Our camps depict the everyday life in a warrior encampment where food must be prepared, clothes and armour mended, weapons repaired and troops trained. We call this Living History and our members swap ideas and experience on skills including:
BlacksmithingSpinningBasket WeavingCookeryCandle Dipping & RushlightsHerbloreDyeingLeathercraftCarpentry and WoodcarvingBushcraft and Woodland SkillsBronze CastingFletchingHurdle and Wattle FencingCooperingThe Brewing of fine ales -hurrah!
I'd like to meet:
Our group membership lies (mostly) between Anglesey and Chester. If you would like to learn more about Cwmwd Ial, either to book us for an event or to join us as a new member then you can contact us via this web page or alternatively e-mail us at [email protected]
As well as our regular public shows we also cater for school visits, private functions and Film & Television work. Please conact us for further details.
MySpace Friends are welcome to post comments on this page in regard to questions about the historical period, life in Wales at that time, or to simply make yourselves known :)
Watch the Blog's for updates as to our whereabouts and news of upcoming events across North Wales and the rest of the country.
"Now go forth; maim, kill, drink, party, it is the Cwmwd Ial way..." We are just one regional group of the larger The Vikings Re-Enactment Society. To find your local group please visit Vikings Online This site also contains information on upcoming events, as well as plenty of Dark Age articles and links.
LINKS:
Asgard Crafts (fine dark age crafts and reproductions)
www.asgardcrafts.co.uk
Cadw (Custodian of historical sites around Wales)
http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/
Hravnslith (our fellow re-enactors based in SouthWest England)
http://www.hravnslith.co.uk/
Below: Fintain of Cwmwd Ial defends his homeland of Ireland from invaders. Filmed on the Hill of Tara for a bit of fun. Enjoy!
Below: The trailer for the recent film adaptation of Beowulf.
Below: Owain and Osian fight it out.
Music:
Music in the 10th Century was very much confined to the bards and their harps, strangely none of whom have survived into today's modern charts. So instead we have listed a few of the bands that inspire us to play music once the sun has set. You can usually hear dodgy cover versions of the following artists songs around our fireside;
The Levellers, Kate Rusby, Waterboys, Pogues, Show Of Hands, Nickel Creek, Gillian Welch, Seth Lakeman, Bob Dylan, Malinky, Eliza Carthy, Nod Corner, Jack Johnson, Hem, The Cold Mountain Band; infact most folk tunes make it to our fire at one time or another.
Movies:
As far as we know there have never been any good films made about the Dark Ages, let alone Wales at the time. But if you like any of the following films then I'm sure we'll get along just fine;
Lord Of The Rings, Gladiator, Kingdom Of Heaven, Highlander, Tristan & Isolde, Labyrinth, Conan The Barbarian, Beowulf, The Vikings, The 13th Warrior (authenticty not guaranteed), Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Sharpe, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (nee!) Band Of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan.
At times of great stress or need a lone warrior could be heard to call on lines from such films while in the thick of battle.
Television:
Cwmwd Ial have been hired for a variety of film and television projects over the years including;
MerlinPrince ValiantLost Treasures Of BritainTime Team.
Books:
When researching our period the main sources of written information come from law tracts, ecclesiatical documents, annals, land records, lists, transactions and poems. However much of the documentary evidence is fragmentary or may be biased by the author who is actually writing many years or even centuries after the events they are describing. Where information does exist it is often in regard of the higher status or religious figures, and little may be glemaed about the lower class. One of the main written sources of evidence for society and culture in Wales at this time is from the 'Lawbooks of Hywel Dda' (a 10thC King in Wales). This is full of informative gems (e.g. a woman can divorce her husband if he has stinking breath or is impotent, although you have to prove the latter - it explains how in great detail), but generally deals with the rights and responsibilities of various members of society.
In addition to this we have the stories known as The Mabinogion, and poems including The Gododdin, Marwnad Cynddylan and Armes Prydein.
Only one large gospel book exists from Wales and its exact origins are not actually known, this is the Gospels of St. Chad. Happy reading :)
Heroes:
Being a group of burly macho-warrior types ourselves sets quite a high standard to beat when it comes to choosing our heroes. However after much fireside discussion we have compiled the following candidates:
Llywelyn the Great, Derfel Cadarn, King Arthur of the Britons, Capt. Jack Sparrow, Slaine Mac Roth, Richard Sharpe, Robin Hood - not the poncy new TV version, Conan, Connor McLeod.
