First we had the authentic smells of the Jorvik Viking Centre, developed in the 1980s to give visitors a sense of everyday life in medieval York.

Then earlier this year we had a guide to the sights and scents of the city with its “Smell York” guide .

Now “Viking” deodorant is the latest olfactory treat to be offered by the people of York. The tourism agency for the city, Visit York, today announced the creation of “Norse Power”, which is described as “a new deodorant for men that attempts to capture the aromas of Viking-era York and the fierce raiders that conquered the city”.

This is unlikely to compete with the likes of Sure and Lynx for space on the supermarket shelf, however. The different aromas infused into this new body spray include “battle gore, sweat, pine, meat, mead, seawater and smoke.”

Visitors to the Visit York Visitor Centre this weekend will be able to try “Norse Power” out for themselves – if they dare.

According to Visit York, couples are particularly being targeted “to test the body spray out on their partners to see which they prefer: their usual 21st century aftershave aromas or the smells of the Viking era.”

Telegraph Travel has not as yet requested a sample.

*Update* There has been a sample going round the Telegraph offices. Verdict: Avoid, at all costs



Smelling good: the deodorant's ingredients include mead and sea water. Photo: Visit York

The full list of ingredients is as follows:

Mead (imbibed generously by Viking warriors after a hard day’s raiding)

Battle gore (spilled on the battlefields)

Smoke (from the settlements razed by Vikings during raids)

Seawater (From the journey by longship to British shores)

Mud (Vikings often travelled by foot over the sodden terrain)

Human sweat (which would have been deep soaked into a warrior’s clothes after a hard day’s raiding)

Animal meat, fruits and nuts (the essential ingredients of a hearty Viking feast)

Fresh pine (from traversing the many forests of Britain in search of places to conquer)

Read more

York city guide

Yorkshire travel guide

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