Contact: Bruce Conley, Associate Director of College Relations
Phone: (605) 274-5526
Fax: (605) 274-4903
www.augie.edu

January 23, 2006

Augustana to Sponsor Viking Film at Washington Pavilion

SIOUX FALLS - Augustana College, whose NCAA Division II athletic teams are known as the Vikings, is a co-sponsor for the upcoming Washington Pavilion film, “Vikings: Journey to New Worlds.”

The film debuts Saturday, January 28, at the Wells Fargo CineDome and runs through May 26.

Historically categorized as roaming heathens, the Vikings heritage is much more complex. The film seeks to debunk some of the exaggerations and to expose the Viking culture as one that is responsible for a number of lasting contributions to modern society.

The Vikings are also credited for much of the discovery and expansion of modern civilization throughout Europe and the northern Atlantic region. A remarkable feat to be sure, given the harshness of the environment and their reliability on their trademark open hulled ships.

“Vikings” also effectively features shipbuilding, the primary skill that set the Vikings apart from other cultures in the 9th through 12th centuries. Viking ships were fast, light, and maneuverable, enabling their crews to venture in to areas both inland and across oceans that were simply beyond the reach of other explorers.

Audiences will leave with a much broader and much clearer understanding of the Vikings era.

Donald Sneen, who wrote “Through Trials and Triumphs: A History of Augustana College,” said it was in 1939 that Ole the Viking made his first appearance on the Sioux Falls campus and quickly became the patron saint of the college. Ole was the product of the creative pen, hammer, saw, and brush of student Austin Kilian. Ole became the golden thread in Augie literature and activities.