shows up dressed in their finest garb - except for me, I still need a real party dress. I tried to bluff my way through with two dresses atop each other but it wasn't quite as grand as I had hoped. Maybe I'll do better next year.

As people entered, they put plates and bowls on the table, as well as some cutlery and drinking vessels, and slowly the table was set.

getting ready

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Michi was keeping an eye on things.

in the eye of the storm

Birgitt was lighting candles and providing everyone with drinks.

"there's a light, over at the FZ place..."

And we - well, we were milling about, admiring each others' dresses and discussing fashion throughout the millenia, and taking pictures.

milling and mixing and admiring

women across time

suffering from gout?
or just conspicuosly inconspicous checking out her camera's TFT screen?

Whereas in past years most participants 'came from' the Early and High Middle Ages, there were hardly any late Middle Agers around this year. Instead, we had a lady from the first century AD and a couple of folks from Napoleonic times. Most fascinating indeed!

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Michi was still keeping an eye on things.

Michi developing the menu on the go

Slowly but surely we sat down and then the first course arrived, announced by the Chef himself.
Instead of going through all the details, with a picture for each dish, here's the menu.

the masterplan in runic inscriptions

For those of you who by now are totally confused, check out the Trutzhavener Feldküche website (for that's who Michi and Birgitt are) for the original menu in German, or read on for the menu in English.

- First Course

• melon and apple on a bed of rocket lettuce with a honey-ginger dressing spiced with parsley and mint
• small omelettes with salmon and dates
• pastries with a goat cheese, onion, parmesan and gingerbread filling, served on a bed of red beets with red wine and thyme
• slices of pork fillet, pickled with sugar, pepper and salt
• moretum
• whole rye-dinkel bread, wheat bread

- Second Course

• pork shoulder butt ragout with slices of cooked and raw pears
• fish fillet rolls with gingerbread and dille
• parsnip and pumpkin mousse
• sugarcrusted herbed curds (quark) with almond splinters

- Third Course

• smoked trout, filled with goat cheese, walnuts and honey
• veal saddle, marinated with gooseberries and poppyseeds and cooked at low temperature
• slices of eggs and orange in a peppery orange sauce
• grilled garlic gambas on a bed of roasted pork belly
• goat cheese baked in honey with an almond splinter crust

- Fourth Course

• small pancakes with apples and amarettini
• fruit bread with a sauce of spiced wine and marzipan

If you think you have gained weight by just reading this, try taking a look at the collage that Schatz put together:

Chef and his evil creations

We tried to eat slowly, we tried to enjoy every morsel, and we tried to talk to keep our thoughts from our slowly but surely filling stomachs while coveting our neighbour's bowl.

gimme gimme gimme!

No, I am not yet stuffed!

it's only a teensie weensie bit, honestly!

he: if I eat any more they will have to alter my tunic again! or:
she: if he eats any more, I will have to alter his tunic again!

I still am somewhat at a loss of words to describe this feast but our faces should say more than enough.

uhhhummm! fingerlickin' good!

purrrrr...

it's a ... food! a twin!
or: we may be able to eat again next year...

But all good things come to an end. Birgitt did some fast cleaning in the kitchen...

the gods be thanked for industrialization!

...and the rest of us cleared the tables.

all gone...

I will leave you with my two favourite pictures, one by Schatz:

seems to be fun to get your head chopped off by Robespierre

And the other one by Kees, from his set of photographs on Flickr (and his blog):

just before the breaking of bread

PS: if you have any complaints about pictures, those must be Schatzes! My pictures do not offend...

PPS: some may wonder what melons or oranges are doing at a 'medieval' banquet - but then nobody said it was an authentic copy but rather a mix of ingredients from various times and various parts of Europe.

Jork Viking Market, Part 2: Fight Show

Normally, Early Medieval fight shows follow one of several patterns:

• King A attacks the lands of King B. They trade insults, maybe have a fight of champions, then bash each others' heads in. Works well with large numbers of warriors (150+), especially when line fights are included such as during the Danish Moesgard market during the last weekend of July.

• Thorstein the Wild enters a village with his men with the intention of pillaging and plundering. Well, they might have some other intentions, too, but in view of all the families on their weekend outings they pretend they don't. Usually short exchange of demands and insults, followed by 48 seconds of fighting. Often used in small locations and with small groups of warriors.

• The fighters present just want to find out who the best fighter of the market is - they fight a so-called Circle, man against man, with or without honour (without or with backstabbing allowed). When the Circle is all that is shown, the audience is welcome to watch but at times is considered more of a nuisance than anything else.

• Someone explains to the audience the various weapons that existed during the Early Middle Ages, who would own what and then have two warriors demonstrate how one would fight with the weapons. Very educational, often used with very small groups of warriors. Can get tedious after a while if too much is narrated.

Often, of course, the fight show consists of a mix of events, and sometimes new, rather enjoyable bits are added, as happened in Jork on May 24.

The 30 minute fight show started with an unusual overture:

A band of wild Vikings, lead by Einar (names all fictitional), enters the village of Jork and demands silver, children and women from the locals. They try to grab a child or two, pry some rings from fingers but meet no real opposition.

