It’s unusual for articles in the Norwegian Textile Letter to have ties to big news stories of the day. Earlier this year it was for a sad situation, when knitters stepped up to show solidarity against the actions of ICE agents in Minnesota: “We knit to keep from unraveling”: The Red Hat Resurgence.”

This time a textile article is because of a great celebration, with Norway in the World Cup for the first time in 28 years. It’s all over social media, this modern-day Viking invasion, especially the photos taken by David Yarrow with the players dressed up in Viking garb.

There are funny videos too, like this one from the Viking Museum in Stockholm. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BYKdDqxse/. In this plea from Denmark’s TV2, they are asking if they could join in as fans. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=27096049800006353

Live Vedeler Nilsen, a podcaster from the Nasjonalbiblioteket [the Norwegian National Library], took the opportunity to highlight materials from the library for an article in the series, “Stories from the Collections.” Now you can enjoy her story, too: “Did the Vikings Really Look Like That?”

There is a photo in the article comparing a photo of Fridtjof Nansen with Martin Ødegaard, showing a similar stance of confidence.

And just as a textile aside, last year I attended the Väv conference in Sweden and stopped this young man with a beautiful jacket. It’s a Fridtjof Nansen jacket, he told me.

God sommar! Robbie LaFleur