Birch Sauna Trough and Guksi Cup:

This trough and cup pair was ordered for use within a traditional Scandinavian sauna. The trough follows the pattern of European nineteenth-century dough troughs, with Paul's own creative flair thrown in. It's dimensions are approximately: 24" L, 9" W, 4" D. The cup follows the pattern of traditional Finnish Guksi cups - however - this cup has been created from a block of birch and not a burl. It's dimensions are approximately: 6" L, 3" W, 3.5" D.

This pouch is part of our Reproduction line. It follows a historical design but incorporates modern materials for aesthetics and durability.  It was created using 3 - 4 ounce, commercially tanned leather - ending in a moose antler, scrimshaw, strap end colored with red ocher - all per customer request.

Type 10: Half boot or high shoe with a seam on front foot. Found in the early medieval Danish town of Haithabu/Hedeby.The original archaeological find has the sole and head leather made from one piece of leather, with one side being sutured to head leather and the other side remaining unbroken. The half boot shown in this album was created with an entirely separate sole and head leather. The Type 1 sole attachment was used for this specific shoe pair and they are made from 5 - 6 ounce, commercially tanned, cattle hide.

Taken from Groenman-van Waateringe, Von Willy. Die Lederfunde von Haithabu. Neumunster: Karl Wachholtz Verlag, 1984. Translated by Cherise Elliott.

  This particular horn originates from the set of the film The 13th Warrior. It has been incised with a memorial carving found on a boulder in Sjusta, Uppland, Sweden (date unknown).¹ The inscription on the beast is not the original commemoration of a man who died in Novgorod, but instead is a verse translated by John Lucas and written by "the great tenth-century Icelandic poet Egil Skallagrimsson”. It reads as follows: I’ve been with sword and spear slippery with bright blood where kites wheeled. And how well we (violent) vikings clashed!²

This horn was carved free hand using a knife and a gouge. The black within the runes is a mixture of ink and the ground up inner bark of a birch tree.

1. James Graham-Campbell, The Viking World ( London: Frances Lincoln Publishers Limited, 2001), 160.
^{2. Ibid., 171.} 

A talisman or rune charm, as described by Paul Rhys Mountfort in his book Nordic Runes, is "a single rune inscribed on some object, such as an amulet..."¹ for use as a magical token reflecting the properties of the particular rune inscribed.  These Dagaz talismans are made of apple wood and have the Dagaz design burned into the surface. They were commissioned to be used as gifts and came with a concise but detailed description of the meaning of Dagaz and its archetypal energy.² They have been listed under "Viking Creations" because they were not made using ocher or blood to highlight the rune, as literature has stated was originally done.³