Fimbul Ascomanni

## Ascomanni (Kensington Thing)

Horny Vikings! Yay!

**Short Description**: Troll Pride, Viking Fetishists.

**Dress**: They tend towards simple, sturdy, practical fare (yaaaaawwwwnnn…) often handmade, when they’re not done up in full “Crystal Raider” drag, with the furs and chainmail and leather and weapons and the helmets with the holes in them for the horns and… ooo, so much testosterone, I think I feel faint.

**Symbols**: Axes, “Dragon-knots” (you know, from the front of Viking ships? C’mon, work with me here), the Valknut (it’s not what you think sigh I’ve checked), the Hammer of Thor (also not what you’d think). Runes. Tattoos ranging from the authentic Futhark (GIYF) to the generically “bad-ass” (don’t be like that, I think it’s a lovely ass…)

**Lingo**: Tend towards the short words, value straightforwardness, tending from cheeky to outright rude in their honesty. The really hardcore neo-Viks like to pepper their speech with Old Norse neologisms that leave actual citizens of the Scandanavian Union scratching their heads and looking adorably befuddled.

**Music**

* Styles: Shranz, Drottkvaedi
* What’s on Their Playlists?: TrollGate, Ragnarok Repeater, Dark Angel, Obsidian Liferock
* Local bands: Skald, Kensington Runstone, Mansong, Three Honors, Ustrect

What does the Vu love about living in the Urban Duet ? It certainly isn’t the weather, (although the bunch that I’m talking about here would likely disagree). It’s that there are things you could only find here. And no, I’m talking about those awful Lutefisk tacos they flog at the street fair. If the Vu liked the smell of rotted fish, the Vu would still be with your mother. No, this delicious bunch is called the “Ascomanni ” and they definitely fall into the category of “Only in Minneapolis”.

Given the combination of an usually large Troll  population among the Twin Towns metahuman population (and when the Vu says ‘unusually large’ ;) you can rest assured the Vu knows what it’s talking about..) and a long history of Scandihoovianism, replete with plunder, bloodshed, jell-o and awkwardly long farewells, it was inevitable that something like the Ascomanni would arise.

Ascomanni started off as the local response to the big ‘ork culture’ movement of the late 50’s. Our resident troll population decided that with the elves  and orks  having their own languages  and culture and all that dreary rotarian Dwarf Pride down Duluth-way, it was high time they had a culture all their very own, only unfortunately no big, chatty, gorgeous reptile  to hand them their own dictionary, so they made one from what was lying around. Which was a fair bit of old norse.

Ascomanni is a pretty common style among the laboring classes The dedicated hard-core who live the whole lifestyle, the so-called “Raiders”, are actually pretty rare (rarer than you’d think if you live downtown, just remember, it only takes one or two of these big boys to make a crowd or fill a room), but the Ascomanni has influenced the flavor of Troll Culture, some would argue it is why there is such a thing as ‘Troll Culture’ in the Dynamic Duo and it’s a rare old 2-4-2 er that doesn’t have a little carved dragon-knot on the wall or a decorative (or more than decorative, dare I say? Oh my!) battleaxe over the mantle.

The one thing I think I love more than anything about the Big Bad Boys from the North is how they’ve resurrected public singing. True Raiders meet with the rest of their Band every night they’re able to sing the ‘old songs’ of Strum and Drang (usually a mangled combination of Wagner, power metal and Scandinavian folk music) and drink themselves stupid. But even urban Trolls with urban haircuts, MBA’s and who want nothing to do with Troll identity can usually be induced to belt out a couple of drinking songs or old jingles when their bros get together. It’s infectious and recently I’ve been to bars and clubs that have broken out into rude song (the ruder the better, I say!) even when there isn’t a horn or tusk in sight.

*Subculture my ass, they’ve become a damn cult, complete with spellworms and the lot. Seriously, you heard some of the pseudo-mystical drek they’ve been spouting? Fourth Ages and crystals and all manner of Neil -style high fantasy… wouldn’t put it past them to have picked up some Azzie -style blood magic to go with all the ‘Blood and Iron’ talk.*
-3yearsleft

*Shows what you don’t know about the Troth. The Berserkr form of the Warrior’s Path is acceptable, but no true Ascoman would ever touch spellcasting with a ten-foot pike. Magic is Argr  or unmanliness.*
-SaxonViolins

*But they’ve got nothing against being friends with those who would . Watch your astral, omae.*
-Practical Joik

*The Heathens MC are tied in close to the Ascomanni subculture. A fair number of recruits for the Heathens come from restless young Trolls looking to go a-viking on the open road. John Mistcalf is a bit of a legend among these guys.*
-Road Hog

Return to: Twin Cities Subcultures