A Visit to Folkvang Norse

By Grey Lupindo

       I recently visited Folkvang Norse, located at Lexicolo  (239, 15, 45).   In Norse mythology, Folkvang is the home of the Viking Goddess Freja.   In SL, Folkvang is one of the most unique and interesting places on the grid.  The site was created over five years ago by three SL residents, Dizzi Sternberg, NightShade Fugu, and Janet Rossini.   The three live in different countries, England, Denmark, and the United States, respectively, and met in SL.   

         Dizzi Sternberg told me that Folkvang, “is open to all as a public park as we believe open spaces are rare in SL.”  They also hope to share more accurate information about Viking life than is usually shown in the media.  They have succeeded in doing this in a variety of fun and exciting ways.    

         To begin my journey I teleported into the main landing spot at Lexicolo (224, 11, 2998).   This area has a floor map with teleports to all the major spots within Folkvang.   It also has Viking buildings, clothing, and other useful items for sale if you want to RP or explore in proper attire.   However, wearing Viking clothing is not required.   Do wear comfortable shoes or boots, however.   Folkvang is huge and has lots of places to explore.

           I went straight to Sessrumnir, which is Freja's Castle.   I kept on eye on the Jaguar guarding the courtyard as I quickly walked up the winding staircase.   Inside are lots of nooks and rooms to explore.  Among the many rooms are a library and an art gallery.   Most of the walls showcase beautiful paintings and drawings.   

         I found a few treasure chests in some of the rooms.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but the chests are part of Freja’s  Quest.   In this Quest you try to find treasures while you search for the Goddess Freja.  I found three treasure boxes, but I need to find more.  I couldn’t open them until I found some previous ones.  I looked around a bit, but I didn’t find them.   But this sim has so many other treasures that I wasn’t disappointed.  I’ll come back another time to search more thoroughly.    

         As I wandered through the rooms I also found that some of the items and furniture are for sale.  However, there are no annoying signs to spoil the beauty and ambiance.   You only realize the items are for sale when you click on them.  You need to click, however, because so many of the items are magical.  It takes a click or two to turn them on or open them up.    My advice is to touch everything.  If you don’t, you may miss out on a hidden room or an interesting object.   Explore everywhere, too.  At the end of one very long climb I found a beautiful outdoor room with a table and carved dragon chairs.    On another rooftop I found a flying dragon ride. 

         I flew the dragon ride into Thor’s Garden, which has ancient rune stones in it.  Beautiful flute music began to play, too.  There was also a wild boar hunt that I could have joined in, but I skipped that.  There are other free games to play that don’t involve hunting.  I fed some ducks, chopped wood, explored a Viking village, and more.  

            While I was exploring another building, a horse and cart clomped across the bridge.  I decided to hop on and ride around the site.  I soon found that Folkvang has more things to ride than any other place in my recent memory.   In addition to the flying dragon and the horse cart, I took a tour in a NorsePunk Balloon and sailed a small boat.   During my visit I saw even more things to ride that I didn’t have time to try:  an elephant, a swan, a giant hen, horses, and different types of boats.   

           The balloon tour started at Hedeby and flew past the Folkvang castle and the Valkyrie tower.   It made a stop at Janet’s Land, which has laboratories and a variety of inventions and gadgets to see.   The tour continued, but I got off here.  I heard trains and saw Shallot, another beautiful building that was nearby, both of which I wanted to explore.    

             The Valkyrie Transport Rail Road was my favorite ride.   The first thing that struck me as I waited at the station was the variety of trains.   Some carried cargo or did other industrial work.  All of the trains were unique and different.   I watched for a while before getting into one of the passenger coaches.  The train has great sound effects and a realistic rocking feel to it.   I was even able to bring along the cup of Steelbuck coffee that I had picked up at the stations’ rooftop cafe.        

            For residents who like challenges, there are four different types of quests here.   The Visitor area, located at Lexicolo (239, 15, 45) has teleports and information cards about the different options.  The quests combine fun with Norse mythology.  “The Road to Hel” goes though the Underworld to the throne room of Hel.  “The Old Vanirheimr” goes to the home of the Vanir Gods and Goddesses, Njord Frej and Freja.  The journey goes through both lovely landscapes as well as some hidden worlds.  “ Back to the Beginning” is said to be the hardest quest as it goes back in time to Norse creation.

