The so-called Middle Settlement (Mellembygden) of Norse/Viking Greenland has received far less attention than either of its larger Eastern and Western counterparts.
New Books on the Vikings
March 23, 2014 By
Want to know more about the Vikings? Here are five books that talk about the Norsemen, including their combs and their language.
Arctic encounters between Norse and Natives
March 3, 2014 By
Contact between the Norse and Native peoples in Canada’s Arctic was more extensive and earlier than first believed, according to recent archaeological evidence.
In quest for the lost gamers: An investigation of board gaming in Scania, during the Iron and Middle Ages
February 22, 2014 By
The games we play today are of course not entirely the same as those played a thousand years ago,
Christian Prayers and Invocations in Scandinavian Runic Inscriptions from the Viking Age and Middle Ages
February 8, 2014 By
Many runic inscriptions from the Viking Age and Middle Ages are directly related to Christian culture — they originate from a period during which Christianity was introduced and gradually institutionalized.
Norse Rune code cracked
February 7, 2014 By
A scholar of the University of Oslo has cracked one of the rune codes used by the Vikings, revealing they were sending each other messages such as ‘Kiss me’.
Warriors and warfare: ideal and reality in early insular texts
February 6, 2014 By
This thesis investigates several key aspects of warfare and its participants in the Viking Age insular world via a comparison of the image which warriors occupy in heroic literature to their concomitant depiction in sources which are primarily nonliterary in character, such as histories, annalistic records, and law codes.
The Extreme Emotional Life of Völundr the Elf
February 1, 2014 By
In this article, my aim is to determine the function of elves in Old Norse narratives from the thirteenth century by concentrating on the figure of Völundr, the protagonist of Völundarkviða, who to my mind is the most important Old Norse elf.
The Ship in the Field
January 17, 2014 By
An article exploring the possibility of a connection between the Vanir gods, specifically the goddess Freyja, with the Scandinavian stone ships and boat burials, and hypothesizing a field of the dead in early Germanic mythology.
Ragnhild Simunsdatter and women’s social and economic position in Norse society
January 13, 2014 By
In this paper I will focus on Norse women’s social and economic position in the high and late Middle Ages, with Ragnhild Simonsdatter and the Papa Stour document of 1299 as a point of departure.
The Hole: Problems in Medieval Dwarfology
January 2, 2014 By
When trying to understand Old Norse dwarfs, one problem is knowing too much.
Tooth-tool Use and Yarn Production in Norse Greenland
December 8, 2013 By
During a dental study of medieval Norse skeletons from Greenland, Iceland, and Norway, a distinct pattern of wear was observed on twenty-two anterior teeth of twelve Greenlanders.
North America’s First Contact: Norse-Inuit Relations
November 18, 2013 By
The interaction between the Norse and Inuit was sparse, at times hostile, and could have possibly doomed the Greenland colonies to extinction.
Vínland and Wishful Thinking: Medieval and Modern Fantasies
November 12, 2013 By
Reevaluating the wishful reality of the Vinland islands requires that the stories of the Vinland journeys be squarely situated in the context of the world geographic system adopted by those who told those stories.
Women in the Viking age : death, life after death and burial customs
November 7, 2013 By
My main interest is to find out if it is possible to get a unitary picture of beliefs concerned with the fate of the Viking women after death.
Movie Preview: Vikingdom
October 4, 2013 By
Being released today in 21 cities across the United States, this Malaysian-made film is loosely based on Viking mythology.
From Flax to Linen: Experiments with flax at Ribe Viking Centre
September 28, 2013 By
The archaeological record shows that linen was an important part of Viking Age clothing. Linen cloth developed gradually from being virtually nonexistent in Scandinavia at the start of the first millennium AD…
What did Dragons look like for the Vikings?
June 16, 2013 By
While the modern image of the dragons often depicts a beast that has four legs, leathery wings and breathes fire, the medieval image of the creature could be very different. In the article, ‘Dragons in the Eddas and in Early Nordic Art,’ Paul Ackey shows that the Vikings and Norse society had their own ideas of what dragons looked like.
How Christian Were Viking Christians?
June 15, 2013 By
What did the Vikings know of Christianity, how did they appreciate Christian teaching per se and in comparison with their native beliefs, in what way was Christianity enrooted in the minds of pagan Scandinavians?
Folklore and the Fin Folk of Orkney
June 3, 2013 By
The Orkney Islands possess a folkloric tradition that is both unique and fascinating.
Reincarnation among the Norse: Sifting through the Evidence
May 17, 2013 By
This short article looks at the possibilty of reincarnation as a common alternative concept of life after death among Germanic heathens and then as a possible non-standard alternative belief.
Viking poetry of love and war – new book by Judith Jesch
March 18, 2013 By
They are most famous for being violent invaders of foreign shores but a new book by a University of Nottingham Viking expert shows they were also poetry lovers with a wicked sense of humour!
The Position of the Individual Gods and Goddesses in Various Types of Sources – With Special Reference to the Female Divinities
March 13, 2013 By
Old Norse religion is in itself an interdisciplinary subject. If we are to survey the whole subject, it will presuppose special knowledge of a great many fields.
Awkward Adolescents: Male Maturation in Norse Literature
January 25, 2013 By
Although medieval masculinities have become a subject of scholarly interest, there has been relatively little discussion of the transition in Old Norse until very recently.
Anaphrodisiac Charms in the Nordic Middle Ages: Impotence, Infertility, and Magic
January 16, 2013 By
This essay, however, looks to explore, not this seductive form of charm magic, but rather its opposite, ie charm magic that prevents the consumption of a relationship, or that makes a fruitful union impossible.
How you can Follow Us!