the unsafety dance.
NorsePlay wants to put forth the original & doctorate-worthy observation that there could be a historical throughline betwixt medieval Scottish Sword Dances, Viking Age Berserker Rituals, and the Vendel Period Spear Dancers.
Much supposition has been made upon this (pictured replica) plate from the Sutton Hoo helmet, the Odinic association from the ritual Huginn & Muninn raven-crested helmets, the choice of Gungnir-like spears as Odin's favoured never-miss weapon, the stylized kicking/dragging outer foot, and dance posturing of these figures.
Our NorsePlay hypothesis runs thus visually, backtracking with the Scottish Sword Dances (15th c. CE):
In this tradition there's also the halberd-like Lochaber Axe used in a dance, and a Dirk Dance, the latter termed a "battle dance" with "dueling" performers. The sword dance is done without touching the crossed swords before battle, which if successful is an indicator of imminent victory ... or death if not.
Further back, we have tentative guesses that the Viking Bersærkergang was a ritually evoked religious ecstatic state reached via a frenzied dance, either pre-battle or done just before battle in front of assembled enemies, which would double as a psychological warfare technique.
And at earliest, the Odinic Torslunda Spear Dancers:
Much supposition has been made upon this (pictured replica) plate from the Sutton Hoo helmet, the Odinic association from the ritual Huginn & Muninn raven-crested helmets, the choice of Gungnir-like spears as Odin's favoured never-miss weapon, the stylized kicking/dragging outer foot, and dance posturing of these figures.
There's always been a poetic association with dancing and fighting, the idea of fencing or dueling being a martial choreography where one move initiates and another counters in the brutal squared-off dance of the holmgang, and this throughline could trace that context's origin.
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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology, field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.
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