THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

For those who like their camping a little more 'authentic' Norway has established a school for those who wish to learn the Viking way of life.

Jeppe Nordmann Garly has for years been a “recreational Viking,” a keen member of a fringe fraternity of would-be Norse warriors who dress up in 10th-century clothing, attend weekend craft fairs and trade tips over the Internet on where to pick up an authentic helmet or sword.

He has now become a full-time Viking. Formerly a teacher and jewelry maker in Denmark, Mr. Garly last month began a new job on a hillside campus in central Norway as the director of Scandinavia’s first government-funded training course on how to live like a Viking.

Or, that is, a politically correct one, purged of the bloodthirsty aggression that made the Viking Age a byword for macho violence.

“I am a very peaceful man. I have never plundered anything,” said Mr. Garly, a 36-year-old Dane whose modest stature, jocular manner and portly figure belie his enthusiasm for ancient warriors. He does, at least, have a beard.

“Rape and pillage are not part of the curriculum,” Mr. Garly added.

Also banished from the campus here in Seljord, a pretty lakeside town 115 miles west of Oslo, are Viking symbols like the swastika, which Nazi Germany and a puppet fascist government set up in Norway during World War II promoted as emblems of their racist creed...

Mr. Husby said the college has laid down strict rules that the Viking students would not engage in “inappropriate” activities. Animal sacrifices, violent sword play, hallucinogenic mushrooms — which some believe the Vikings used to pep themselves up for battle — are all off limits.

Taking out the rape and pillage may make it less attractive to some but you can get training in various crafts as practiced by those jolly Norsemen. And unfortunately, shipbuilding does not appear to be on the syllabus.