Viking Boat Burn, Butser Ancient Farm

The Farm missed out on two important annual fundraising events – via the Beltain Wickerman Burning – due to Covid restrictions and ongoing Covid concerns. They have bounced back with a Viking Longship Burning event, to celebrate the coming Autumn Equinox.

The event was smaller than usual in numbers present, and subsequently had the more relaxed feel of those early Beltain events that we have previously enjoyed.

The warm up act to the boat burning were a three-piece band called Seidrblot, whose throat-singing was amazing, as were the sounds that they generated from their "ancient" instruments.

As with the more recent Beltain celebrations, the Pentacle Drummers – provided a rhythmic soundtrack to the burning ritual. Unlike at the Wickerman burning, their persistent drumming felt more in keeping with the nature of this ceremony – their hairy visages, a facsimile of the warrior spirits they so always desperately seem to be trying to channel.