The National Geographic Channel will be showing a documentary on the Staffordshire Hoard tonight called “Lost Gold of the Dark Ages.” I’m looking forward to it with a mixture of eager anticipation and some puzzlement.

Apparently the show is going to include a “pagan” Saxon ritual, and the assistant producer’s blog on how they went about staging the ritual makes for some strange reading:

Dr. Kevin Leahy told me that Saxon Paganism was likely to be dark, atmospheric, and spooky, so that’s what we decided to aim for.

We all finally assembled in a woodland to film the ritual. We’d brought a macabre collection of skulls and animal skins with us, and we decorated the trees.

… With lots of smoke from the smoke machine, we began the ceremony.

The business with the smoke and skulls sounds more like a Korpiklaani show than a documentary, and I’m wondering how “dark” their portrayal of the so-called Dark Ages will be. But this program is still a must-see for me: it’s a chance to learn more about the Staffordshire Hoard, and to see the Regia Anglorum reenactment group in action.

I’d love to hear other people’s reactions to the show.