Thorvaldshavn

Thorvaldshavn

I always wanted to report about interesting and worth seeing Sims here in the beautiful world of SecondLife. Unfortunately the Sunshine Realm occupies me very much and so there was not so much time in the last weeks to visit other Sims. And if I was there, I would have had to find the time to write about it. Because of course I don't want to report about the already crowded places, which actually only have a sexual background, and their high numbers of visitors are only generated by sex and placed bots. Not that I would not visit such places, after all it is SL. But everyone finds them alone. But there are many builders in SL who are rather unknown and who build wonderful worlds without being noticed by many. And one of these worlds is Thorvaldshavn.

View at the Village with the central place and market

In preparation for our Viking Event "The strong Girls of hedeby" I didn't only walk through the shops, but also tried to visit the Sims. And I remembered interesting conversations with Thorvald Ragnarsson, who invited me to his Sim Thorvaldshavn a long time ago. Thorvald has a Sim, which he built up in the character of the Viking time and the history of Norway. So I was very curious and hoped to find a lot of ideas and inspirations for our event.

Dock with Dragonship and Welcome Center

He had already sent me the landmark, and said I could look around at any time. But I wanted to know more about the ideas behind the Sim, why he is so connected to this time. I was also curious to get to know the Creator even better by experiencing him in his world. So I was happy when he had the time to lead me through his world.

Map with trade routes of Vikinks in Norway

We met at the welcome centre at the harbor. It was interesting not only to visit a beautiful sim, but also to get an explanation of what it all is, the idea behind it, and to see that there is a red thread running through it. Thorvald told me that his grandfather comes from the world of fjords in Norway, but he was never there. He knows this region only from photos, but it explains the deep connection. So I was curious to follow him on the path through the Sim.

View about the Harbor with Dragonship, Welcome Center and Warehouse

In the harbor there are fishermen's huts, a dock for the Dragonships and a knarr which is a trading ship and one building is the welcome center and the other is a warehouse for traders. You can see it at the pictures about. The smaller building is the Warehouse and in front of this is the knarr moored. Left side of the warehouse is the Welcome Center by the Drakkar's, there is the longship, the Wikings Dragonship. The smaller fishermen harbor is behind this to see. At the top of the cliff you can see the village on the right side of the picture.

View over the Fjord down to the Fisherman Harbor

Then we first went up to the Cliff. You have a wonderful view from here over the fjord, and the small fishermen harbor lies under one. From this cliff the Vikings could already see the approaching ships from afar. Surely one looked out to recognize danger in time. But I could also imagine that the women and children often stood up here, hoping that their husbands and fathers would soon return from a dangerous journey. And how happy they were when they saw the well-known sails on the horizon. 

View into the mouth of the fjord

He named this fjord Bjærangsforden after the fjord in Norway. This view alone is worth a visit. If you close your eyes and have enough imagination, you can feel the wind and smell the sea. Next we went to the small fishermen harbor.

Fishermen's Harbor with Huts and ship

We reached the harbour, with the small fishermen huts and the boat, Thorvald told me more about the everyday life of the Vikings. About fishing, but also that the Vikings had already made salt. Everything can be found in this small harbour.  Of course, you can't recreate everything in SecondLife, and it's good that other elements and fantasy complement everything. But Thorvald really tries to follow his "story line" as far as possible.

Odin's Tree with rune stones and gallow

Afterwards the journey led again up to the Cliff. After a short stop to enjoy the view over the fjord, we went to Odin's tree. The tree and a ring of rune stones. But I wondered about the gallows. Of course Odin is also the god of Germanic mythology, and I read a lot about him. But I couldn't find any connection to a gallows. But from Norwegian mythology there is also the story that Odin hanged himself from Yggdrasil to know secrets of runes. That he sacrifices himself to gain wisdom. This was new for me, and a inspiration to read about it later. It showed me once again that in SecondLife you not only learn English better, but also some other things when you walk through this world with open eyes. And that's what makes SecondLife so special. 

blot house, the place for sacrifices

Sacrifices played an important role in the life of the Vikings. The cycle of nature was to be preserved, the sea mercifully tuned for the journey. I had read before that even human sacrifices were made, one of the biggest Viking sanctuaries stood in Uppsala, Sweden. So the next stage on the journey through Thorvaldshavn led us to a blot house, the place for sacrificial offerings.

As we went on, we came across and place to sit and spend time. People gather there to sit and talk and drink mead. Than we arrived in the village. Here is the healer house and later the "langhuset", the hall.

The Great Hall of Thorvaldshavn

Thorvald told me that most norse villages had the Great Hall. People gathered there for meetings and feasts. Behind the the high place is the bedchamber, with a nice interior. I know, this should be private. But I couldn't redist and made some pictures, you will find them in the linked album too.

Village with Dragon's Den and market

Then we came to the village square with the market. The Vikings were also traders, produced goods and brought along others from their explorations. Around the square there are some authentic houses. Also one where women can dance for men, with separate rooms. I think that there really was at any time, and surely the Vikings also understood how to celebrate festivals and spend intimate time with the women.

Sheep Herd and other animals in the Village

Then we walked through the village. The Vikings were also good craftsmen and farmers. So you can find here some things, which were put together with love to the detail. Chickens, cows and sheep. I had read that the Vikings always had sheep as their food on the farm. 

their longships. But this herd is really cute to look at. It was fun to make this "journey" through his world with Thorvald.  And I can only recommend everyone to take the time. And maybe you will meet Thorvald in his world and he will give you an insight. Or you simply follow this "journey" that I was allowed to make with Thorvald today and rediscover the places on the pictures.

Stavanger Sword Statue at Amryn's Island

We ended our trip with a detour to Amryn's Island with the Stavanger Sword Statue. This is one of Thorvalds favorite places, a skybox with a wonderful panoramic view over the rocky coast and a fjord. He dedicated it to a friend who left SecondLife. We all experience this, and it's nice to have a place to keep friends in our memories. So it was the conclusion of Thorvald's inspirations to create such a dream world. On the way up to the rock we passed a stone hut with a grass roof that nestled into the rock and finally reached the Stavanger Sword Statue on the summit.

Farewell to Thorvaldshavn

Now it was time to say goodbye. A problem in Secondlife are the time differences. For me it was early in the morning and my bed called me. I once again enjoyed the view and felt the wind before I said goodbye to Thorvald and disappeared into my bed. But i will return soon. Maybe we will meet us there.

More pictures about this Journey through the Vikinger World in this Google Images Album. The visit of Thorvaldshavn was a part of my preparation to our Viking Event at the Sunshine Realm. Read more about this in my blog post ost about "The Strong Girls of Hedeby".