Games Vikings Play

I said before that I wouldn't be able to hack it as a Viking and I take that back. I just couldn't be a sailing Viking.
Today we went to a Viking Village complete with real Vikings It's meant to be kind of a day camp for school children. We got there, dressed up (that's right, Viking costumes!), and got right to work, making rope, preparing a meal for the village and even doing some iron work. When we began this process I felt a little bit silly and unsure of the time I would have to spend there. I was worried that because it's generally a place for children, I wouldn't find it interesting. Thankfully, the opposite was true and thus far on the trip it has been my favorite activity.
My first task was to use the heat from an open fire to evaporate saltwater and extract salt crystals for seasoning the meal. Holy cow was it hot!! It took quite a while so I found a second task in hand spinning wool into yarn (I want to do it at home now). I was also able to help with baking flatbread on the open fire. The meal was delicious and it was all made over the fire or in a stone oven packed with mud to keep the heat in. We had chicken soup with carrots and turnips, baked apples, flat bread with butter and cheese and much much more. It was delicious!
After the food coma wore off slightly we played some Viking games. One of them seemed like a cross between American Football and Rugby. I'm sure it was entertaining to watch us run around in full length dresses trying to tackle each other. The second game was kind of like tug of war and the third, which is kind of hard to describe, had us trying to balance our weight on two short wooden blocks while trying to reach for a third block of wood. It was really difficult and I wasn't able to do it but some if the guys from the village got a little competitive and made watching the game more fun than playing it.