Baby bump Vikingstyle

Viking Dress in red linen, handsewn by me. Photos: by Varg ❤

2021 is going to be a strange year. I’ll be going through the rawest rituals of all; Child Birth, and my partner and I will be raising our first born child together, during a Pandemic.
Though the year looks like it’s going to be spent socially distancing, we will be making the most out of it by working further on our art, both in fashion and music. We are currently in the process of writing two new albums, one for Fedrespor and one for Voluspá – And I am researching how to open a web shop – … Somehow, I feel like this baby has given me a new kind of creative spark, and my intuition has also grown stronger. The strengthening of these abilities have come with great cost, but I feel like it will be worth it in the end. After all, everything worth doing in life is hard. I remind myself of that whenever I feel like giving up or talk myself down. I hope you all remind yourselves of that too.

This Yule was spent doing a small but important Winter Solstice ritual by ourselves in the forest. We’ve just bought and moved into our first and most of the time these days is spent right here, in our nest. I’m kind of an introverted person by nature, so that’s actually fine by me, though I must say that I miss my family terribly.

These are the first pregnancy photos we’ve taken, shot right outside our door, (unfortunately without snow). I think there will be one or two more shoots before the baby’s arrival to Midgard (hopefully with snow) (:

Sól, The Viking Queen

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Winter, 2019 (A list of what is up)

 

Hello! I’ve been away for too long, I know. The last semester of my studies required a lot of work and I needed to prioritize that. Glad I did, because I learned so much and I got good results too! Been yearning for more creativity in my life and I believe now is the time for it.

So, what’s up? 

• Finished my studies in December, feel vey humble and proud at the same time. Blood, sweat and tears for 6 years = Cand.psychol.
• I’ve started sewing again. Got so many meters of fabric just waiting to be turned into viking creations. Started with this apron dress, that is based on the Oseberg find.
•  On New Years Eve I started planning upping my game here. (FINALLY, I know. Believe me it’s been in my mind a lot). Since then I’ve been photographing content that I will share on here.
• This monday I will reveal something here on my website that I have been aching to tell you about! It’s related to music, I can tell you that much;)
• Got a few collaborations coming up that I am very excited to reveal as well.
• Other than that, I’ve spent much needed time with family and kept myself busy working out and preparing for the future. Everyday life happens.
  

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  Dear readers: Hope everything is going great for you.
  Thanks for sticking around, it truly means a lot!
  Please tag along, I will make it worthwhile.

  -Sól
  

Midgardsblot “2018” – Derpy Pictures

 There is this thing on instagram where one can ask one’s followers to answer a poll. I wondered whether you would like some derpy pictures from Midgardsblot, and 98% of you did.. so here you go! I thought I took hundreds of pictures of really cool things, but after coming home I realized that I got so caught up in the festivities that I forgot to bring my camera to several of the concerts…. Instead, I had loads of these glorious bits photos….. Enjoy. 

The plastic tent camp is a lot of fun. I really dig this lazybag. 
At my happiest and laziest.

On our way to the festival area, I forced my partner to take many pictures of me in front of a tree. I stroke several badass poses…but they all turned out useless due to poor photo quality (stil don’t know why).  My hair was on point so that kinda sucked. This is what a fail photoshoot looks like. 
….Oh well who cares.  I was silly happy, just look at that stupid smile.

Mandatory cheesy festival picture time

So is getting tattooed. Yes, that happened.

Luckily, I was in good hands. I mean, who wouldn’t trust this man? Look. at. his. face. (Also – the chain for my necklace broke during some random headbanging, and I had to use a hair tie to hold it together. Some kind of duck tape fixes everything solution….Ugly but silver saving.

I wasn’t drunk when I decided to do this, I was just ready for a change. The design is something I’ve had in mind since last Midgardsblot, and Sean Parry is talented and pretty goddamn cool. I’ll show off my first tattoo on a later occasion.

