'Ormsgard' is the collective name for a group  of Dark Age Re-enactors in the Highlands of South East Queensland, who perform Living History displays for events of all sizes including schools, historical societies,. Scouts, Festivals and Fayres

We place high emphasis on a sensible approach to 'authenticity' and combat as well as developing living-history crafts to portray a fully rounded version of what Dark Ages society may have looked like.

History speaks of a time when the tribes of Northern Europe exerted a huge influence over the formation of our society and culture.

As the eagle standards of the Romans sank ever southward we are told of the emergence of the Germanic Tribes. Caesar and Tacitus tell of their war-like nature and their social and spiritual culture; a people to be respected and feared, as Varius would learn to his cost.

As the Romans withdrew from Britannia the North Sea Tribes and the peoples of the Baltic set forth on a journey westward to find a new land. The Jutes, Angles, Frisians and Saxons left their homelands behind and with their families and possessions, their culture and spiritual values, their social structure and law-codes, their creation myths and folk-tales, they found for themselves a new home; a place in which to put down new roots and flourish, a place that would come to be known as England.

Invaders or settlers? Maybe both. Barbarians? Never. They brought their cultural and trade networks with them. Stretching from the tin mines of Cornwall into Europe, through the Frankish and Burgundian empires to Rome and beyond; to Constantinople and across the Mediterranean to North Africa; bringing silver and gold, furs and fine linens, weapons and wargear, knowledge and learning from the four corners of the known world. A golden age of princes and spectacular burials, the time of Sutton Hoo, Taplow and Prittlewell.

But they were only to be the first; in the centuries that followed they would be joined by the Danes and Norwegians, who we would come to know as the 'Vikings'; and at the very end the Normans; the 'Norsemen'. They in turn brought their own laws and trade-ways, their religious beliefs and social structures; extending trade routes through the Baltic countries to Russia and down her vast rivers to Byzantium. The second great age of kings and the creation of a nation, the foundation of York and inception of the Danelaw.

It is their history; the folk-tales and Sagas of the Germanic peoples that inspire us today. The tales of kings and warriors, of heroes and gods, of shield-maidens and peace-weavers, of wish-maidens and queens. They brought with them their myths and legends, tales of kings descended from gods, of tangled fates and boundless curses, of warriors and monsters, of heroes and dragons, of burial mounds and golden hoards. A time when the gods had a hand in the fate of man and the sword stood proud in the hands of men.

It is this age we seek to recreate; it is their philosophy and spiritual values we seek to adopt, it is their social and cultural structure we seek to emulate.

It is this that Ormsgard was created to achieve.

Far from being a 'Dark Age', we believe that the Post-Roman to Pre-Conquest period was a time of enlightenment. A Golden Age for Northern European society, when there was a genuine balance between technological advancement and quality of life. A balance that has long since ceased to exist...

We are proud of our pre-Christian Germanic heritage, our Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian ancestors; the Danes, Norwegians and Swedes that are now commonly referred to as the 'Vikings' and their many and varied accomplishments.

We strive to emulate their adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit, and to perpetuate their core beliefs, goals and values.

Through the study of Edda, Saga, Skaldic Poetry, Folklore and Custom we have come to know their Gods as our own, venerating them through our deeds.

We believe in Fate, that a man must die by the decree of the Nornir but that he chooses how he lives and the manner in which he dies.

We believe in Hamingja - Familial Luck. That our name, sword and legacy impact on and enrich the lives of our descendents.

We enjoy life as a playground but never forget it's also a field of endeavour, and that ultimately we are responsible for our own lot in life.

We highly prize honesty, self-discipline, balance, focus, loyalty, patience, respect, courage and integrity.