Medieval Masters - Skallagrim

A man with a long beard and a funky, punk styled haircut marches into frame, a wicked looking blade resting casually on his shoulder. You know this is going to be a great video, because you can already see the log in the background, and you already know that this man is going to wail on that log like he caught it breaking into his apartment.

You are watching a video by Skallagrim, and they are delightful.

Despite his Viking-punk aesthetic the YouTube personality comes off as a sweet, even tempered man with a deeply introspective nature. He loves medieval weaponry, to the point that huge companies like Cold Steel send him their new models to stress test for his viewers, which number in the tens of thousands per video. When he speaks, he sounds like Werner Hertzog on anti-depressants.

And yet his channel is, beyond all else, fun. He does a series of weapon reviews dressed as a steam-punk shop clerk, in order to discuss some of the stranger items in his (literal) arsenal. He frequently has his equally charming girlfriend, Cara, join him in shenanigans. He discusses what he thinks would logically have been the way various medieval weapons were used. He even did a video testing an old cap and ball pistol, that I was quite sure was going to result in a hand getting blown off.

In that video he didn't end up getting injured. But then this happened:

I was a fan of Skallagrim's before the accident, but it would be fair to say that I became a super-fan after. The man was back to making videos within days of getting hit by a car, just letting his followers know that he was alright, and he would be back, but that video output would be slowed while he recovered. That kind of grit, that dedication to his fan base, is what makes Skallagrim one of the greats.

If you're looking for pure weapon reviews, speculation about medieval war, and interesting rants about ridiculous local ordinances, check out Skallagrim.