{"id":56,"date":"2023-04-22T14:19:13","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T18:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/makingvikings\/?page_id=56"},"modified":"2023-07-06T09:30:49","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T13:30:49","slug":"hands-on-learning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/makingvikings\/making-the-viking-age\/hands-on-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands-On Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

After our return from Denmark, we tried our hands at crafts that would likely have been more familiar to people living through the Viking Age than they are to most people today. We began at the Blacksmith of Trenton, a workshop that has occupied the same space since it was established in 1823. Metalworking in the Viking Age was, in the words of one scholar, both a blessing and a menace\u2014a source for both sword and plowshare. And metalworkers seem to have held a marginal role in society, if the fates of such legendary figures as Regin and Voland are a guide. Our own experience was perhaps more grounded than these mystical tales, but the feel of bending iron beneath a glancing blow retains a sense of magic all its own.<\/p>\n\n\t\t