As I was figuring out what to write about in this blog, I wondered about the fact that the time of the famous danish vikings is not remembered more in the official Danish history.
However, I do know one way which is also i challenge for Svend Eriks point that "noone could stand the smell of old times". In may every year the beach of Moesgaard close to Aarhus turns into a genuine Viking living area for a weekend. Complete with mud (if it rains), smelly horses, fights in the middle of the camp and a market. Every participant has to wear shoes of leather and homemade viking clothes. Noone is able to shower either - accept a swin in the sea.
Off course, the smell is not authentic - it does only progress over 2-3 days - but if we're looking for an authentic memoty site of the viking culture, I'd say that this is the closest thing you get to the real deal.
I visited myself 2 years ago - only I had to give it up since my then two year old son was literally drowning in the mud - how's that for authentic, Svend Erik?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Of course, it is authentic in the sense (!) that the smell is authentic, just like the smell in York we talked about last time, is authentic as the physical smell it happens to be. But are either of them authentic viking smells? No, but they serve as authentic reminder - or just sensual - reminders or associations of what viking smell might hav been. They represent - as Jacob Ulrich (the authentic Jacob!) - mentioned last time Viking life, among other things. They excercise this function if they engage in a sign process producing this meaning (but may of course represent other things. Authenticity is always a contextualised meaning (I think). It is semiotics (see the wonderful book "Signs in Use", Routledge 2000)
ReplyDeleteI think you're getting out of this too easily, Svend Erik. The smell may not be a thousand years old, but it is the same smell of horses, sweat, leather, old clothes, possibly blood or other bodily fluids, that was the smell of the vikings. And certainly, the mud is authentic as well. So, if you still refuse to acknowledge the authenticity of this experience, I would very much like an exact description of how the mud and smell og today is any different from the mud and smell of the vikings - other than the time span. Do you know of any specific evolvement of the smell of sweat or horses or the texture of mud that I am not aware of?
ReplyDeleteInteresting discussion this one :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you, Lene, think that the Viking Week offers an authentic experience or not? You start by saying that the smell isn't authentic, but end up suggesting that the mud, smell etc. probably hasn't evovled over the past 1000 years. Is the point that the authenticity mostly lies in the physicality of the experience, meaning that a basic sensation of certain smells, the feeling of mud under your feet or other stimuli reminds you of a specific period in danish history?
I think Svend Eriks point about the context is essential in this respect, especially when speaking about the perspective of memory. If I were to engage in a week of Viking experiences at Moesgaard then the smells would most likely make me think of the weeks I've spent at Roskilde Festival and not necessarily evoke any authentic feeling relating to vikings. But everything surrounding the smells - the costumes, horses, battles etc. - would maybe make me associate the smells with something of the viking era.
Generally sensations as taste and smell are most likely some of the most difficult things to relate to an authentic past that goes beyond personal experiences. It is easier to evoke a historical past through photos, paintings etc. than through a smell. To me a taste or a smell normally relates to something I've experienced in my own life and not something I imagine other people before me experienced - as the vikings for instance.
Hi Jacob,
ReplyDeleteFirstly: I created this blog to challenge Svend Eriks point that you cannot create an authentic experience of the old times, because "noone can stand the smell of the old times". When I said the smell was not authentic, what I meant was that it only progeresses over relatively short time whereas the actual viking smell progressed over the whole life of each viking.
But it is authentic in the sense that it is the smell of actual people figting and living life as if they were vikings, blended with the smells of horses close by, clothes that hasn't been washed lately.
The same goes for the mud: It isn't the actual mud of the vikings, but it is actual mud that limits the possibilities of joining the experience but heightens the authenticity of it (for those capable of joining it).
But no, I don't think that the smells ect are what make it a viking experience. I'm just pointing out that they make it a more authentic viking experience, if you follow the starting point made by Svend Erik.