Character Design for Þórgeir, an important member of the Ingvars and Jarl of Langskegsvík
My graduate thesis consists of a day long immersive adventure that takes Guests into their own Viking age Icelandic saga. During their stay, Guests sail from Norway to Iceland, dine in the hall of Jarl Þórgeir, engage in a generations long feud, and set out raiding on an ill fated voyage that finds them landing in Valhalla.
Exciting though the experience may be, the deeper goal is to educate and provide a well founded vision of the Viking age. The sets, narrative, and dressings are designed with attention to history, archeology, and the literary sagas of medieval Iceland. Ideally, Guests will come away with a better understanding of how the so called Vikings lived and the nuanced way they saw themselves and the world.
A summarized map of the experience as a whole.
Guests begin their experience in a small village nestled in a Norwegian fjord (see map) awaiting passage by ship to Iceland. A few small shops in the village sell clothing, food, and sundries of the Viking age. Whispers can be heard of a feud in Iceland, connected distantly to this village only by a few relatives who live there.
Once all is prepared, Guests head toward the Boathouse where they board a Viking age longship that will ferry them to Iceland. The journey will be rough, but with luck they will make it to Iceland unharmed. The captain of their ship is Þráinn Þráinnsson, a seasoned and experienced sailor who is heading to Iceland to aid his cousin Þórgeir in a violent feud. Along the way, Guests learn details of the feud´s history as well as a few nautical stories of the Norse.
Rough animatic of the voyage by ship that will transport Guests fully into the Saga experience in Iceland
Upon arriving in Iceland, Guests are free to roam about a Viking age settlement, learning as they explore shops, farmhouses, construction sites, and natural areas within the stockades that defend the settlement of Langskegsvík. Here they will not only learn and participate in historical and cultural aspects of Viking age life, but also pick up further details about the settlement, its history, and the turbulent story of the families that have occupied it.
A celebratory feast has been set in the longhouse at the center of the settlement, and Jarl Þórgeir has invited all to attend. During the celebration, guests are served authentically reconstructed dishes from Viking age Scandinavia (with more "inspired by" options for Guests with a less adventurous palette or dietary restrictions) and dine in a reconstruction of an Icelandic longhouse. During the celebration, Þórgeir and his family recount stories from their family history that range from comical to grave. Many of these stories directly relate to the generations long feud that the family is embroiled in. Þórgeir implores Guests to aid in a necessary final blow in the feud by agreeing to take part in a raiding party later that afternoon.
Longhouse Exterior
Longhouse Dining Experience Interior
One of the key attractions for Guests in Langskegsvík is a temple of the Norse religion. The building itself is modelled closely after late Viking age Christian stave churches, as much of their influence and decorative motif still harkens back to pre-Christian Norse religion. Though the building, Guests are led into an "outdoor" amphitheater in which they witness a retelling of stories from both the Prose and Poetic Eddas. These stories are presented through 360 degree projection show with additional physical set and show elements.
Guests are free to roam about the settlement once again, but when they are ready, they proceed to the south of the settlement where they will board another longship, this one decked out for war. In an attraction similar to that which brought them in from the Norwegian Fjord, Guests depart Iceland to go "á víking", as the Norse would say. Once again, Þráinn Þráinnsson captains the ship and narrates to Guests throughout the voyage.
Mythology show Stave Church exterior
Mythology show seating area
Mythology show main show set
Luck is not on the side of the would-be Vikings, however. Shortly after setting sail, Guests are surprised by an ambush attack from a much larger party on the opposite side of the feud. A rain of arrows and spears falls down upon the ship before all is suddenly dark.
Shortly, Guests find themselves docking at the steps of Valhalla, the Norse afterlife for those who fall in battle. Here they are invited to one last celebration at the end of their saga adventure. The golden halls of Odin offer plentiful food and drink, as well as live entertainment and music.
Valhalla exterior show set and façade
