There is a small association called Österhus Friends members of which are interested in Viking culture and shipping. The association is about Viking life and having fun together.
The project began from a wish from the members to build their own Viking house.
They formulated a project plan and went to a local EU-project called Leader 2 Störsjöbygden. An archaeologist was hired to manage the building project; some of the members of the association are archaeologist as well. There are also contacts with other archaeological open air museums like for example Gene fornby in Örnsköldsvik. The Site is situated on Norderön in the Storsjön waters, which is not easy to reach. The locations name is "Hovstan", which means "landing site for boats arriving to the court".
The name Österhus Vänner is inspired by the Jamtlandic author Aksel Lindström's trilogy about the rune stone on Frösön. In present time the society has around 60 members. In week 29, they usually organise a Viking week with events and feasts. The association is much about living history, they organise Viking feasts in different locations and besides their house, maintain a Viking ship of 14 m long that comes from Norway. The name of the ship is Hrafn, which means Raven and she was originally built to be a part of a Viking armada on Trondheims 1000 year jubilee.
