Detling Military Odyssey

I’m always a bit divided during re-enactments because it’s one of the few activities where I put down my camera and participate fully. Most activities, I’m more than happy to observe and take photos but that went out the window at my first Hastings in 2015. Therefore, there are not nearly as many photos as there could be, and I’ve used other people’s images as well as many of my own from when I wasn't in kit. Credits to Lauren Roberts, Mike South and anyone else I may be borrowing images from. 

The sheer scale of the Detling Military Odyssey was one of the biggest surprises to me. Regia was out in full force and even then we were just a small patch on the massive spread. My military knowledge drops off significantly after the Hundred Years War so I could rarely identify the various troops that went marching past our site. Regia’s chosen time line for the event was the Oseberg boat burial of 834 AD meaning we were in full Viking mode, and for the female reenactors that meant NO WIMPLES!! Typically for Saxon and Norman period shows the women always have their hair covered, but being early Viking we were free. To help some of the guys understand why this was such a big deal for us, I had brought my wimple over and had Kyle wear it and readjusted it every 10 minutes. It was also really fun to have various girls in the group braiding each others hair and one lady had set up a full hair washing station on Sunday so there were a lot of very pampered Vikings walking around. 

In the mornings we’d start with training. We had so many warriors that the battlefield was a bit crowded. We worked on individual fights, shield walls, pitting long arms against short arms, capture the flag (no way were we letting them use our new banner) and tons of other exercises. It’s rather hard to be specific - lots of stabbing and Gav telling us to yell more. Some of the warriors also got to use clubs as a new weapon which added a new element to the usual fights. The first two days I fought with a spear before completing my spear test on the second day and upgrading to fighting with my sword on the final day. 

The afternoon’s war would begin with a fight over the inheritance and succession between the brothers Flossi and Gunnarr. The death of Queen Åsa, who was to be buried on the ship with all her worldly goods, had brought them back together to claim the wealth and positions she had left for them. Regia had brought out The Bear, our Viking longship, and gone to extensive work to recreate as many of the Oseberg artifacts that they could in an impressive display. While Gunnarr was the eldest son, he had left long ago amid bad blood and now wanted to claim what he saw as his rightful inheritance. After many angry words between the brothers and an initial clash of hearth guards, Gunnarr’s men would come flooding out from behind the tents and swarm the funeral site and so begin the battle. Every day we did the show there was a different pairing for the champion’s fight, one day both combatants had agreed to abandon their swords and shields and turn it into a wrestling fight, but it always ended in the same massacre. Diplomacy doesn’t make for an interesting read in the sagas.

I also won* my first circle of treachery! As usual, ØC had banded together at the beginning until the field was cleared of all other shields but green and white. Liam and Konrad were facing off and I stabbed Konrad in the back to face off against Liam. However before we actually came to blows, Liam had to leave the field. Heat stroke had snuck up on him so he had to get shade and water fast. The following day we had our fight and I won then, so at worst it was a delayed victory. The next was the circle of honour and I lasted long enough to hear my name called over the PA system for the first time. Of course part of it was Mike commenting on my lovely leg wraps, which he’d shown me how to do up properly so they stopped falling down all the time, but still fun to be called out. The finale of that came down to Kyle and Conner, Canada vs US, which Mike concluded was some plot of an invasion of England. Kyle failed us, unfortunately, still a good fight though. 

*victory may or may not have been by default, still, counts as a victory - let me have this.

Between the fights, most of us ended up just huddled in whatever shade we could find, preferably close to water as the whole weekend was around 30 degrees. I hadn’t bothered to bring my chain-mail over for this trip but other people who were fighting in theirs were practically melting. Around the site there were a variety of crafts going on. People were carving wood and stone, hewing logs to make new oars, tablete weaving, leather working, dyeing fabric and tons of other skills. 

During down time we could also wander around and see the other groups and their set up. It was hard to find a few of the more modern sites because of all the camo, but along the walk we saw the Wild West, Greek Hoplites, Later Medieval and Crusade tents, Napoleonic, English Civil, American Civil, WWI, WWII, and so many others that I couldn’t keep track of them all. The vendors were fascinating too, my brothers would have happily emptied their wallets in a heartbeat. I was on the hunt for a great coat in my size but, unfortunately, that never worked out. By the second day, you do become somewhat acclimated to the constant cannon/gun/artillery fire that is going on all around you. I’m normally a very jumpy person and even I managed not to flinch by the end of it. One of the days, after our fights, a group of us followed the sound of gunfire to the WWII battle performance. It was amazing to see, like a scene from a movie, of the Allied forces inching closer to the German line. Between the men running, medics evacuating the wounded, advancing vehicles and tanks and among it all the constant noise, it was hard to know where to look and you just tried to soak it all in. 

In the cooler hours of the day we also played some Viking games. A group favourite is the Gauntlet, where everyone except the victim lies down across from another person in a line and the vicitm has to go down the line while everyone else tries to hook and stop them with their legs. The runner invariably gets bogged down and ends up having to surrender. Other games are ones of flexibility (bonus points if you can do it in a dress), balance and strength. 

The most unique experiences of re-enactment often happen after hours. Those are the hours when you can be sitting on the ground starting supper and have the WWII lot driving past on an army jeep blasting and singing along to Frozen’s ‘Let It Go’ or to have our Viking beach invaded by the vintage girls in full knee-length swimming costumes, complete with floaties. There was a ‘cultural exchange’ as the Vikings taught the Daughters of Britain, a WWII A.T.S group, how to wield spears and they, in turn, got the Vikings marching at least somewhat in step around the site. The event centre was another story altogether. There were so many people in uniforms from across the ages, as well as groups who had decided to dress up. In one night we could have Thor and Aquaman dancing with German Wehrmacht officers and Confederate Civil War soldiers dancing alongside certain 1940s pin-up girls. As far as real dancing goes, I don’t really know what I’m doing for the most part, but if someone can lead then I can follow. It’s one of my favourite parts of the evening, to be spinning around a dance floor with friends and strangers alike. It’s also an amusing and pleasant image to see soldiers from across the world and across time dancing in a conga line rather than fighting. 

One of the hardest things to describe about reenactment is the fellowship around the fire. It is always the perfect end to a great day, sitting in a circle and talking, singing, and enjoying the peace around you. Once again I was one of the last ones around the fire because I didn't want the weekend to end. It was an amazing show, well worth the trip out. Vivat Rex!