The High Council

The Konungr - Cathy Murphy

The Konungr is the leader of the Society. S/he has the responsibility of providing a direction for the Society and planning its long-term future. The Konungr appoints the members of the High Council and the Society Thegns and may remove these from their posts if they do not fulfill their assigned roles. S/he has the ultimate responsibility for maintaining order and discipline in the Society and all members of the rank of Fri-hals and above have the right of appeal to the Konungr if they feel they have been unfairly treated by another Officer of the Society. The Konungr is answerable to all voting members of the Society and must answer questions put to him/her at Jarl Things and Althings.

e-mail: konungr[at]vikingsonline.org.uk

" I work closely with the High Council to ensure that the society can fulfill its aims. Occasionally I deal with disciplinary matters, but most of my time is spent supporting society officers, Jarls and Group leaders to strengthen and develop their departments and groups. Before taking on the role, I led a group for many years, was head of the Daneaxe department and raised two young warriors in the society. When I'm not on official business you might meet me on the battlefield, find me chiseling away at a new box or, if things are particularly quiet and you're particularly unlucky, you might hear me playing my flute."

Society Admin and Second in Command - Sandra Orchard

The Admin Officer is responsible for maintaining the records and the correspondence of the Society, for ensuring that documentation is up to date and securely stored. He/she has overall responsibility for the IT infrastructure of the Society and for ensuring that the applications are developed to meet the growing Society needs.

email: admin[at]vikingsonline.org.uk

"I get to do much of the boring bits of admin which keeps the Society working behind the scenes, but it does mean I can answer almost any question about The Vikings which you may want to ask. Look for me under the Ousekjarr blue and red sail at shows."

Society Treasurer - Christine Lines

The Treasurer is responsible for maintaining the finances of the Society, for ensuring that all purchases made are affordable by the Society and honouring the financial commitments of the Society, for example insurance premiums, when due. It is his/her responsibility to ensure that the Society receives value for money when a purchase or payment is due and to search out the best deal. He/she will administer expense claims.

He/she should produce a balanced set of accounts, incorporating all of the Society income, financial transactions and assets, at the end of every Society financial year (31st January).

email: treasurer[at]vikingsonline.org.uk

"I'm the person you need to find at major events to claim travel expenses. Get your group leader to point me out."

Society Authenticity Thegn - Jeppe Christensen

The Authenticity Thegn is responsible for maintaining and, whenever possible, improving the standards of authenticity within the Society. He/she is responsible for ensuring that information is available to every member of the Society, in particular the Group Authenticity Officers, and that the information is as accurate as possible and, when necessary, updated. He/she has the authority to prevent any member of the Society from appearing in Dark Age costume, if this does not reach the standards required at that show, or to remove any part of their costume.

email: authenticity[at]vikingsonline.org.uk

"Society Authenticity in the past has meant that everything from archers to boats, from costume to daily life in the living history has at some time come under my scrutiny. Presently, it is my job to maintain the high standards of Authenticity that potential clients have come to expect. This is achieved with help from a small band of dedicated Cultural Authenticity Thegns (CATs) armed with a series of tried and tested Guidelines and assessment forms. All Society members however are encouraged to act as Authenticity Police, and to be on the lookout for contraventions to the authenticity code. "It’s a thankless task but some one has to do it."

Combat Training Officer - Jon Finch

The Combat Training Thegn is responsible for maintaining the standards and safety of all combat within the Society. He/she is personally responsible for training and testing of all Recognised Combat Training Thegns - RTT(C)s. He/she sets all hand-to-hand weapon tests and either examines or appoints examiners for these tests. He/she will organise the combat events (but not date or venue) at Society Training week-ends.

Communication Officer - Bob Clegg

The Communications Thegn is responsible for ensuring that full details of all Society events are conveyed to Society members as quickly and as accurately as possible, usually through the Runestaff, Broadsheets and the Web site. As the editor of the Runestaff he/she is responsible for producing the Society journal on a regular basis, for generating Broadsheets throughout the season and ensuring that the information in these publications is as correct and up to date as possible. At Society events he/she must ensure that the information necessary for the smooth running of the show is disseminated rapidly and efficiently and that a mechanism is in operation to ensure that last minute changes in plan can be quickly notified to Society members.

email:runestaff[at]vikingsonline.co.uk

"As Society Communications Officer I collate, edit, have printed and distribute/post the Society's Runestaff. The Runestaff is usually sent out to the membership every three months, these are posted to group leaders to distribute to their members or if you are a provincial member they are posted directly to you. A copy is also always available at on DocStore. For my sins I have been a member of the society for well over thirty years, I work for Westinghouse fuel division in Preston, Lancs, and in my spare time I relax by killing things on the X-box."

LHE/Village Coordinator - Steve Lines

The Village Coordinator is responsible for the setting up and running of any encampments/villages/static craft as part of Living History displays at all major musters. He/she should be aware of the location of all major items of associated display material owned by the Society and should notify the keepers when items will be required at particular events. He/she should be supplied with details of the individual skills of Society Members by the Village Training Thegn and use this information to ensure that an adequate number of people will be available to man the display. The Village Coordinator may also examine or appoint examiners for Village/craft assessments.

email: lhe[at]vikingsonline.org.uk

"Essentially I look after anything and everything to do with the Living History Encampment, a task in which I am ably assisted by a team of RTT(Village) officers at society level and Herred village thegns at group level. The first time you will probably see me is running around the LHE like the proverbial headless chicken just before show opening time making sure that everything is ready for the public, the LHE runs smoothly, I know who is coming,  and where to put them when they  get to the event.  For some shows I also need to know who is going to do what in the way of crafts and other LHE displays. In real life fellow Viking and wife Christine and I run our own architects practice from home with ‘help’ from an ass0rtment of cats.  I play squash (stop laughing please), follow F1 and rallying, and do the occasional bit of wood turning."

