The axe and the ‘Scandi wagon’ wheel – a distinctive four-spoked wheel that the settlers used on their heavy wooden drays – were chosen as symbols for this banquet programme. The event commemorated the centennial of the founding of Norsewood by Scandinavians. Of the 850 people who crowded into the Dannevirke venue, most spoke with a New Zealand accent, and the only Scandinavian word commonly spoken that night was the Swedish toast, ‘Skol’. Other activities during the weekend included a parade of floats and bullock wagons, and the ceremonial burning of a Norse galley named Mjolner (Thor’s hammer).
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