Hornbore Ting

When three Swedish families that we know here all raved about the Hornbore Ting Viking market, I knew we had to check it out. I found the website and was dismayed that it had no button to click to translate the whole thing into English. I took this to mean that this event is not targeted toward tourists. I also took it as a challenge.

In addition to not really knowing what the Viking market was, I also didn't know how to get there. I knew the name of the town the market was in, and I figured if I could get to the town, it couldn't be so hard to find a Viking market happening there. Just follow the line of cars, right?

After about an hour's drive, I found the adorable town of Hamburgsund, but not the market. Quick pit stop at the tourist information booth, and we were there!

As soon as we arrived, we noticed many people in Viking-style clothing, simple linen and wool outfits with bare feet. Turns out, if you dress up the entrance to the market is free. Being a huge fan of dressing up AND of getting in free, I was sad that we hadn't worn our Viking garments. (Side note: We do not actually own any Viking garments.)

Carving runes into a rock?

Market stalls lined both sides of a path. Many stalls were in open tents, large canvas cloths held up by wooden beams. The sellers dressed in period clothing and nothing modern could be seen in the stalls. They sold handmade goods such as leather crafts, silver jewelry, knitted items, and carved wood. Some sold items you might use to make your own crafts: skeins of wool and bolts of linen.

Viking clothes for sale, so you can get in free NEXT year

Behind many of the tents selling various wares stood other tents where the vendors and their families slept. We saw babies napping on beds covered in fur pelts and families eating from hand-carved bowls with wooden spoons. The Viking market lasts for three days, and it seems that the sellers simply live there, hardcore Viking-style, for the duration.

A few vendors offered food. We ate sausages served in a rustic flatbread that had been cooked on a stove made of rocks. One little girl had a small booth that reminded us of a lemonade stand, except she was serving fläder juice (elder berry, I think? It's our new favorite.) in rough clay cups that we returned after we finished the drink.

Cooking the flatbread

Korv med bröd, Viking style

The Vikings offered a few activities. There was jewelry-making, archery with homemade bow and arrows, and one stall where you could throw a hammer at a target. There were also talks and performances. Since they were all in Swedish, we didn't pay too much attention. But at one point, a large crowd gathered in a clearing and many Vikings dressed in chainmail and carrying shields and swords began to put on a fighting demonstration.

Vikings fighting in a clearing, surrounded by tents

We climbed up to a rocky overlook, which had an incredible view of the water and surrounding areas. A group of kids, all dressed in linen and wool, were chasing each other barefoot around the path at the top, brandishing handmade wooden shields and swords.

Sweden, you're too beautiful for words!

I have never attended a Renaissance Fair, but I think this was effectively a Swedish/Viking version of that. I imagine that a Renaissance Fair in the States would be much bigger, more crowded, rowdier, and more commercial. People wearing store-bought costumes, rather than homespun garments. I can't imagine any fair being as small, charming, and lovely as this one.