Craft Training - James (Hrafn) Hulme

The Craft Training officer is responsible for organising the training and testing of craft activities within the Society and ensuring that the encampment/village display can be run when required with an adequate number of crafts demonstrations. He/she is responsible for working closely/liaising with the LHE Thegn for crafts standards and training. He/she is required to work with the Society LHE Thegn to set LHE and crafts assessments and ensure that RTT(V) are adequately trained to carry out such assessments. He/she is responsible for organising crafts training sessions at Society Training Events and supporting a variety of crafts people to share their skills. email:hrafn_rikardson[at]hotmail.com

"My role is to ensure that our members have access to training and assessment in the crafts they perform and display for the public. I joined the Society in April 2012, and inspired by the wonderful, varied talent we have in our LHE camps, I set about building my own authentic musical instrument display. At the end of 2017, I formed my own group- Hammer Horde- and made living history as important a feature of our displays as combat. I am delighted to be in a role where I can support our members in developing their own crafts and creative activities that make our society so special. We are a skills-sharing community as well as educators and performers, long may this continue!"

Battle Captain - John Gendall

The Battle Captain is responsible for the organising and running of the arena battle display. He/she must ensure that an adequate scripted display has been prepared for each Major muster, select and brief unit commanders and ensure that the sides are evenly balanced. He/she must ensure that all combat displays do not endanger the public in any way and must be prepared to fill in any gaps in the timetable by organising impromptu combat displays if required.

" Hi I’m Geng, I’m generally moaning/giving advice to the rest of the council and the Konungr (The truth)!.As the Battle Captain, I am the person who is in overall charge of what we do in and around the battlefield arena: working with the Scripts/casting Thegn, I ensure that an adequate scripted display has been prepared for each Major Muster; I will select and brief the unit commanders (Hersirs); ensure that the sides are evenly balanced; each Group knows which side they are on and where to Muster. I need to make sure that the arena displays do not endanger the public in any way (with the help of the Marshals and the PA). All other arena displays e.g. the Kiddie Vike and archery displays etc will be planned in advance with the relevant person in charge knowing their responsibility whilst still having fun doing their role."

Health and Safety Officer - Gareth (Goose) Evans

The H&S Thegn is responsible for ensuring that all Society activities conform to national, local and event specific laws & regulations, making them as safe as possible for members of the public, participants and guests.

Included within this brief is the production and maintenance of the overall Society Health & Safety policy and procedures and support for the other departments in the management of Health & Safety issues within their portfolio to ensure compliance with these policies.

The Health & Safety team also manages First Aid provision for the Society, ensuring that we have suitably qualified and equipped personnel to cover our activities.

email: safety@vikingsonline.org.uk

"In short, it is the role of my team to make sure that with the minimum of intrusion into our normal activities, we don’t attract the attention of the Local EHO (Environmental Health Officer), or the HSE (Health & Safety Executive), and if we do, that we pass inspection with flying colours!"

Education and Safeguarding Officer - Nigel Tate

The Education and Safeguarding Officer is responsible for directing the activities of our school visitors, and ensuring their presentations are of a required standard and fulfill the needs of the current curriculum. They ensure that all School visitors are registered with the Society and are compliant with Society recommendations for visitors, i.e. have the relevant enhanced legal documentation for their area, and for keeping records of these up to date. The Education and Safeguarding Officer is responsible for the coordination and allocation of school visits and for follow-up assessment. They are also the Safeguarding Officer for the Society and should be the first point of call for any issues pertaining to children or vulnerable adults.

 email: schools[at]vikingsonline.org.uk

Missiles Officer - Maiken Bagley

The Missiles Officer (Missiles Thegn) is responsible for maintaining the standards and safety of all missile combat within the Society. He/she is personally responsible for training and testing of all Recognised Missiles Training Thegns - RTT(M)s. He/she sets all missile weapon tests and either examines or appoints assessing thegns for these tests. He/she will organise the missile combat events (but not date or venue) at Society Training weekends.

Group Leader's representative - Eve Bushell

"As the Group Leader liaison officer, I’m the person you need to find/speak to about group issues no matter how big or small. Coming into the role as a group leader, this enables me to help all group leaders with group admin details if required, and with group issues that may arise. I can be found in the Manaraefan camp at shows but also readily available away from shows with my details being in the Runestaff."
email: evelyn.bushell[at]icloud.com

Head of Events & Publicity - Gail Bowden

Publicity

Has overall responsibility for any material produced to advertise the Society to the public and potential clients. This includes, but it not limited to, websites, social media sites/posts, posters etc. Along with the Media Officer, they are normally the first point of call for journalists and other media representatives.

Events

Is responsible for negotiating the contracts for major shows and events. He/she will handle all the preliminary arrangements but need not necessarily be responsible for the actual running of the show itself and may choose to hand this over to another member of the Society.

The Events Co-ordinator is also responsible for arranging the Society events calendar and ensuring that there is no double booking of major Society events.

Email: gailbowden28[at]gmail.com