Ok, now that you know all about Samildánach, we can continue. If you didn't bother to read the club's history, then you will have problems at the end of this site, as we will be asking you questions to find out if you were paying attention.

All kidding aside, this is supposed to be about me, but that would be too boring a subject, so instead I'll fill you in on the activity that takes up most of my free time.

It all began with a phone call from a friend in mid June 1995, who told me about this group of people who like to meet once a fortnight and beat the living hell out of each other in the tradition of Viking warriors. I was un-certain at first, but he convinced me to go and have a look. I did so the following Sunday and little did I know that I would be a part of Samildánach to this very day. The fateful day I signed over my soul was July 2^nd, after just one training session, when I paid my membership fees to become a trainee member. I never thought I'd ever become as skilled as the others, and the idea of acquiring costume, weapons and armour seemed an impossible task.

But slowly, as I was trained in the use of different weapons, I began to defeat other club members in combat, not very often, but it did happen. Sometimes. The club's officers helped me with information regarding weapons and clothes, and soon I had a full kit together. We held a small feast, inviting other groups to attend, which was fairly successful. "Ok", I thought, "this is as far as I'll go…" I attended several of the performances held for schools, fetes, etc… And thought this is a nice little hobby to have. But upon hearing about National gatherings such as the one being hosted by N.E.M.A.S. at Armidale in '96, I continued onwards. I found myself among people I'd never met before, in a battle with numbers of more than 150 per side… Quite an experience, I recommend you try it sometime. But wear armour for god's sake, I found that out the painful way.

1997 saw me elected into the role of Training Officer, another thing I never would of thought possible back when I first began… The club grew in size and as did our membership, more than double the originals. We began to perform for bigger audiences and the club bank account was steadily growing. New equipment was purchased, helmets, spears, Axes, all to improve the club's appearance. And that they did.

All up in my year in the leader's chair, we managed to perform more than 13 public displays, held a highly successful Feast, hosted a Campaign Weekend for other groups and got ourselves featured on TV and in Newspapers many times. The last two of our displays for the year saw us use newly purchased equipment for the club, including authentic cooking gear and several Viking style tents (of which I had a very minor part in constructing…). All this equipment enabled us to set-up a Living History display of a small Viking Village. The public were encouraged to interact with members while they were performing day-to-day events, such as gaming, rune stone carving, cooking, weapon making and of course, to view the combat.

And now the year is drawing to an end… No more displays are planned, and the only event left on our calendar is our Yule celebrations, where we gather mainly for "the drinking of Yule", and remember times of glory from the past year, while planning for those yet to come.

Well, that's it. That's what I do in my free time. To sum it all up, I'm responsible for organizing a bunch of beer-drinking, scruffy-looking, mean-tempered, stench-ridden Vikings. Hey, it's a tough job but somebody's got to do it.

Coming soon! More pics of er..club stuff, weapon images, combat rules (if you're interested) and anything else I feel like adding. All this and maybe less, coming soon.