Nov 19, 2009 - 04:30 AM

By Mike Ruta

PORT PERRY -- The Vikings are coming to Port Perry and they're setting up camp.

TorVik, a group dedicated to authentically recreating Viking history, will be at the Scugog Shores Heritage Centre and Archives on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for Vikings day, dubbed Face to Face with the Vikings. Their visit coincides with the opening this week of Vikings: Master Mariners, Traders, Colonists and Artisans, an exhibition on loan from the Manitoba Museum.

"Basically, anybody who comes out will have a lot of fun," says Jim Byrnes of TorVik.

A member for three years, Byrnes says his family tree has some Viking in it and when he saw TorVik members on television one morning, sword-fighting and such, he decided 'I want to do that' and joined.

TorVik is setting up a medieval village complete with Viking-age tents, authentic, hand-stitched clothing, craftspeople demonstrating naalbinding (a forerunner of knitting), tablet weaving, medieval cooking and blacksmithing.

Young people will have a blast listening to a talk on Viking-age weaponry and tactics before seeing for themselves what it was like to fight Vikings.

"We invite kids up to have a go at us with pool noodles," Byrnes says.

The younger set can also try on helmets, check out the steel swords, write their name in runes, the Viking alphabet, illustrate Norse fairytales and see how Hneftafl was played.

While most of us today remember the Vikings as ferocious warriors, there was much more to them than that, suggests Heritage centre curator Shannon Kelly. The exhibit features 12 text panels along with real and reproduction artifacts, a clothing display and two models of ships.

"There's a lot of jewelry items," she says. "Silver, gold and iron items. The Vikings were really known for their jewelry."

Other pieces on display are made of carved bone and antler.

Kelly notes that TorVik donated several items for use in the exhibit.

Admission to Face to Face with the Vikings is $7 for adults, $3 for children (aged 5 to 12 years) and free for children under 5. Admission includes entry to the exhibit, which runs until Jan. 17.

The Heritage Centre is at 1655 Reach St., Port Perry, inside the Scugog Arena.