Vikings seen in Arbroath!

A Viking festival took place in Arbroath on Saturday 9th August. A Viking longship had been built specifically for the festival and was landed in the morning and set alight in the evening. The magnificent Arbroath Abbey - founded by monks in 1178 - provided an amazing setting for the festival which included various activities such as archery, leatherworking, display of Viking weapons, storytelling, spinning and medieval food.

The Consul General of Norway, Arne Sivertsen, formally opened the festival. For the Norwegian vikings the islands and coasts of Scotland were their first port-of-call when sailing south-west to the wider known world, said Sivertsen. The picture displayed below shows him receiving a reprint of the "Declaration of Arbroath" of 1320.