A Croatian from the town of Tomislavgrad has gone full Viking, building his own ship and setting up an axe-throwing club. Stipe ‘Flick’ Pleić, aka Ragnar Kavurson, also makes swords, jewellery and other handicraft in the style of his revered Vikings.
These objects are on display at an exhibition set up at his house in Herzegovina, just over the border from Croatia. Pleić takes his prize axes to fairs across Bosnia-Herzegovina and practises his throwing with his fellow Norse-inspired friends. He also surprised swimmers and anglers when he sailed his replica Viking ship across Buško, a large artificial lake close to Tomislavgrad.
Although some of the third series of Netflix hit show Vikings was filmed in Dubrovnik, there is only scant evidence of the actual presence of original Vikings in this part of the world 1,000 years ago.