Among the kilt-clad men, the step dancers and the knife salesmen at the 17th annual Colorado Irish Festival in Littleton on Sunday, three women sat making viking shoes, cords and socks.
The trio are re-enactors from the Colorado Springs-based Iðavellr Vikings, and they weren’t out of place because they say vikings shaped Ireland.
Many members of the Irish community think that “every red-haired Irish person you see has viking blood,” said Karen Nielsen, 61, of Colorado Springs, who was using an animal-bone needle to stitch leather shoes.
Nielsen and her friends set up one of about 75 booths at the Irish Festival, which ran from Friday through Sunday at Clement Park.
The festival, organized by the nonprofit Colorado United Irish Societies, attracted between 25,000 and 30,000 people, spokesman Pat McCullough said.
About 20 bands performed throughout the weekend. Men and women competed in Gaelic football and hurling. Step dancers competed Sunday morning.
Perhaps no booth surprised festivalgoers as much as the viking re-enactors, McCullough said.
Passers-by asked the women whether they were Norwegian. Others asked what they were doing there.
The three explained that the vikings settled in Dublin and other Irish cities, often having children with the locals and mixing the Irish and viking bloodlines.
After that, it was on to teaching visitors about traditional Norse culture.
Carol Norton, 65, of Colorado Springs showed them how she used her loom to create belts.
Lena Arvidson, 39, of Lakewood demonstrated nålbinding, a knittinglike technique for creating clothing that dates back to the fourth or fifth century.
The women taught themselves the Norse crafts using YouTube videos and old books and hope that by demonstrating them they can educate the public. Sometimes, re-enactors can also help educate historians when it comes to artifacts of tools and gear, Norton said.
Working with replicas of ancient tools, a re-enactor may find it was used in an entirely different way than historians suspected.
“It’s fun to learn the old skills and pass them along,” Norton said.
Liz Navratil: 303-954-1054 or lnavratil@denverpost.com