When over the hill comes Sigurd, a local cobbler. He walks up to Einar as if this were the most normal thing you do under these circumstances and starts to reason with him. Alas, to no avail. So Sigurd appeals to Einar's honour. Einar is a very honourable man, of course, and thus immediately agrees to a fight between the two to settle the issue once and for all.

But wait, in a duel you should have a second and when Sigurd agrees, Einar places one of his men nearby. Oh, and a rich man should also have a second second, and a third. And since that looks strange, there should be a fourth second and so forth.

And before Sigurd can say "hey" or "wait a minute" or "what the hell do you think you are doing here with your thirds and fourths and fifths and sixths and sevenths and eighths", all of Einar's men are placed in a close circle around the two.

Einar placing his umpteenth second around Sigurd

I suppose you can see it coming just like we did: before Sigurd can draw his sword, Einar's men overwhelm him, beat him unconscious and drag him quickly to a remote corner of the field. Einar, of course, is more than happy with his band of Vikings...

Einar flashing a big grin

Just in time they turn away from poor Sigurd. For now Eric, the fisherman, approaches. He also believes in the honesty of men and falls for Einar's spiel - and ends up right next to Sigurd.

When next Thorgil, the cooper, approaches, Sigurd weakly tries to warn him by raising a hand but falls unconscious again. And once again, Einar outsmarts the local yokel.

But then little Leif appears, seemingly from nowhere. He doesn't look like much but he carries a somewhat heavy-looking leather bag.

Einar stops him and asks him whether he too wants to fight for his village. Leif shakes his head. He wouldn't dream of trying to fight such a mighty warrior, he has come to bring the invaders a bag of silver as tribute. Einar smiles and commends little Leif for his actions. When Leif announces he will now give the bag to their leader, Einar steps forward greedily but is thoroughly surprised when Leif walks right past him and turns to Bjarni who, if truth be told, looks much more fearsome than Einar.
With a flourish bow, Leif gives the bag to Bjarni, then quickly steps aside as Einar - and everyone else - tries to grab the bag from Bjarni... and while they squabble and pull and push and start to hit each other in the stomach or on the chin, little Leif raises his village neighbours and together they attack the unsuspecting invaders who have just discovered that the heavy bag of silver was filled with nothing but river stones...

Leif, Sigurd, Erik, and Thorgil celebrating their victory

The audience - not just the kids, mind you - got quite involved. They tried to warn the somewhat simple Jork villagers of Einar's treachery, and there was, of course, happy cheering when Einar and his men were outsmarted and the villagers once again gained control of their village.

And this humourous overture laid the groundstone for the audience's reactions to the rest of the show:

• Two clans fighting for the supremacy of the area - two "armies" clashing against each other.

Dragon and Raven Clans battling it out

• Then each clan fights a Circle of Honour (man against man, no backstabbing) to establish their best fighter each.

About to see Odin's face...

• And finally, the two winners fight each other to the death, to be raised by Odin to feast at his table in Valhalla.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and so did the audience. Our thanks go to Timm, the Jomsvikings and guests.

The fighters at Jork

Jork Viking Market

Last Saturday, Schatz and I went to visit the Viking Market in Jork.

No, not York in the UK but Jork. In Northern Germany, just opposite Hamburg on the other bank of the river Elbe.

The market didn't look that big and I don't think they actually had the 250 re-enactors their poster advertised but it was relaxed, spacious to cope with the visitors, and the weather was excellent - in contrast with the last two years. We were able to say hello to - and hug - many friends there, traders, artisans, camp dwellers, warriors. Some had come from as far as Belgium or Sweden.

We did enjoy the fight show - more about that later. One thing we didn't enjoy that much were the myriad of semi-authentically dressed people at the market. I mean, anyone (at least I do hope so) knows that Gothic does not equal Viking and neither do Pirates of the Caribbean or Elf-shaped Larp ears. But what about these two?

Mr. and Mrs. Wutwolf (with the big thingies in front)

Actually, they were quite happy to pose for me...

Guess this makes for a new section in the Ithrottir. Apart from "Heard in..." we should also have "Seen in...". Well, these two definitely are my first choice.

Ithrottir and Xyllomer - odd!

Admittedly, Xyllomer is odder than Ithrottir but both reflect significant parts of my life.

Ithrottir is the quarterly Viking Age magazine which Kees, Torsten, Rona and I publish. It is written for, and by, Early Medieval re-enactors, providing background information, news on archaeological finds and digs, an extensive agenda of Early Medieval markets and exhibitions, reports on shows and markets, museums, books, as well as how-to's, i.e. instructions ranging from the making of fine files to needlebinding your own socks.

Xyllomer is an English language text-based Multi User Dungeon where for the past 18 years or so, people from around the world have gathered to play a net-based adventure game. Various races populate the world, professional and religious guilds strive for dominance, and sometimes the gods do what they do best - create havoc.
The MUD is programmed by volunteers, playing is free-of-charge. So if you read books rather than watch tv, if you like to interact rather than slay, if you are willing to invest time to get to know the system and are not afraid of a rather small playerbase at present, this is the place to be.
I used to play extensively from 1996 to about 2001, then took a break. Only to return with a vengeance in late 2006. At least when I'm not too busy with RL (real life) but even then, being a hero and adventurer can soothe your mind in the face of life's adversities, and it sure beats playing some game on your own!