THE VIKINGS, A Very Short Introduction
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loginEvery February the schoolchildren of York dress up in traditionalViking costume and this northern English city holds its annualJorvik Viking Festival. Sagas are retold, battles are re-enacted, andViking longships race along the River Ouse. The rape and pillagehas been toned down and York’s modern traders have embracedVikings with more enthusiasm than their 9th-century forebears: atthe time of writing, shoppers at the out-of-town designer outlet candesign a Viking tunic, Viking-related books are on display inBorders and Waterstones, The Vikings starring Kirk Douglas andTony Curtis is being shown at the local cinema, and cafes andsnack-bars offer a variety of longboat baguettes and Viking-themedsandwiches. The festival promoters claim that the event harks backto Jolablot, a midwinter festival held by ‘the original Vikings’,although in fact it was invented in 1985, and marks the annualdownturn in visitor figures to Jorvik, the Viking-themed touristattraction.
