'VIKING INVASION' OF BRITAIN STAGED: INTERESTING FACTS

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 August 1949, Page 9

'VIKING INVASION ' OF BRITAIN STAGED: INTERESTING FACTS

LONDON, July 31.—Although the enthusiasm of the crowds broke up some of the careful stage management of the arrival of the Danish longship Hugin at Broadstairs, the British and Danish Travel Associations, which together were chiefly responsible for providing the spectacle, had no reason to complain about the publicity it received. Photographs of the bearded Danes in. Wagnerian costumes borrowed from, the Copenhagen Royal Opera House, as they jumped upon the Broadstairs beach and contended with crowds of over-enthusiastic holidaymakers, had pride of place in all the popular newspapers. One or two interesting facts have already emerged as a result of the renewed interest in the Vikings created by this reminder of the landing of Hengist and Horsa on the Isle of Thanet 1500 years ago. The first is that the word “Viking” should not be pronounced to rhyme with “hiking,” but with “flicking.” The second is that the men who sailed with Hengist ancl_Horsa did not confront the predicament of their latter-day imitators, who wore out the seats of their trousers rowing the Hugin from: Jutland to England. The ancient Jutes who sailed the first Hugin, according to experts on Danish history, did very little rowing because they timed their raids to take advantage of the winds both coming and going. British cartoonists are having their full share of fun with the Danes of of Hugin. They have already been shown queuing up in a dentist’s waiting-room to receive the free benefits of the British national health service.