Ehlswitha and
Kjarten are the names of Dagaz - Inguz - Jera's medieval Danish historical representatives.
They are an average Danish couple, based out of the Jutlandic trading centre of
Haithabu, representing the years 1008 and 1009.
Dagaz - Inguz - Jera's demonstrations and presentations are based around the premise that 1008/1009 was a time of conquest1 for the Danes, with many Danish citizens
travelling to mustering points to become part of a second “immense raiding army” destined to reach Sandwich, England, in August 1009.2 Kjarten is one of these men, currently en-route to a major mustering point, having left his generations-old family trade as a light commercial Herring fisherman.3 Ehlswitha is an average wife, following her husband on his English conquest journey. They leave behind a small sunken home and garden, shared with family and servants, near Haithabu's bustling local market4.
Dagaz - Inguz - Jera's encampment is small and pleasant; a temporary shelter that an average medieval Scandinavian would have erected when a days worth of coastal sailing had come to an end. Our encampment does not resemble the typical medieval Scandinavian tent and cooking area that one often sees in living-history displays. The large A-frame style tents and iron cooking pots/utensils were used only by those within the highest socio-economic brackets, a lifestyle that DIJ does not represent. All of our artifacts have been traditionally-crafted out of wood, leather, bone or horn - materials that ensure our lifestyle demonstrations highlight the skills and work that a typical medieval Scandinavian couple would have employed when on an extended journey.
Interested in booking us for your next event? Please see our Bookings Page OR
Contact Dagaz-Inguz-Jera via:
E-mail: dij@historyanew.com
Toll Free @ 1.866.802.ANEW (2639)
Within the Edmonton area @ 780.989.ANEW (2639)
1. Ian Howard, Swein Forkbeard's Invasions and the Danish Conquest of England 991-1017, (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2003), 12-14, 73 -98. What follows is a very brief explanation of the "time of conquest" that I am referring to above. After "a treacherous attack on Scandinavians who were settled in parts of England, which was sanctioned by King Aethelred, Swein Forkbeard took personal command of an army and invaded England for a second time" beginning in 1003 and ending in 1012 (page 13). There is evidence that indicates that by, or during, Swein's second invasion, the Danish army recruiting system had changed from a "privately raised force" to a force created, in part, through "Public obligation" (page 12). As such, the likelihood of a man such as Kjarten fighting with the invading Danish Army is a high one.
2. Ian Howard, Swein Forkbeard's Invasions and the Danish Conquest of England 991-1017, (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2003), 76-77.
3. Else Roesdahl, Viking Age Denmark, trans. Susan Margeson
and Kirsten Williams (London: British Museum Publications Limited, 1982), 65-66.
