Greetings!

This is the homesite of Birkana, a group of Viking re-enactors who are members of The Vikings! Most of the photos used at the moment are courtesy of various other group pages - mostly from the society homepage, but some are of the group. When I can get some more photos scanned I will upload them. Our group is only small but we hope to expand soon - the Society itself had over 700 members at the last count. Our group is based in the South Manchester area in the UK (although the Society has groups from other UK areas plus a few in foreign climes) and has members from 4 to 50+ years old, male and female, whose activities cover most aspects of life in the Dark Ages.

There are many roles to play in the Society, from villager to warrior - the choice is up to individual members. For those who would be warriors the training is thorough and tests must be passed before anyone is allowed to take part in battles at shows. Those of a more gentle nature can find occupation in various crafts or acting in the scenes at shows. Villager crafts and acting skills may be practised at shows and displays without tests, although there are Society members who are qualified to assess the level of skill achieved. We try to be as accurate as possible, with costume and props as authentically correct as we can make them. Each of us has an appropriate name - sometimes more if we have more than one racial identity - although known as The Vikings! the Society also covers other racial groups from the period e.g. Saxon, Irish & Welsh Celts, Scots, Norman, and even some from strange far off places!

The Society takes part in many shows during the summer months - some large, some not so large, and some small. Some groups (our groups isn't able to at the moment) also put on small displays at schools as Viking history is part of the school curriculum at the moment.
One of our personal highlights was taking part in the Battle of Hastings re-enactment in 2000. This was done in conjunction with other re-enactors of the period and consisted of several thousand warriors and village/crafts people. Not all the shows are done on this large a scale, most are just one or possibly two societies.

If you have any comments or queries, or if you are interested joining The Vikings, please email our newest member, the newly appointed Recruitment Officer:-

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This site maintained by Grimma Eiriksdottir.
Material Copyright © Grimma Eiriksdottir
Last updated: May 11th 1998