Svend-Erik Engh

I tell Viking stories, Norse myths  and  Scandinavian folktales and legends. I was born and raised in Denmark with a Norwegian mother, so these stories are in my blood and bones. But I have a passion for all good stories and have collected many on my world travels over the years. I have tales from Namibia where I worked in the 90s, China where I travelled to in the 80s, as well as many other stories from global traditions. Now that Scotland is my home, I have become deeply inspired by the Scottish history and traditions, in particular its relationship to the Vikings, so I’ve found and created many tales that share the history of Vikings in Scotland.

I give storytelling workshops in schools, community centres, and private events which often include Viking games as well as Viking stories and myths of the Norse Gods. I also giving walking tours of Edinburgh that tell tales of the city’s history and I often add stories of the relationship between Edinburgh and Scandinavia to these walks.

I like my storytelling to be as fun as possible. I am a very physical storyteller thanks to my theatrical training at Odin Theatre in my youth and my audiences always seem to enjoy this.

My first book in English is called ‘Danish Folk Tales’ published by the History Press in 2023. It is a collection of my favourite traditional stories from Denmark.

When I’m not having fun telling or writing stories I’m coaching storytellers and leading seminars and masterclasses to help people become better storytellers. 

For many years I have been working with business leaders helping them to advance their storytelling skills to inspire change in their organisations. 
I have done similar work with university students at Copenhagen Business School where I’ve led courses on how to use stories when talking about academic research.

Throughout the 90s and early 2000s I worked side by side with business coach Steve Denning. in 2009 I published a book called ‘Tell a Story - create interaction’ 

In the early 90s I was also a Folkhøjskole teacher which is a Nordic people’s school which was founded by Grundvig in 1844 and inspired by Norse myths. A Folkhojskole is a school where the students create the curriculum and is unique to the Nordic countries. 

Finally, I am a creator and performer of full length shows that have performed all over Scotland, England and at European festivals.. Since I arrived in Scotland in 2017 I have created 2 shows with storyteller Alice Fernbank. Our signature show is  ‘GIANTS' as we are both big people telling stories about other big people. In 2020 we created 'Orphan James and The Prince of Denmark', about James the VI of Scotland and Shakespeare's Hamlet. With musician Neil Sutcliffe I created and performed 'Walk the Oars' at the Edinburgh Fringe, a Viking story of a young man travelling in a ship to Shetland, and in 2021 and 2022 we created 'Wolves Within' stories of Wolves. Both these shows have toured in England and Scotland.