Themes

Faith

The culture of the Viking Age was nested in religion. Mystical religious leaders perform rituals and sacrifices to honour the Æsir; during the larp you will encounter the epic tales of the Norse deities and  learn about honour, loyalty and destiny. Priests offer guidance, perform sermons, and preach the word of God. And you must strive to learn from both, who knows, maybe your fate, like theirs, is to make the world tremble with your  deeds. 

Æsir (singular Áss, sometimes Aes)

Feud

When loyalty and honour is called into question conflicts are birthed. As a result The Norse clans often went into disputes and arguments that escalated to long lasting feuds. For many the prestige of your family determines your worth; what others expect of you and if they view you with awe, caution or disgust.

Ætt (genitive ættar, plural ættir)

The End of a World - The King has accepted the Christian God given up the old ways of Æsir. he has accepted the Christian faith. Herein lies the central tension of The Last Song; the world as the Norse knows it, is coming to an end. The old gods are dying and the Christian world order is coming for them. What will this change mean for those in power, will they find a way to maintain their grip or might this cultural change result in a shift in the social hierarchy?

fimbulvetur (genitive singular fimbulvetrar, nominative plural fimbulvetur)

We have chosen to call this larp "The Last Song - a Viking Age larp about the end of a world" because the Norse of this period were faced with cultural challenges that would fundamentally change their society. The choice of a new religion brought with it a new alphabet and a completely new world view. It changed the Viking world.

Why is it interesting to play on this part of their story? Because we are faced with these types of choices and changes today as well. Our society has to deal with the climate crisis and put an end to consumer culture, much like the Norse society had to deal with a changing political and religious world around them, with a government that chose to make decisions on the people's behalf, whether they agreed with it or not. At the end of the day, the people had to deal with those consequences.