All in all it was a pretty good festival. I had a blast and forgot about my worries for a while. Right now, I am working hard on my master thesis and my worries are back. Hahaha…. Oh well, that’s life right now.Sól, The Viking Queen

Midgardsblot “2018” – part one

Midgardsblot Metal Festival was fantastic, as always. I saw Garmarna and Dimmu Borgir and those are amongst my top ten favourite bands. The latter almost cost me my voice, sorry not sorry to those of you standing next to me during that concert. I met so many interesting, talented and kind hearted people, and I laughed more than I have done in months… Post festival blues are inevitable, wish the festival lasted a whole week. More photos to come!

Sól, The Viking Queen 

 

Borrekapuangen ‘2018’, part two

 

This summer hit us northerners hard with its’ immense and unusual warmth. Borrekaupangen was filled with sweaty and drowsy vikings, and I felt a bit lightheaded myself. I wondered if it was ever this warm during the Viking Age, remembering a gist of something I read somewhere. As I strolled through the marketplace I though of what it was really like back then, in every way. There are so many questions and so few answers… The thought of living to see felt both stressful and calming at the same time. The more I thought of it, the weirder it got until I just had to lay it aside and do something grounding and physical, like squeezing my boyfriend’s hand (“hey, we’re here, right now”). You see, I can easily get tangled up in thought experiments, backtracking and overthinking. On one hand it feeds my creative processes, but if I feed it too much energy, it kills them. All of us have creation and destruction forces within us – order and chaos is completely normal, but normal is utterly surreal. Life is so strange and at times it feels as if everything is moving in circles. This train of thought came and went as I greeted friends at the marked and picked up shiny object to behold. So…what was it like during the Viking Age? We won’t know for sure, but somehow, I feel sure of this- There’s nothing new under the sun. The human race is not that innovative and my reoccurring thoughts are not that original, in any way. So…What is the moral of my random common sense life lesson? I hope the archeologists dig up more viking graves that will make us ask more questions. I want to know more, and I am sure you do too.

Sól, The Viking Queen

 

Borrekaupangen, Sudden photoshoot in front of The Gilde Hall

 

 

This Majestic Viking Hall is a reconstruction of a great mead hall from the Viking Age. Imprints of such halls were found in 2007 by archeologists, which strengthened Borre’s position as a centre of power, even before the Viking Age. Archaeological theories, and even the epic of Beowulf has been taken into account in the reconstruction- simply because we do not know what these halls looked like. This excites me the most about the viking age- the mystery and the art. On the exterior, shingles have been carefully laid and tarred, and Beautiful wood carvings adorn the upper walls and the entrance.

This is a popular spot to shoot photos for modern day vikings. After pillaging the market, I had to pose like the queen I am;) The viking garb is something I made a few years ago, and I made it according to the Oseberg style, a long train apron dress in diamond twill. The underdress is not based on archeological evidence – as it has no arms…! I know, shocking…. *rolls eyes* According to some russian women and…men(!!) on instagram I might as well be naked simply because I am showing my shoulders. Bahahah! I know ,what the actual fuck? On another note, I doubt that vikings covered up that much. They worshipped fertility gods and goddesses for fucks sake. Let’s take a moment to appreciate that<3

For more info about the Gilde Hall, click HERE

What is do you love the most about the Viking Age?

Sól, The Viking Queen 

 

Borrekaupangen ‘2018’ (part one)

Walking amongst The Borre Mounds is almost a religious experience to me. It always has been, and always will be. Borrekaupangen is the biggest, biannual viking market in Norway, and it is my favourite.  I had an amazing day filled with positive energies, hugs, friends, and beauty. Several blog readers came up to me to chat, I felt humbled and happy. Other vikings invited ut to stay to join the gilde, it felt as if they genuinely wanted us around, which was nice. We had to leave early but I swore to myself that next time, we will be staying for a whole week. I shot pictures, complimented the craftswomen – and men, and felt the sun warm my bare shoulders. Time stood still.

