BIRGIT FOSTERVOLD
A WOMAN DANCES at the opening ceremony of Norway’s Midgardsblot festival, which took place in August. The ‘Blot,’ performed by shamanic folk outfit Folket Bortafor Nordavinden – who are endorsed by Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg – featured two hours of ritual drumming, chants and dancing, as audience members were invited to lay offerings such as jewellery on a fire pit, bless the wooden totems for Freya and Odin (see far left of photo), offer a paean to the gods of their choice, and – perhaps not one for veggies or vegans – dip a birch branch into a pot of blood, brush the figurines, and then anoint themselves with it.
Held at Borre, North Europe’s largest Viking burial grounds, where a reconstructed Great Hall sits next to the main stage, Midgardsblot is as much a spiritual retreat as it is a festival. Deeply bound to the notion of community, it hosts a recreation of a Viking Village, battles, seminars and walks alongside its line-up of pagan folk and extreme metal bands.