At Friday’s monthly Taste of Cultures luncheon, Jeff Rigdon, clad in the leather-and-fur armor of a ninth-century warrior, stood before a cluster of guests who wore new horned Viking helmets.

“Today, everybody is a Viking,” Rigdon, president of the local group Vikings of the Valley , told them. “You can do anything you want today because you’re a Viking. ”

Taste of Cultures, sponsored by Local Colors, spotlights diverse cultures every second Friday of the month at Century Plaza on Church Avenue. This month, the theme was Scandinavia, and the horned helmets weren’t nearly as intimidating to some as one of the main courses — lutefisk, a traditional Nordic dish of cod that is soaked in lye. Read the full story