           I went on the newest adventure, “Journey to England”, which is an amazing 30 to 40 minute simulator ride.  I boarded a Viking long boat in Yorvig. The ride portrays a Viking couple’s journey from Denmark to England, approximately from the RL home of Nightshade in Denmark to Sternberg in England.   Along the way they encounter storms, enemies and other hazards.    The storm, which includes a great lightning show, is so amazingly realistic that I could almost smell the wet sheep that shared the boat with us.  Sternberg told me that all of the places named in the story really exist, and the night sky has the stars accurately placed. 

           Folkvang is one of those wonderful sites that you can spend hours and hours exploring.   I didn’t have time to check out the other quests, the dwarf caves, any of the underground worlds, or the harbor.  There’s even a hidden amusement park called Dizzi World that you can only reach by going through the subway, which is located at the train station.  I peeked inside it, just long enough to know I must return. There are many other hidden gems and jewels in Folkvang, too.  All of them are waiting to be discovered.

 Grey Lupindo

Vanwenia - Realms of Fantasy

By Becky Shamen

Before exploring and writing about adventures in Second Life, one must first discover that they exist and where they are located. The best tools, I've found, are the Destination Guide at secondlife.com and the World Map, found at the website and also within the viewer. Both of these tools played a part in finding the sims for this article. My home in SL is on Sunweaver Bay, which is on the West side of a collection of 8 connected sims. There are two maps available in the viewer. The mini-map is like a people radar, showing nearby avatars as green dots if they are at the same elevation as you. If they are at a higher elevation, the dots turn to ^, if lower v. If the dot is a friend, the radar blips are shown in yellow. The radar also shows, in low resolution, objects and builds and ground texture. Most objects are black, but the ones you own are shown as blue. The Map does not give accurate locations of avatars, because it is not updated as often as the mini-map, but does give a better look at the sim detail. When zoomed in, it is like viewing the sim from an airplane. When zoomed out, it is like a satellite view of large areas of SL. If you know the size of a building, you can find the distance to any point on the sim. Knowing that a sim is 256 meters square, you can find the distance to other nearby sims. 

 Using my map, I discovered a large group of connected sims, which were only 1.75 miles West from my home. I made a mental note to go and explore them, at a later time. As I looked for my next place to explore and write about, I opened the destination guide, in the "Fantasy, Adventure" category. In the list provided, four of the places turned out to be located in the same area I had found so close to home. Naturally, I decided it was time to explore them.

Before going to visit, I like to make a detailed map, to help find my way around and then use as an illustration in the news article. To make the maps, I first zoom out to show the whole group of sims and capture a screen shot, to use as an index. Then I zoom in, for greater detail, and make shots of each of the sims. I then combine them all into one big map, using the index to get them back in the right locations. These large maps are way too big to upload inworld, because SL limits textures to 1024 pixels in height and width. To upload them, a copy has to be resized, so that neither dimension exceeds the limit. On each map, I place the name of the area, such as Blake Sea or Caledon. 

For the name of this 39 sim area, I searched, but could never find a name for the collective area. In getting to know the people and places, I asked everybody I met if they knew the name. None of them knew the answer. I got invited to a party, where I met and friended the king of Asgeir, who's name is Asgeir Askvigg, I asked if he knew the name. He said it didn't have a name, so perhaps I should be the one to give it one. With this in mind, I began thinking of names that might fit the overall theme of the area. Several names came to mind, but I kept asking each person I met if they knew the name. On Elven Quest, the last of the sims I explored, I met a Lady elf and had a long chat with her. She explained that, originally the sims were organized by "The Builders of Arda" but over time they had become less connected to each other. She suggested that perhaps some Elven words might make a good title, like Vedui, Vanwen (greetings, hello). Having found all the people friendly and helpful, I thought that was a great idea, so I named it "Vanwenia,"  meaning "hello place."

