Researching and reenacting in the far north

Copyright notice:

All photos, texts and diagrams are by me, unless otherwise stated.  Documents are primarily copyrighted using the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share-Alike (International 4.0) licence.


fru Þóra Sumarliðadóttir

Photo by Anna Malmborg

Photo by Anna Malmborg

I am fru Þora Sumarliðadóttir and 'live' on the northern edge of the Kingdom of Drachenwald, the European (and South African/Midle Eastern) branch of the SCA, an international organization for the study of Medieval Europe and regions in contact with Europe prior to ca. 1600 CE.

My primary focus is the material culture of Northern Norway prior to the Kalmar Union at the end of the 14th century, and how this region is interconnected with Scandinavia and the rest of Europe.  In practical terms, I am fascinated with all of the  skills involved with living in this Arctic region, from farming to the fisheries to utilizing the resources in the mountains.
I am a fiber geek.  I love wool.  I love weaving on the floor loom, tablet weaving, spinning... take a look on the projects page for a range of fibery activities.  I also dabble in leatherwork and am happy to learn anything else I happen upon.

*Disclaimer*: Because of the heavy Northern Norwegian medieval focus for my research and trials related to reenactment, I may make statements or pose points of view connected to my persona that may seem counter to prevailing knowledge of how things were or were done further down in the Continent or Isles. This happens when taking a road less traveled.  I'm started on a path paved with as much research as possible, but there are huge holes in both source material as well as relevant research to build on. But I'm happily chipping away at it and welcome any information others can give. If you're curious, please ask. If you have information you think I should know, please share. Really, there's just too much to learn and, happily, the more I learn, the less I *know*!


hoto Credit: Mitya Ku

Maggie, Fiberdog

Maggie is my ever constant companion who is always up for a hike in the mountains or chilling under the loom.