The Viking Age Club & Society-Sons of Norway was formed to study the history of the Vikings and to lecture to the public about the true facts of this era. The Viking Age Club & Society-Sons of Norway is a non-profit educational organization based out of Sons of Norway Lodge #1-517. No paid employees of any kind, an all volunteer labor force making or buying the items that the club owns. Today the club is made up of people from all walks of life with memberships all over the United States and Canada.

The list of of people that use the Viking Age Club & Society-Sons of Norway as a resource of answers is a long one (We hate to brag but it is true), here are some:

The Sons of Norway

The American Swedish Institute

The American Danish Fellowship Minnesota

The Science Museum of Minnesota

The Norwegian Consulate

The Stiklestad Museum (Norway)

Many School systems across the United States

 

Over the years the club has lectured to tens of thousands of people. Some of our members were used as lecturers and demonstrators at the 1994 Olympics in Lilihammer, Norway and the Minnesota Science Museums' Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga by demonstrating and lecturing to the general public in all aspects of the Viking age culture.

The Viking Age Club & Society-Sons of Norway was started by Gary Anderson and Dennis Rusinko who both have a great love of history. They used to sit around a lounge (now gone) in the Sons of Norway headquarters called the 'Erik the Red Room'. The lounge was filled with Viking age motifs such as a horned helmet, a sword and an axe. This general lack of knowledge of Viking history, by people of Viking blood, was what finally did it for Gary and Dennis. Gary had been a member of several historical reenactment groups before and Dennis had studied the American Civil War for many (and I do mean many) years. So in 1985 the two went looking for other people with a similar interest in Viking history. The object of that search was to form a club based on an accurate recreation of the Viking Age. The group was small in the beginning but had the right balance of 'History Nuts', and re-creationists.

The membership is made up of people, of all ages, with a wide and varied interest in the history of the Viking Age. Some want only the academic part of the club. Others want to recreate this period as accurately as possible, and still live normal lives. The club utilizes a full encampment, that is set up, for different types of events. The members have lectured, and demonstrated crafts all over the United States. We have also lectured and demonstrated in Canada and Norway. All work and no play makes Olav - well you understand don't you. Parties do take place. Get-a-way weekends for education and fun, are also part of this club.

For more information on the Viking Age Club & Society-Sons of Norway, write, call or e-mail:

Viking Age Club & Society - Sons of Norway

617 24th Avenue NE

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55418

(612) 789-2272

 

E-Mails

Gary Anderson: ragnar@skypoint.com

Dennis Rusinko: dennisrusinko@aol.com

Eric Anderson: eirik_farwanderer@yahoo.com