Further Information

A bit of history:

Imagine a fantasy-like world where sword-wielding women and men march side by side to the battleground in leather and iron armour. Fighting together. Being victorious together. Conquering new lands and cities together. A world where free women can rule, hold titles and deeds, have property and land, just like the men. A world where strong female rulers govern prosperous towns and settlements. A world where the matriarch is just as well-known as the patriarch. Now, what if I told you that this world was really the world of the Vikings, ca. 900AD.

The Viking culture was one of only a few that pioneered gender equality in the world. The Vikings may have pissed of neighbouring countries with their actions; by raiding and pillaging; but it was their culture and their ideals that made them so hated. The ideas of cleanliness, bathing, and social order where women could be equal to men, threatened the patriarchal cultures of neighbouring countries and made them want to either assimilate the Vikings or get rid of them. This makes the Vikings a truly special piece of history.

A bit bout us:

Our company, Vikingr, currently makes beard products for the modern Viking looking to take good care of his facial pride. Vikingr was founded in 2014 by us, childhood friends Thor (Þór) and Odin (Óðinn) (no, we are not making that up, those are our actual names). We are both big history nerds that love our Viking heritage and both of us love our hair and beard and caring for it in the best possible manner. We decided to combine the two and came up with Vikingr, products based on the hair-caring traditions of Vikings and Nordic men.
From the beginning we wanted Vikingr to be a “no-bullshit” kind of product. We only use ingredients that we know and like, we never ship a recipe to production until it’s absolutely perfect, and we will never try to sell you anything that we wouldn’t use ourselves. Vikingr products are made using old, tried and tested methods and each one only contains a few carefully selected ingredients. You won’t find fancy foreign oils with funny names and you certainly won’t find any of those pesky additives like preservatives or coloring. No sir, if the Vikings didn’t have it, we don’t want it. We’re funny that way, but so far it’s given us one hell of a product line… or at least we think so.
We’re just a couple of nerds with a passion for proper hair-care. Our products can be found in 28 different locations in Iceland, 1 in the Netherlands, and soon they can be found in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Canada as well. We believe we have created a good set of products that satisfies a need in the market and holds aloft our Nordic Viking heritage. Come join us and be a part of the Vikingr family. You guys are awesome, your hair is awesome, and we think we’re a bit awesome too so let’s all be awesome together, Vikingr style!

A bit about the product:

This first product in the Skjaldmey line will bear the name Brynja. As a noun it means "armor" and as a verb it means "to shield or protect". It will be the sister-product of our main beard oil, Verja. Brynja will have the wonderful spicy sweet aroma of Bog Myrtle, a plant widely used in Viking times to flavor ale. In those times it was often the women that were in charge of brewing; were the brew-masters.??

The main ingredient here will be cold-pressed Icelandic rapeseed oil. Rapeseed oil has had a bit of a mixed reputation in the past. This is due to how it’s commonly made, which is a process involving all sorts of nasty chemicals and heat which turns the oil into something no one should get close to, let alone eat or apply to the skin. However, recent research has shown that when using the traditional, eco-friendly extraction method of cold-pressing the oil is both extremely healthy and good for both the skin and hair. You get all the natural vitamins and the good Omega fatty-acids that do the body good both inside and outside. In fact, rapeseed oil has lately been making a strong entry into the cosmetics world for just these reasons, so you can expect a wonderful, silky smooth oil that rivals all the best products in the market, leaving your hair feeling hydrated, soft, smooth, and glowing with life.??

Our rapeseed oil comes from the farm Þorvaldseyri, located in the south of Iceland at the foot of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull. The volcano famously erupted a few years back, spraying the surrounding soil with volcanic debris which incidentally is packed full of nutrients. Naturally fertilized in this manner, near-by farms have experienced vigorous crops and the rapeseed is no exception. This is why we believe that our rapeseed oil, this volcanic rapeseed oil, is the best in the world right now!We are extremely tough when it comes to purity of concept, which is basically: “If the Vikings didn’t have it, we don’t want it!” We have no want or intention to make some sort of tourist gimmick which only serves to exploit our Viking heritage. Oh no! First we want our products to be truly Nordic which means only using Nordic ingredients, then we want them to be awesome products of the highest quality, then and only then do we place the (in our minds sacred) Viking image upon them.

A bit about the project

We‘ve done all the groundwork, everything we could do without further funding. We’ve come up with a concept we love and hope you do as well. We’ve completed the first photoshoot with our awesome models Elísa and Katrín, we’ve finished post-production on the best ones and are currently working on completing the marketing material. Through Vikingr we already have a solid network of retailers (27 in Iceland and growing worldwide) and we’re currently introducing this potential new product, getting great interest from them. We’ve lined up a promotional campaign for the product launch which includes one major online ad campaign at a top 5 most visited site in Iceland, plus coverage on blogs, lifestyle- and fashion sites.

With this fundraiser we hope to get enough money to buy the supplies and raw materials we need for the first batch and schedule and complete first production.

Stretch goals

The amount we set out to raise is the bare minimum we need to complete production of the first batch. Therefore, everything extra that’s raised will make it that much easier for us to complete the project in a proper manner. To make it interesting we’ve decided on a few stretch goals for you to see how the extra money will be spent:

If we get 101% - 130% we will use the extra money to beef up our promotional campaign and make it that much more awesome. Our dream is to buy ad-space in physical mediums and in the Duty Free store section of the Leifur Eiríksson International Airport.

If we get 131% - 150% we will do the beefed up ad campaign plus throw an even bigger launch party and everyone that pledges is invited. We’re talking live music, cool venue, free booze; the works.

If we get 151% - 180% we will do the beefed up ad campaign and the awesome launch party,and everyone that pledges enough to receive a product will also receive the next item in the Skjaldmey product line (t.b.a.) that’s due before Christmas, the number of items equalling the number of items pledged for (if you pledge to receive one bottle of hair oil you will receive one of our next items, etc.).

If we get 181% - 200% we will do the ad thing and the party thing, but rather than receiving the next Skjaldmey product as a bonus, everyone that pledges enough to receive a product will instead receive our Skjaldmey gift set that’s due this Christmas, including a bottle of hair oil, the next Skjaldmey product (t.b.a.) and a wooden comb inspired by female Viking design and history.

Visit our website
Visit us on facebook
Visit us on instagram
Visit us on Twitter
Have a beer with us on untappd