Axe throwing comes to Dixon
New business, Victory or Valhalla, brings ancient Nordic activity to Solano County
Dixon may not be the first place one thinks of when they think of Vikings, but that’s about to change.
The town’s newest business, Victory or Valhalla, seeks to bring a favorite Nordic pastime to the city in the form of axe throwing. The business, which opened just ahead of Memorial Day Weekend, provides a space for people to master the ancient art of axe throwing by tossing hatchets at targets and experience the thrill of continuing to inch closer to that bull’s-eye.
Additionally, Victory or Valhalla offers a space for tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) such as the iconic Dungeons & Dragons and even more casual outdoor games like cornhole and kubb.
In short, it is like a snapshot of medieval life, located just off Interstate 80.
Victory or Valhalla is a family affair, with brothers Adam and Jens Demaray providing the creative vision and their father, Keith, providing facility support.
Adam said the business stemmed from his and his brother’s longtime love of reenactments like Renaissance faires and live-action roleplaying (LARP).
“We like doing things like fighting and LARP and all the trappings surrounding it,” he said. “The whole atmosphere that it has is awesome. We just wanted to bring a piece of that to our hometown.”
The interest in axe throwing came relatively recently for the Demarays. A few years ago, Adam’s parents took him on a birthday trip and saw a place that advertised axe throwing.
“We had kind of seen it around but weren’t really quite sure about it,” he said. “We gave it a shot and absolutely loved it. It was just a
blast.”
Adam said he likes the competitive aspect of axe throwing.
“I like pretty much any game that gives me a chance to score points and compete,” he said. “Axe throwing is a really fun way to do that.”
Adam said it was easy to get good at axe throwing but hard to master.
“Right off the bat, it gives you a sense of satisfaction, like you can do this, but there’s always more room to improve,” he said. “For me, that’s just the perfect cocktail of ‘I’m good at it already, but I could be better,’ and it’s really easy to notice the results.”
Soon after their initial axe throwing experience, Adam and Jens began reading up on Norse mythology and learned that axe throwing was a common social competition at Norse blots, events which generally coincided with changes in seasons and involved feasts, ritualistic sacrifices and games.
“Axe throwing was one of the biggest social events at those historical events,” he said. “We thought because of how fun it is and how well it fit into our social niche, we thought that would be the perfect place to start our little business.”
Plus, with their big red beards and heights towering above 6 feet each, Adam said it did not take much effort for he and Jens to look like Vikings.
“That was kind of the niche we fell into,” he said.
Thus, Victory or Valhalla was born. Adam said his family wanted a place that was COVID-compliant, but after learning they would need to buy their own materials to construct an outdoor component, they decided to “cut out the middleman” and open a business entirely outdoors.
The site they settled on was the location of the iconic George’s Orange stand, which provided highway travelers with freshly squeezed oranges and juicy hamburgers for several decades. The orange-shaped stand was relocated to the Dixon Fairgrounds last year to make way for a new development in the Southwest Quadrant.
“We drive by this patch of property every day,” Adam said.
The Demarays contacted both the realtor and landlord, who Adam said were “ecstatic that anybody wanted to rent it out while they were waiting for their permits and approvals to go through.”
“It happened to be right in our backyard,” he said. “It happened to be exactly the right size we needed.”
Keith said Victory or Valhalla currently offers 30-, 60and 90-minute axe throwing sessions in addition to singlenight RPGs, fighting practice with foam weapons for the LARP group on Saturday mornings as well as the LARP meetings themselves. “We’re diverse,” he said. Adam said there was also space for people to play tabletop games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder or card games like Magic the Gathering.
Keith also said they were hoping to begin an axe throwing league within the next month.
“Competitions will be local primarily, like a bowling league, but also the opportunity to advance regionally and perhaps nationally,” he said.
The Demarays are hoping the business can provide a sense of escapism in a different way.
“We want them to have a place that they can come and relax and have some fun,” Keith said.
Adam said it can provide stress relief in a time that has seen plenty of strain.
“We hope that we can carve out one little sliver of the earth where people can go and forget about the craziness for a while to go be a Viking for a night and just have fun,” he said.
Victory or Valhalla is located at 2635 West A St. and is open 4 to 11 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays. It is closed Tuesdays. Participants must be 12 or older to take part in the axe throwing and must be accompanied by a guardian if between the ages of 12 and 17. All guests must participate in safety training provided by an instructor.
For more information, go to Victoryorvalhalla.net.