Rob - Jelling Dragon profile picture

Rob - Jelling Dragon

Mine's a large halibut

About Me


Sprinting through the mountains, brandishing a frozen herring, cometh The Jelling Dragon! And he gives a booming bellow: "Brace yourself, oh human speck of dust! For I shall discombobulate the entire world!"THERE ARE SOME WHO CALL ME... Rob. I hail from the sunny shores of England but now dwell in the deep dark forests of Scandinavia. I ply my trade as a Viking merchant far and wide and run the world renown online store THE JELLING DRAGON .I turn my hand to a little leatherwork occasionally but most of my wares are made by skilled craftsmen.I like to go out to the wilderness and take photos.At the weekend I like to escape from wherever I am and find new places to go and annoy people.I’m a member of a several Viking re-enactment groups.During the summer I'm busy doing Viking festivals around Scandinavia and sometime, usually during the autumn, I find the time to go travelling. I've been to California, Morocco, Thailand, Indonesia, Poland, Iceland, Australia, Ecuador, Kenya, Florida, Lappland, India and all over Western Europe and the British Isles.I like to encounter nature in the wild and some of my favourite experiences so far include chasing wild tigers on the back of an elephant in India, being charged by a bull elephant in Kenya, meeting the dragons of Komodo island, snorkelling a crystal clear pristine coral reef in Thailand, a face to face encounter with black monkeys in the jungle in Indonesia, watching herds of giraffe and zebra in the early morning mist in Kenya, bumping into foxes in England, manatees in Florida, coyotes in the California desert, elk and cranes in Sweden, and seals and dolphins in many places.And for those people who think I've been everywhere, here's a map which proves that I definately haven't!In the past I've been a Viking warrior known as "Rob the Wad" and I fight regularily with steel weapons. I originally joined The Vikings (NFPS) and was a founder member of both the Jomsborg Elag and The Jomsvikings.I've been "Disgusting Shirt Man" for my vomit-inducing shirts. I've also been a goth, a rocker, a hippie, a raver, a wargamer and a load mouth twat.Learn to swear like a dwarfYour Middle Earth name

My Interests

Nature, untouched and unspoilt by the hand of man. Mountain, forest, fenland, desert, rainforest and coral reef. Rivers, waterfalls and glaciers. Wild animals and plants in their natural environment.Storms, blizzards, fog, frost, hail, snow, any kind of strange weather. Spring, summer, autumn & winter.Conservation of both nature and tribal people. Organic food and wild game. Mmmm.. Elk, Yummy!I like walking and hiking, and while out I try to capture the beauty of nature using my digital SLR!Travelling and experiencing new places. Especially the natural world and tribal culture. I am interested in animism, shamanism and magical beliefs.Nordic culture, pagan religion, wyrd, the old gods, Woden, Thunor, Frig, trolls and magical beings.Folk customs and surviving pagan traditions, Yule, MidsommerStone circles, burial mounds, hillforts, mysterious Britain.History of the heroic, the tragic and the stupid! Crusades, British Empire etc. Historical novels.Archaeology, living history, Vikings and re-enactment.Gaming (both designing and playing), strategy and roleplay, though I never get the chance to do any of this nowadays....Absurd or irrelevant humour. Monty Python, Blackadder, Viz, Fast Show.

I'd like to meet:

Anyone who appreciates my absurd sense of humour or enjoys travelling as much as I do!!Intelligent, open-minded people. Honest and truthful people. Easy going and humorous people. Kind and caring people. People who are strong willed and stand up for what they believe in!

Music:

Mystical or epic folk / rock music from Scandinavia and the British Isles including Medieval, Celtic, Paescod, Patrask, Medieval Baebes, Blackmore's Night, Clannad, Enya, Hedningarna, Värttina, Jethro Tull, Menhir, Tyr, Kampfar, Glittertind. Currently listening to Of The Wand And The Moon, Turbo Negro. Movie themes: Lord of the Rings, Conan, Braveheart.Indie Music, American rock music: The Cure, The Smiths, Men Without Hats, Coldplay, Shinedown, Bryan Adams.

