The Return of Njörðr’s Wanderers

After being rained out on Saturday last year, Njörðr’s Wanderers will be making a return engagement this year. We portray a typical seasonal trading camp found along waterways between Ireland, Iceland, France, and Denmark, between the years 800-1000. We focus on the people, activities, and goods found within these camps, in a living history format using appropriate roles, clothing, techniques, and equipment. We set up our camp with merchant’s booths, tents, and workshops, where one would meet crafters and traders in textiles, fur and ivory, foodstuffs and fisherfolk, town guards, religious figures and nobility, and transients and travelers.

For the 2023 Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, Njörðr’s Wanderers will explore how wool was instrumental in fueling exploration and trade. We will show wool, textile, and garment production by costumed crafters, with recreated examples of tools and technology used in the various stages of wool production, including the loom, comb, and spindle. Importantly, we will also discuss the power and relationships between women, magic, mythology, and wool, and how women drove the early Medieval economy. As the demonstrations are continuous and informal, the visitor may enter the camp at any time and interact with the crafters in an organic, living history environment.

We participate in several events throughout the year, including Military Through the Ages at Jamestown Settlement (Mar), Frederick Fiber Festival (Apr), Carroll County Celtic Festival (June), Maryland Irish Festival (Nov), and several events throughout the year at Fort Loudoun Historic Site, including the Across the Centuries historical timeline (May). Our members are in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and we welcome opportunities to collaborate with other living history groups, sites, and events.

Njörðr’s Wanderers will be camped out at the western end of Midway Boulevard, beyond the Lower Corral vendors and across from the Sheepdog Demonstration area.

To find out more, look for Njörðr’s Wanderers on Facebook or email .