About Us
About us, Our Products, Our Philosophy.
'The Viking Dragon' is the latest creation from 'The Jelling Dragon', which was founded in 1996 by Viking reenactor and Dark-Age Pagan enthusiast Rob Taylor (aka Ruald the Wad).
Rob started his business while battling his way around Viking festivals in the UK and Northern Europe. Over time he began to finance his trips by selling wares from his small replica Viking tent.
(The Jelling Dragon stall in the 1990's).
Rob joined The Vikings in 1988 and was one of the founder members of the Jomsborgelag, a small group that grew to be an international Viking reenactment society that now has a membership of hundreds with dozens of groups located in countries all over the world.
(Rob at Jomborgelag show in Tunbridge Wells 1989).
He was also a founder member of The Jomsvikings international warrior brotherhood, and helped to pioneer the expansion of the hobby beyond the borders of the UK by taking part in the first ever Viking reenactment combats in countries such as Norway, Poland, Iceland and The Netherlands.
(The first Wolin Viking Festival in Poland).
(The Jomsvikings in Iceland 1995).
The Jelling Dragon online store was created in 1997. Since then it has undergone many upgrades and transformations. Originally it was a small online catalogue at members.aol.com/jelldragon, this relocated to www.jelldragon.co.uk, then in 2001 we moved over to our domain to www.jelldragon.com and now in 2018 we bring you The Viking Dragon at https://thevikingdragon.com displaying all of our wares in an accessible and easy to view new format.
Not long after the founding of The Jelling Dragon online store Rob left the Jomsborgelag and The Jomsvikings to pursue a solo Viking career, battling his way across Northern Europe and the Scandinavian countries before settling in Sweden for a while.
Rob is now back in the UK and our business has grown to become one of the world’s premiere online Viking re-enactment stores. As well as Viking reenactors and living history enthusiasts, our customers also include film companies (such as those that produced Game of Thrones and Beowulf), theatres, museums, schools, followers of the Nordic faith and tradition, as well as people just looking for something shiny.
Back in the early days we were one of the only online Viking reenactment stores, but as the years roll by then hundreds of new stores have popped up selling a range of goods, from ornate, handmade UK replicas, to cheap imports from the far east. This has proved difficult for us and the consumer, as it makes it hard for the consumer to see what is a genuine, high quality replica and what is a cheap, mass-produced import and hard for us to compete with large, corporate companies selling mass-produced low-quality items and passing them off as 'Viking'. We still have many loyal customers, but even the most diehard reenactors are now looking for bargains to add to their kit. We hope that you will still support us as we strive to offer the best Viking equipment and supplies on the market and still stand out with some of our custom-made items and attentive customer service.
The store now is managed by Rob’s brother Brian, while Rob spends most of his time exploring the world and writing books. Rob has published four books so far under his pseudonym Rob Wildwood. These are "Magical Britain', 650 enchanted and mystical sites across Britain, 'The Magical Places of Britain', which is a photographic guide to Britain’s natural sacred sites, 'Primal Awareness', which is a history of mankind’s separation from nature, and 'Land of The Fae', which explores Rob's magical journey into the Otherworld of Britain.
Rob has started a new grove of trees via Trees for Life. If you want to add to his grove or make a donation to Trees for Life then click on the logo below:
You can find Rob's Facebook profile here , or take a look at his 4 published books below:
For more info about Rob's Magical Places click on the icon below: