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As a Guest of this site, you can read Articles our members have contributed, view the Calendar, read Documents outlining our constitution, safety rules and training information, read posts on our Forum, make use of our Links and view photos in our Gallery. You can also read our periodical magazine, Varangian Voice.
To post in our Forum, Contribute an article, add or comment on a photo in the Gallery, add a Link or add an event to the Calendar, or email any user on the site by clicking on their name, you must be logged in (see the User Functions box on the left). If you are not yet registered as a user of this site, then register as a New User.
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Who are NVG? |
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Who is the New Varangian Guard?
The New Varangian Guard Inc. (NVG Inc) is a historical re-enactment organisation with branches throughout Australia, and sister organisations in several other countries.
The core area and period of interest of the New Varangian Guard is the Byzantine Empire, its allies and enemies, during the 9th to 13th centuries A.D. Members of the Guard attempt to learn about the lifestyle of these peoples by study and reconstruction of the materials and practices of the period.
We aim to make our recreation as realistic as possible without compromising safety, the law, or personal enjoyment. We also endeavor to create and maintain channels of communication amongst members, other recreation groups, educators, government and the business community. In this way we provide opportunities and venues for members to practice, display and teach the skills, arts and crafts that they pursue.
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Historical Basis for the New Varangian Guard
Vikings and Rus' had been traveling to Byzantium for at least a century before 988 A.D., when Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev (later Saint Vladimir) sent six thousand 'Varangians' (probably mixed Russian and Norse troops) to Constantinople to serve Emperor Basil II, in return for Christian baptism and the hand of a Byzantine princess.
Like other Vikings and Rus' before them, they served with distinction in the regular army, but sometime around or before the middle of the eleventh century, Varangians replaced the existing native Imperial guards. Their boldness, bravery and unswerving loyalty is recorded by Byzantine chroniclers.
These Emperor's Varangians, also know as the 'axe-wielding guard' (though one Emperor nicknamed them "Winebags"), were primarily Vikings and Rus until the late eleventh century, when a large influx of Englishmen fleeing Norman persecution significantly changed the ethnic composition.
Scandinavian involvement revived during the Crusades, and indeed, the heyday of the Emperor's Varangians seems to have run from the late 11th to the mid 12th century.
After the destruction caused in the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 A.D., the Varangian Guard continued to exist in name but became a hereditary ceremonial guard, largely drawn from internal Byzantine sources.
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You know you Look authentic when..... |
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Saturday, October 25 2008 @ 09:34 PM PDT
Contributed by: Brother Cadfael
Views: 22 |
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....When something like this happens. (I have submitted this for inclusion in the club newsletter, "Whispers in the Monastary". As only Hodegon get this, I thought others might like to read it too.
It happened at Silvan last weekend on the way to Hodegon's 10th Birthday Feast. (Georgie & I ALWAYS travel to & from events In Our Costumes. For this, we were dressed as a Nun & a Monk.) We had stopped on the side of the road so that I could have a 'smoke-break'. I had to pull into a bus stop for my break. While I wandered about having a smoke, Georgie had got a drink of water from the boot but had left it open. (We did not think that this can be like leaving the bonnet up as a sign of "Help".
As we wandered about looking at things, the road which had become busy, gave us a few laughs. Everyone who drove by slowed down & turned to watch us.
Soon I heard Georgie's voice behind me say... "Uh Oh, Looks like we've got company." As I looked up & turned around, I was expecting to see a bus & have to move the car. Instead, I saw that a car had pulled up behind us, then the head of a young woman stuck out of the window & asked if we were alright! We told her that we were & thanked her for stopping. As we walked towards her car, she got out revealing that she was better dressed for the heat than we were. (a light wrap around skirt & similar light top, belly button showing in between.) "We're on our way to a big meeting", (or something like that Georgie informed her, then asked....) "Are you going to where we are going?", Are you 'one of us?" asked Georgie, believing that this girl was a re enactor also.!
Poor girl. She didn't know how to respond, or what to make of Georgie's questions! She did manage to explain that she was not a member of any 'church group' & was not on her way to one.
She still believed us to be a Real Nun & Monk, we didn't have the heart to set her straight. She thought that she was doing her good deed by stopping to help 2 'Holy-People' in distress, & we thought it would be cruel to shatter her illusion.
We began to speak with her as 'ordinary' as possible. I even told her that we had stopped so I could have a smoke, & withdrew it from where I held it, up my wide sleeve, & took a deep drag on it. We dropped a few hints that we were Not what we seemed, but she continued to believe that we were really a Nun & Monk.
This went on & on for quite a while, until she said that she must be going, If we are alright. Once again, we reassured her, & thanked her for stopping. We said our goodbye's to her, & she said goodbye to us, & gave us a little bow as she did, with her hands together as one does in church when praying!!
It was only After she had driven away, that the 2 of us just cracked up laughing.
As we drove off on our way, Georgie said to me,"Well, at least we know that our costumes Are authentic! ,if they fool the general public!
My comment was, "Oh well,even if it turns out to be a terrible weekend, who cares?... I'm having a ball right Now!!"
AND,,,, It was like this even Before we got out of Frankston, & all the way to Kinglake! Then Going Home,,, we had similar reactions from people all the way home!!
For me,, the Weekend was Great, But the Journey there & back was even better!
By Brother Cadfael.
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The expanding tentacles of the NVG |
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Sunday, May 18 2008 @ 11:48 PM PDT
Contributed by: lillassea
Views: 211 |
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For the odd person who is interested (and you know how odd you are!), here is a quick timeline of the growth of the NVG over the years.
NVG Branches (called Garrisons pre 2006):
Vlachernai - Melbourne, Vic (est 1981)
Mountians - Blue Mountians, NSW (est 1983, was Katoomba Garrison)
Miklagard - Sydney, NSW (est 1987)
Riverina - Cootamundra, NSW (est 1991, folded 1994)
Dyrrachium - Geraldton, WA (est 1993 from the 1990 Port Hedland outpost, folded 2003)
Sarkland/Antioch - Ballarat, Vic (est 1991, originally referred to as the Central Victorian Garrison [Newstead, halfway between Ballarat & Bendigo], then called Sarkland, changed to Antioch in 1995)
Rusland - Brisbane, Qld (est 1993)
Dubh Linn - Geelong, Vic (est 1993)
Thessalonika - Mildura, Vic (est 1995)
Hodegon - Melbourne, Vic (est 1998)
Handakas - Adelaide, SA (est 2002)
Vighla - Bendigo, Vic (est 2006)
Jorth Gar - Gold Coast, Qld (est 2006)
Maurokastron - Brisbane, Qld (est 2008)
(Info from Egfroth’s unofficial history of the NVG and the Varangian Voice)
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1 comments
Most Recent Post: 25/10 04:18PM by Brother Cadfael
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