The Alaskan Viking Co represents the collaborative work of select skilled craftsmen based in Homer, Alaska. Our unifying element is appreciation for creative exploration with natures basic building blocks. We work primarily with locally sourced materials including wood, steel and concrete. We are inspired by the craftmanship and ingenuity of the viking culture, and are known to enjoy a good saga ourselves.

Reimagine

Reclaim, recycle, upcycle, whatever you call it, we love taking 'waste' and reimagining it.

Meet the craftsmen

Scott Dickerson - Owner/Founder

A lifelong Alaskan, Scott has always loved exploring and making functional art. From the physical creations of pottery, woodworking, metalwork, and carpentry to the more 'modern' arts of photography, branding, and marketing. A 20 year career as a professional outdoor photographer has provided Scott with many opportunities to explore the last frontier. Seven years of commercial fishing and nearly a decade of leading boat based surf adventures around the rugged Alaskan coastline left a deep imprint in Scott's psyche.

At the age of 35 Scott was ready for the next chapter. The three businesses he was running were feeling a little stale. It felt like time for a new saga. The Alaskan Viking Co was born as a way to combine his varied passions and skills under one concept - Storytelling, creativity, adventures, and the experience of the Alaskan wilderness. Through the Alaskan Viking Co he aims to share functional art that feels timeless and simple - Both the creations themselves and the experience that inspires them. His steadily growing list of skills employed through the Alaskan Viking Co include saw milling, furniture design/building, timber framing, metal work, workshop facilitation, and generally keeping the ship on course.

Scott, his wife Stephanie, and their three kids live a modern homestead lifestyle in Homer, Alaska.

Scott Blackwell - Timber Framer | Furniture | Workshops

Sometimes he spends, what some might consider, a little too long getting things perfect. But that's easily forgiven around here. Scott Blackwell learned to timber frame at a young age on the east coast. He worked his way up through the ranks at a busy shop before his wanderlust carried him across the country to the far northwest. He felt at home here when he found his tribe of likeminded craftsmen with a sense for adventure.

Scott's attention to detail is a tight fit with the Alaskan Viking Co's projects. He enjoys the full process from designing, rough sawing, to finish sanding. His skills and experience cover the whole range too - Scott can design a 3d model of your new home, saw the logs, cut the joinery, and erect the frame without hesitation. A valuable member of the crew, no doubt.

In his work with the Alaskan Viking Co he's been enjoying learning more about seamanship and sharing his knowledge through workshops and experiences. We'll be posting a portfolio of Scott's work soon.

Nels Christensen - Timber Framer | Workshops

To say that Nels has a passion for designing and building would be a little silly. This guy cannot, will not, and so far has not, been stopped. And we can't think of why anyone would want to. He loves to timber frame and we love helping him. His enthusiasm is infectious and he is always innovating with new designs and building techniques. From reclaimed timbers to framing with curved local spruce Nels is building a legacy of structures around Alaska. His skill set covers the entire timber framing process from CAD design to complex raisings.

Nels's roots are on the East coast where he was introduced to timber framing from his uncle. He later followed another uncle to Alaska and fell in love with the expansive wilderness of 'the last frontier'. Stay tuned to see what he's building next. We'll be posting a portfolio of Nels's work soon.

Why the name Alaskan Viking Co?

Some think of a culture full of barbaric horned-helmet-wearing brutes that sailed around raiding and pillaging helpless farmers. Others think of a football team in the midwest. We think of master craftsmen and coastal explorers from the old world who used simple tools to build things of lasting beauty and functionality. Innovators from the north who built out of necessity to survive but also imbued their creations with their strong aesthetic sensibilities.

As far as we know for now, the viking culture never made it to Alaska. And no, we don't think of ourselves as vikings. The name represents for us the ideals of craftmanship and exploration that we see in viking culture. We love to work with the simple hand tools and explore the rugged Alaskan coastline. Somedays you might catch us daydreaming a little about what it would have been like to be enjoying this lifestyle a few thousand years ago.

This article from History on the Net does a nice job explaining what the vikings actually did with most of their time:

Besides occasional raids, Vikings were explorers, traders and extraordinary craftsmen. It is by virtue of their shipbuilders and weapon makers that the Vikings were so successful in raiding European countries. Most Vikings were farmers as previously mentioned in “Life on a Viking Farm”. They were also excellent all-around handymen: carpenters, blacksmiths, bone-carvers, animal doctors, fence repairers, herdsmen and so on. They could do whatever was needed around the farm—they made or repaired most of the tools and they built whatever building they needed for themselves and their animals.

...Vikings began to specialize in the arts, crafts, metalworking, pottery etc. By the middle of the Viking age, you’d find not only Viking farmers, traders and blacksmiths, but armor and weapon makers, carpenters, stone carvers, jewelry makers, bead makers, bone and antler carvers, cup makers, potters, weavers, slave traders and amber dealers.

...Vikings were exceptional craftsmen. Shipbuilders built not only the dreaded dragon ships, but also knarrs, ocean-going merchant ships, and a variety of other specialized boats. Jewelers, bronze-casters, antler carvers and bead makers made their splendid jewelry in every trading town. Viking craftsmen produced tableware, clothing, leather work, shoes and boots and every other kind of tool or household object that people used in those days.

-- Learn more about the viking craftsmen at History on the Net.

If you are interested in some more modern research on the viking culture which goes beyond the often violent stereotypes this is a good read on National Geographic.