• Freya Harrison answered:

  Hi BeckieSue! There are a lot of groups around, who do all sorts of different historical periods. Some do living history, some do display/theatrical fighting, some do free combat and most do a mix of all of those things. I’m part of a big national Dark Ages society called The Vikings (website here: http://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/) – between them and another national group called Regia Anglorum most of the country is covered. There are also lots of independent local groups, like the one I fight with in Oxford, who are called the Wychwood Warriors.

  In Oxford we fight in the park (which amuses the tourists and annoys the ultimate frisbee players), but with my group from the Vikings, I train at Old Sarum down near Salisbury – have you heard of it? It’s an iron-age hill fort and English Heritage give us special permission to fight there every week, which is amazing. Only beaten by doing the Battle of Hastings every year on the original battlefield – that rocks.

  Anyway, if you would be happy to say which area of the country you live and what type of reenactment you’d be interested in, I might be able to put you in touch with a friendly and local group. I definitely recommend giving it a go, hope you find somewhere

Comments

• beckiesue commented:

  From the North West, in Cheshire.
  And I think I’d be interested in all three of the things you mentioned, living history, theatrical fighting and free combat. My friends call me a bit geeky, because i have an OBSESSION with Lord Of The Rings and play xbox games like Dragon Age and Oblivion, which got me interested in combat with swords and historical weapons in the first place and made me want to have a go first hand.
  Now i’m working on a book set in historical times and it has a big historical battle scene at the end and i think i would write it alot better if i had first hand experience.
  Does it cost alot by the way?

  • Freya commented:

    Cool! If Manchester is handy for you, there are a couple of Vike groups up there. I think I’ve met a few people from the group called Midgard – details here: http://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/membership/groupdb/groupdisplay.php?id=44 If you like, you can say that Freya from Manaraefan sent you Anyway, from that link you shoudl be able to find other groups nearby as well.

    It can end up costing quite a lot, depending on how much you do – making your own basic set of clothing can be quite cheap, but if you want fancy clothes, your own sword (and sometimes basically an entire second life’s worth of authentic camping/household gear…) it mounts up. e.g. a good sword will set you back at least £140. People are always willing to lend out kit to people who are just starting out, though, so you don’t have to invest lots of cash at the beginning.

    How is the book going? Sounds exciting!

    • beckiesue commented:

      Thanks so much! I’ll give it a go
      And it’s going really well thanks, it’s a bit of fantasy in there too and i’m really proud of it
      Have you ever done battle performances at festivals too by the way? Odd question, I know, but I was at Bloodstock Open Air last year and they had a mini viking battle reeactment there when those sort of themed bands were playing. It was AWESOME!!! :D