We’ve had the TV shows, we’re getting the theme park and now the Viking invasion is extending to higher education in Norway.

Students at Seljord Folkehøgskule, a college 90 miles west of Oslo, are embarking on a new programme to learn traditional Viking skills such as sword forging, jewellery making and roof thatching, as well as the essential art of axe-throwing.

The year-long Viking course is the first of its kind and came about after the headteacher, Arve Husby, decided to introduce more traditional courses into his curriculum. “Our school used to be really well known for handicrafts, but these started to die off,” said Husby.

“So I had a brainstorming session with other teachers and someone suggested Viking skills to get more students working with their hands.”