Honoring history: a look at modern Viking reenactment

This thesis examines the creative process behind the short documentary Honoring History: A Look at Modern Viking Reenactment. The film explores how contemporary reenactors engage with Viking history, using performance, craft, and community to construct meaningful connections to the past. Through a combination of ethnographic research, interviews, and observational footage, the documentary highlights the cultural significance of reenactment as both historical interpretation and modern identity-making. The written component of this thesis reflects critically on the stages of production— research, pre-production, filming, and post-production—while analyzing the artistic choices that shaped the documentary’s visual and narrative style. Drawing on theories of creative practice, subcultural performance, and documentary storytelling, the paper situates the project within broader scholarly conversations about authenticity, representation, and the role of media in cultural memory. Ultimately, this work demonstrates how creative practice research can bridge academic inquiry and artistic expression, offering both a cinematic portrait of Viking reenactment communities and a reflexive account of the filmmaker’s evolving creative methodology.