VIKING GRAVES, OLD FRIENDS AND NO MORE FISHERMAN SHOTS
13TH JULY
Ian and I drove down toward Aalborg for our next gig, stopping off on the way to take in some culture. We called in to Lindholm where the remains of a massive Viking burial ground has been preserved. Although I have always thought of myself as a Celt I find that the more contact I have with Viking history and culture, the more at home I feel with it. It is as if there is some deep hidden memory of a Viking past that stirs whenever I come close to related places and things. Lindholm is an impressive sight with its 700 or so graves, most of which are marked by stones placed in the form of a triangle, an oval or a ship. The dead person was usually cremated. This is the reason that only a few things are found in the graves, things such as weapons, earthenware vessels, whorls, whetstones, buckles, pearls, arm-rings and rivets. The different shapes on the graves tell us the sex of the person who was buried there. Female graves were often marked with an oval or a square of stones. Male graves were marked with a ship or a triangle of stones. We can tell this from the things that were found in the graves. For example, pearls, combs and toilet articles were found in the female graves and weapons, buckles and rivets in the male graves.
The Vikings believed there was another world that people went to after they died and left this one. This is why they buried people with various things which they thought might be useful to them in the next world. They believed that when a person was cremated, he or she would get to that next world faster.
The gig at Aalborg was another belter. I really do like playing in this city and at this venue. It was the first time that Ian and I had worked there together and it went really well. It was particularly to meet up with old friends like Bente, who was dressed up ready to go to the premier of the new Harry Potter film, complete with Hogwarts school uniform. Stuart was there as always and it is always good to catch up with him. Also good to see Nicola, the wee Scots lass who used to work in The Wharf in Aalborg but has now established herself behind the Bar at the John Bull. It was equally good to meet up with new friends including Bente's mother and also with Mitzi who it was a pleasure to meet.
The Fisherman song went down particularly well – perhaps too well as we soon managed to drink the pub dry of the wonderful stuff. It was replaced though by the much more liquorice flavoured Ga Jol which is pronounced something like gay-hole – don't think we need to dwell on that one too much.
After the show we managed to resist temptation (at 4 o'clock in the morning) to continue drinking with Nicola and Hugh in another part of town and headed back to the apartment for a couple of hours sleep.
In the morning (that's the same morning, only later) We drove down to the island of Fyn where I dropped Ian of in Odense before travelling on alone to Slagelse on Sjaelland for my gig there that night. It was great working over here in Denmark with Ian for a few day, I just wish it had been longer – it's a privilege to work with the man and to have him as a friend.