Vanwenia is made up of several realms and a few individual, residential sims. The largest realm is called The Dragon Empire of Uhre and is loosely based on E.E. Knight's 'Age of Fire.' Kingships are on a per sim basis. I met and friended two kings, Cromm Slade of Dragon Lolth and Asgeir Askvigg of Asgeir. Cromm's wife, Eva, is Queen of Singing Woods and there is a bridge connecting their sims. Dragon Lolth and the Empire of Uhre, shown outlined in red on the map, were the first sims I explored.

Sometimes I walked, or flew, from sim to sim, but to save time, I usually used my map to TP. The first time I TPed to Asgeir, I found myself on a large, flat ground, covered with grid lines. In my radar, I saw a green blip approaching at great speed. This turned out to be a lady named Armix Portal. She seemed very upset that I was there, asking, "How did you find this place?" and "Who gave you the LM?" I was not on the ground level of the sim. It was a sky platform, with a template texture, that she used for building houses. When I explained who I was and that I was writing a story about the area, her mood became more friendly. She TPed to the ground and sent an offer to TP to there. 

It was Armix, the next day, who got me invited to a party. There I met the king. Asgeir is a viking themed sim, with snow covered ground and log buildings. It was late night, when I was there, and nobody else was there, so I took a quick look around and headed to the next sim. To the West is Uhre Belegaer Sea. On the map, I noticed that all of the sims in this Empire are connected by water routes. I could have rezzed my sail boat and toured them all by water, but, already dealing with lag, I decided to fly north to Uhre Lava Dome.

The ground at Lava Dome is all black, basaltic rock, with rivers of molten lava and multiple volcanic cones. I flew around, selected the tallest cone and headed for the top. Remembering that I had chickened out, on my Route 66 tour, I decided, this time I would land in the caldera. As I stood on the boiling magma, I noticed a large, green, sculpted dragon was begining to take shape. It was standing in front of a cave entrance, with an iron gate protecting it's contents. Thinking that the dragon would be no threat, until fully rezzed, I tip-toed past and clicked on the gate. That action put me right inside the dragon's lair. The walls and columns were richly decorated with scrollwork and the floor was covered with gold nuggets, coins and colorful gems. I expected to find a prize here, but a quick inspection revealed none, so I went back out. 

Now, standing behind the dragon, who did not seem to notice me, I saw that he had a saddle on his back. I clicked on it and found myself mounted in the saddle. The page up and down and arrow keys gave me full control of my new steed. Within moments, after take off, I realized a photo of my flight would go perfect with this article, so I paused and posed for the camera. I began to wonder if the dragon was able to cross into other sims, or if it would poof at the border. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I had started out on foot, so headed for the border to test my theory. The dragon made it across the boundary, to my delight, so I used it for a dragon's eye view of several more sims, pausing here and there to zoom my cam down on points of interest.

The total area of the lands I call Vanwenia is around two and a half million square meters. It would take months to get to know the lands and people. The scenery is some of the richest I have ever seen and it is dotted with more unique castles than you can count. The people are as varied. It's like being in the places in a Tolkien book. All of the people I met and talked to were friendly and helpful. I asked many questions regarding the divisions of Kingdoms, Realms, Empires and Alliances, but this Gordian knot awaits an Alexander to cut through it. 

On the map, I have outlined a few of the realms, to give a rough idea of them. I pray the residents will forgive me, if I have got a few lines in the wrong place. The same goes for the names of each of the sims. The names used on the map came from the destination guide, but the residents may have their own names for them. An example of this is Asgeir, the Viking sim, which is known to the locals as Midgard, or the Northern "Great Alliance", parts of which are called the Torgan Kingdom. There are many groups that can be joined, such as Knights, Rangers, Mages,and Healers. You can engage in combat RP, or stay neutral. There are a variety of avatar types to be found, but note that furries are permitted in some areas, but not all of them. My advice is, until you've learned the rules, keep your visor down and your ears and tail tucked in.

I had a wonderful time exploring and can assure you, if you have a taste for fantasy, in this place, you can live Happily Ever After.

Becky "Sha" Shamen