Medieval Visby 3

There was a big article in the local rag today about life in the Medieval village. Turns out that on a field north of town the Medieval folk have pitched their tents. They live in their tents all week, making gruel for breakfast, baking flatbread and making nice stews for dinner.

"We take the nice things from the Medieval times," a guy is quoted as saying. "But we don't have Black Death or Cholera." Well, that's a relief, I guess.

The reporter notes that the garbage cans set up on the edge of the field tend to contain a lot of empty potato chip bags and soda cans.... Additional enhancements, demanded by the Swedish state, are sufficient port-a-potties set up on the edge of the field, so they don't have to just dig a hole and squat.

There is even a guy who is responsible for keeping the potties clean - and his other duty is manning the mobile phone recharging station (!). Yes, you often see them walking the streets in their garb, smoking a cigarette and yakking in their phones.

Then there was the Medieval church service that was held (and apparently well attended) in a Lutheran church and presided over by a Lutheran minister in Medieval garb using - the Lutheran liturgy. Anyone see the problem in this logic? There was no Lutheran church at that time, Luther not being born for another few hundred years! Okay, the Lutheran liturgy in Sweden es extremely Catholic, but that is another story.

Medieval Visby 2

They are still walking around Visby, the people dressed up in medieval clothes. I really wonder why they do this - there does not seem to be much to do but eat in pubs (medieval and modern), walk around, sing, dance, admire each others costumes, and buy turist trinkets (medieval and modern).

Is this a result of so many people playing fantasy games? Why do they idealize this period so much? It was deadly - people got themselves killed much more often than today. There was hunger, sicknesses, oppression, horrible living conditions, and it must have smelled like hell.

What exactly is the point in dressing up the family and walking around like this for a week? Okay, the girls are dreaming that they are princesses and the boys that they are knights, wielding their wooden swords. And I am guilty of buying princess necklaces for my three princesses in the US.

But I just don't get it. The Medieval market here was a store selling all sorts of junk, a pottery shed, a smithy stand, a couple of silversmiths, a knife-maker, a bead maker, a wooden bowl maker, and some food stalls. Down the street was a leather maker and on the square the usual hawkers had their wares.

Okay, it was more than Lye and it was more or less of the time. But I don't understand why they have been doing this for the past 25 years. Anyone have any explaination?