I bought some necessities, but the most important thing I brought home was warmth in my Heathen Heart. A feeling of belonging, a feeling of being Home. 

More pictures to come…

Sól, The Viking Queen

The idea of a perfect summer

 

Photos: Emilie Vikene

Here in the north, the winters are dark and brutal. Therefore, summer is cherished and celebrated by Norwegians. I am currently trying to plan my vacation to make the most of the time I have (in between work and thesis writing). The last week of July, I am going to distant shores to explore a new country, and I am really excited about that! However, this will probably not be the idea of a perfect summer…

Why? Simply because…I will not be attending as many viking markets as I would have liked to, and to be honest -that makes me quite sad. For a modern viking, these markets are the closest thing to an authentic viking experience in organized form. Like re-living some valued memory of the past with fellow enthusiasts. Sigh.. I will make it to Borre viking market – a day trip at least. And…There is still some sort of hope for Gudvangen as I still cling to the idea of it, refusing to let it go. Wanna know something? At one point I actually considered asking random people on IG to join me in order to lower the expenses . Luckily, one of my friends talked me out of the idea, reminding me that I would have to sleep with pepperspray under my pillow in that kind of stranger danger scenario. Haha, I wouldn’t actually have gone through with this experiment – but I think it paints a picture of how bad I would like to go. Lack of money – and lack of people to join me makes this challenging. Oh well. It’s times like these I wish blogging actually made me some cash, but in the niche world of underground blogging, it doesn’t work like that..

However, I will make this summer glorious. You can take the girl out of a viking market, but you can never take the viking spirit out of the girl. No matter where I go or what I do, it is always in some sort of Nordic spirit. Inside or outside a viking camp, it really doesn’t matter. To Hel with it- I’ll just hand stitch some new viking garb that I can strut around with in the forest. That, a bottle of mead, people I love and who love me back, is my idea of a perfect summer.

What are your plans for the vacations?

Sól, The Viking Queen

 

Berry Lips

 

Decided to take up a project that I started some time ago; experimenting with and creating ‘berry makeup looks’. A few years back I did an all natural look where I painted my entire face with blueberry makeup (eyebrows, eyes and lips). This is today’s lip colour – created by mixing blueberries and raspberries with honey, and dabbing it on in three layers. So…This is the colour that came of that, Tadaaa! Those of you who have been around for some time know that I love modern makeup and that I like to go batshit crazy with it. Every now and then it’s fun to experiment with whatever is at hand, though. Wild berries have quite potent colours and I have a few more “experiments” coming up 😉

Sól, The Viking Queen

Viking Boob Bling is everything

I am all about the Viking Boob Bling, so I made it a ‘hashtag thing’.
The more rows, the merrier. Would love to add more rows for that Pagan Peacocking Extraness.

I have quite a few different Viking Boob Bling rows, and this is my bead combination of choice at the time. Behold! Switching up the colour scheme and bead combinations to match my Viking Garb is something I enjoy doing while watching TV.  Man, I wish I could present a more magical background activity, and tell you that I ask the gods for creative help in a special ceremony while chanting forgotten songs before engaging in the bead threading process… but that is simply not the case. (Keep in mind that I might do those things – just not whilst threading beads). Every piece of jewelry and every bead that I have means something special to me – on a totally random note -This reminds me of a really cool lady I met this summer – who said that she talked to her beads as she crafted them, and that they all had different personalities. She said that she threw away the nasty behaving beads because she didn’t like bullies, and then she cackled like a madwoman. That lady was cool. I hope I meet her again. 

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On a random note – I have been looking for a silver pair of turtle brooches for what seems like forever.. This might be a shot in the dark – but please contact me if a collaboration/promotion sounds interesting. Yes, I am shamelessly putting it out there.

Wishing all of you a glorious weekend. I’m off to spend the last bit of this month’s student loan on food. Haha, The struggle is real! Who can relate…

Sól, The Viking Queen