Beowulf and That 70's Show

I had an all-day field study with my Nordic Mythology class and it was all I could have ever hoped for. We went to Lejre, which is the Mythological center of Denmark. We started in the nearby town of Roskilde, which houses the Viking Ship Museum. The museum holds some of the largest, in-tact viking ships uncovered from the nearby lake. Archaeologists fenced off sections of the lake and drained the water from those areas to excavate the wreckage. They took out every single piece of ship, sent it to a warehouse, and had to construct the pieces into ships, as they once were. A giant Viking puzzle. The history was so great in this museum, and having my professor there was an added bonus.

From there, we went to the Passage Graves. There are essentially large, hollowed out mounds of earth out in the fields of Lejre. Families used to be buried there, with an open entrance for frequent visitation by the relatives of the lost ones. There is a lot of symbolism packed into these burial rituals, but I think it is such an artistic way to be remembered.

Finally, we come to Beowulf. If you are not familiar with the story, here is a quick synopsis: Monster named Grendel is killing a bunch of people in the mead hall. Swedish Viking named Beowulf comes to Denmark to lend a hand (pun intended... wait for it), Grendel attacks, Beowulf rips his arm off (BOOM LEGENDARY PUN) (cue sunglasses), Grendel's mother seeks revenge, Beowulf kills her, years later Beowulf kills a dragon, he dies while also killing the dragon. Sorry for spoilers. Anyway, the story is set in Denmark, specifically Lejre! We went to the site of the great mead hall that Grendel supposedly attacked in story! It was just an outline of what they had uncovered years before, but it was still humbling being on this historic spot. Oh, we did a dramatic reading of the battle of Grendel vs Beowulf. Yours truly was Beowulf. I was quite the hero.

Finally, we went to an old Viking fortress in Lejre and got to see a reconstruction of a classic mead hall in the Viking style. Pretty cool sight for a day filled with Nordic Mythology!

After a long day of Vikings and mead (yes, the professor did bring homemade mead for the class to drink), it was time to get ready for a concert. Have you ever heard of the band The Sweet? No? Do you know the song 'Ballroom Blitz'? If no, here is the link you need to learn a classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzpWJx3I2DY

I went to go see this 70's band that I grew up listening to because of my Dad! I grew up with their music and I can really appreciate a classic rock band. Unfortunately, Sweet only plays in Scandinavia and Germany because they are getting quite old... Well, guess where I am studying this semester!!! Scandinavia.

Going to the Sweet concert was a blast. I was CLEARLY the youngest one in the crowd, and I was still rocking out harder than everyone else. I knew all the words and they put on a really good show. These old rockers just have so much experience about how to make a show great, I prefer hearing them over many of the new bands these days! It was also refreshing to hear so good, old fashioned rock n' roll. I have missed it so...