Technoculture #34 Heidi Carine Brimi (Living history)
Channel: Federica Bressan
Date: 2019-10-30

For the first episode of the second season of Technoculture podcast, we travel back in time to the Vikige Age, about 1000 years ago. Our guide is Heidi Carine Brimi, a Viking age archeologist and expert in "living history." Heidi rectifies some misconceptions about the Vikings while walking us through the beautiful Norwegian woods.

Teaser video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQdBA6Bymps
Full transcript and more info at: http://podcast.federicabressan.com/heidi-brimi.php

List of selected contents

2:14 Heidi explains why living history with Hands-On-History is different from festivals and markets. 

3:40 You need very little equipment on a Viking hike, and almost everything is multipurpose.

5:04 Heidi explains the different between living history and historical re-enactment. 

6:20 Heidi tells us where her passion for history started. Growing up, her grandfather used to tell her many stories with the forest, elfs, trolls, and the ways of the ancient people. And she was a huge Indiana Jones fan! 

7:24 LARP is Live Action Role Playing.

9:56 Why you should leave your cellphone at home. 

11:56 Is historical accuracy important in living history? 

12:38 The gear used in living history is a faithful replica of the objects found in archeological sites. 

13:47 The difference between living history and experimental archeology. 

14:33 The Vikings were farmers, fishermen, traders, and of course, sometimes... raiders.  

15:17 Heidi describes the clothes that I am wearing, and where they come from.

17:03 What is the time frame of the Viking Age? When did it start? When and how did it end? 

18:37 Are there elements of the Viking culture that survive in today's Norwegian culture? More than we think, says Heidi. 

19:14 "Dra te sjøs!"

19:36 Norwegians, and other Scandinavian countries, have a special word for Christmas: "jul." You've guessed it: an ancient word from the Viking times.

22:51 The Vikings did not call themselves Vikings. Who did then? And who passed their sagas and stories down in history? 

23:52 Do participants need prior education to make the most of a living history experience? Is a preparation required? 

25:08 Heidi is frustrated with all the misconceptions that movies and popular culture have spread about the Vikings. She rectifies the record. 

27:07 A French historical source calls the Vikings "peacocks" for the bright colors they used for their clothing.

28:00 Does popular culture get anything right? Is anything we see in the movies actually historically correct? Mostly, the material culture, explains Heidi, because they it is consists in replicas from the archeological findings. 

28:48 Hands-On-History does not engage in fights and battles. The focus is on daily life and everyday people. Few people were Viking warriors, most of the people stayed at home and busied themselves with family business, the cattle, and simply staying alive. 

30:54 We think that during the Vikings Age there was not much comfort, because they didn't have our modern technology. But Heidi thinks otherwise.