Movies:

The Lord of the Rings.
"Nobody tosses a dwarf!"Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
"On second thought's let's not go to Camelot, it is a silly place."Conan the Barbarian.
"Crom, I never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No-one, not even you will remember, why we lived and why we died. That's not important. Battle pleases you Crom, so grant me one last wish. Grant me revenge!! And if you do not listen, then to hell with you!"Jabberwocky.
"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe." The Wicker Man, El Cid, Braveheart, Pulp Fiction, Galaxy Quest, Snatch, The Vikings

Television:

Some old stuff that I like...

BEAVIS AND BUTTHEADFAST SHOW

BLACKADDER

TRAPDOOR

Books:

Fiction - JRR Tolkien “All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renenwed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king!”Bernard Cornwell - Sharpe, King Arthur, UhtredSimon Scarrow, Robert E Howard, David Gemmell, Terry Pratchett, The Way of Wyrd.Non-Fiction: Anything to do with ancient Germanic / Nordic culture, history and archeaology (Tacitus, Ibn Fadlan, Icelandic sagas, Lost Gods of England, Runelore, Beowulf etc.) Travellers tales (The Ice Museum, Arctic Dreams, The Lost Tribe etc.) Travel guides and field guides. The Tao Te Ching.And Viz comic!

Heroes:

Roister doistering heroes like Sharpe and Conan, and detestable cads like Flashman. And real historical heroes like Arminius (He who crushed the Roman legions in the Teutonburg Wald), Harald Hardrada, Richard the Lionheart, Henry V and Arthur Wellesley (The Duke of Wellington) Oh, and Tom Bombadil. "Hey come merry doll, derry doll, my darling!"..

My Blog

Full list of Viking Shows for 2008

VIKING MARKETS 2008FEBRUARY13-17 York (England)MARCH14-16 Re-Enactors Market (England - Multi Period*, market only)APRIL19-20 Cressing Temple (England - Multi Period Market*)19-20 Adventon (Germany)MA...
Posted by Rob - Jelling Dragon on Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:47:00 PST

My trip to Southern Africa - In photos!

I've finally finished editing the photos from my recent 3 week trip to South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe! I've uploaded all my favourite pics to http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelldragon/sets/...
Posted by Rob - Jelling Dragon on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:59:00 PST

Our Changing Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth

Can you believe that some people are still under the delusion that climate change might not happen! :-D The debate has moved well beyond that nowadays with all scientists agreeing that some form of cl...
Posted by Rob - Jelling Dragon on Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:21:00 PST

Back in Norway for tea and tiffin

Well I'm back in Gudvangen, the valley of rock slides, and it's been hot and sunny for a week! Just what is going on, this is Norway, for Odin's sake!! I went to a Viking market in Bergen last weekend...
Posted by Rob - Jelling Dragon on Fri, 08 Jun 2007 08:32:00 PST

Gudvangen - Valley of the Giants

Well here I am back in Gudvangen, back in Norway, and I must say it feels like coming home!Gudvangen is such an epic place, you can really feel the raw forces of nature here. In the last few days I´ve...
Posted by Rob - Jelling Dragon on Sat, 10 Mar 2007 08:21:00 PST

Hunting for killer whales in Norway!

This weekend I decided to take a short break and go looking for killer whales in the north of Norway. I took a flight from Oslo to Narvik, followed by bus, ferry and taxi to arrive at Tysfjord tourist...
Posted by Rob - Jelling Dragon on Tue, 21 Nov 2006 03:09:00 PST

Gudvangen Autumn 2006

The autumn market in Gudvangen was very small and not really worth the effort, but despite the dismal weather I did manage to get out and take a few photos of the surroundings, so here they are... ...
Posted by Rob - Jelling Dragon on Sat, 14 Oct 2006 01:57:00 PST

Medieval Fiasco in Oslo!

I just got back from the medieval festival in Oslo which was possibly the worst organised show I've ever been to! Bad organisation descended into farce on the second morning when half an hour before t...
Posted by Rob - Jelling Dragon on Mon, 04 Sep 2006 07:40:00 PST

My best photographs

If anyone's interested in the kind of photographs I take you can view my favourites from this year on: http://www.jelldragon.com/gallery/03Best They're all nature photos usually involving interesting ...
Posted by Rob - Jelling Dragon on Mon, 14 Aug 2006 01:19:00 PST

Viking music & TYR a Viking metal band

For any Vikings who haven't heard of the band Tyr yet they are from the Faroe Islands and some of their songs are based on Faroese folk songs that have probably been passed down from the Viking age. T...
Posted by Rob - Jelling Dragon on Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:35:00 PST