Creation and Food in Old Norse Mythology
Not surprisingly, as we can ascertain by reading the Bible and many other religious and mythological texts of the past, also in Norse beliefs food and fecundity were central elements in the origin of all things
Viking-Age Queens and the Formation of Identity
One may ask, then, not why there exists such a paucity of these women in the written record, but why any are mentioned at all, and for what purposes?
How Nordic are the old Nordic Laws?
Medieval legislation plays a peculiar and very important role in Nordic legal history.
Which Norse God Are You?
Thor and his fellow Norse Gods are surrounded by a rich, ancient mythology. Which medieval Norse Deity are you most like?
The effects of Viking activity on Scandinavian society
Three ways in which Viking raids and conquests in western Europe affected Scandinavian society are discussed
Climatic Change and the North Atlantic Seaways During the Norse Expansion
In order to appreciate how the Norse expansion might have been influenced by climatic fluctuations it is necessary to consider in outline the mechanisms which control weather and climate in the North Atlantic area at the present day, and which also obtained in the past.
Anglo Saxon and Viking Ship Burial – The British Museum
This session explores Viking and Anglo Saxon ship burials between the seventh and tenth centuries presented at The British Museum.
Viking Nicknames
Of all the various cultures of the Middle Ages, it was probably the Norse who had the best nicknames. Ranging from the Eirik the Red to Ivar the Boneless, the Viking Age has hundreds of interesting and strange nicknames.
New study to look at Norse farming on the Orkney Isles
A year-long study will begin this fall that will look look at herding economies in the Orkney Isles from the 8th to the 15th century AD.
Seals and Sea Ice in Medieval Greenland
With a view to placing such developments in the context of changes in the past, the focus of this paper is an interdisciplinary study of the interaction of different seal species in Arctic/North Atlantic regions with sea ice, and, more specifically, the implications for the Norse settlements in Greenland in medieval times.
Norse cultural reaction to climate change during the little ice age and their societal collapse in Greenland
This study aims to understand the adaptations of the Norse Greenlanders to climate change in their new home.
Towards a first chronology for the middle settlement of Norse Greenland
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
When trying to understand Old Norse dwarfs, one problem is knowing too much.
Tooth-tool Use and Yarn Production in Norse Greenland
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
The interaction between the Norse and Inuit was sparse, at times hostile, and could have possibly doomed the Greenland colonies to extinction.