Women and Men of the Viking Age
Professor Sanmark’s lecture will discuss gender roles in the Viking Age, with particular attention to how women and men have been perceived in previous research.
Harald Hardrada: Exiled Prince
Harald was born into a dynasty that in short order had become a major fulcrum of political and cultural change in Norway, only to be forced into exile when they fell afoul of an enemy better positioned to capitalise upon these emerging innovations.
Harald Hardrada: An Exemplar of the Age
Hardrada’s journeys and his interaction with the overlapping cultures and political entities that he encountered are so fascinating and valuable to examine from a global history perspective, precisely because they illuminate this interconnectivity.
Viking Age treasure hoard discovered on the Isle of Man
A treasure hoard dating back to the eleventh century has been discovered on the Isle of Man. It includes 87 silver coins, 13 pieces of cut, silver arm-rings or “hack silver” and other artefacts.
Viking-Age embroidered textiles found in woman’s grave
To an untrained eye, the artefact looks brown and dull, but it is actually something very special: embroidered wool fabric more than 1000 years old, preserved on top of a turtle brooch.
The Viking Phenomenon: Paradigms, Parameters, and Progress
Rejecting the illusory notion of a ‘smoking gun’ or any single trigger factor, we are exploring the longer time depth of the Viking phenomenon further back into the late Iron Age (following Nordic terminology), the varied ethnicities and identities of ‘Vikings’, and the structures of economy and politics that underpinned their developing diaspora.
Viking trousers, missing for over a hundred years, discovered again
Archaeologists in Denmark have found the remains of a Viking elite individual lost for over 100 years. Attached textile fragments are already shedding light on this important person, revealing he was wearing a pair of uniquely decorated long trousers.
Study examines the evolution of Viking metalwork
The evolution of metalwork expertise and craftsmanship developed by Viking craftspeople in Denmark in the 8th and 9th centuries has been detailed in a study published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
‘Viking’ Humour
Do we share a sense of humour with Vikings? Dr Hannah Burrows talks about what might have made the Vikings laugh, and what was considered a serious matter in medieval Scandinavia. She will explore what puns, jokes, insults, and satire can tell us about early Scandinavian culture and social concerns.
Love and Marriage in Old Norse Literature
Why actions speak louder than words when it comes to romance in the Icelandic sagas.
A Tale of Two Yules
A look at the medieval Norse festival of Yule.
Viking Woman’s Grave discovered in Norway
She was placed in a burial chamber and took several hundred miniature beads with her on her last journey. Who was the woman who was buried by Valsøyfjord over 1000 years ago?
Gjellestad was a major Viking burial ground, new research reveals
The ground-penetrating radar data showed 13 burial mounds once existed at Gjellestad, some over 30 metres wide.
Harald Bluetooth and the Ring-Castle at Trelleborg
Trelleborg and the other ring-castles constructed by Harald Bluetooth stand out in history as products of a developing age of state formation, and the rising importance of military power.
Medieval Scandinavia: Power Dynamics in the Viking Age
In the first article on a series about the rise of kingdoms in medieval Scandinavia, Beñat Elortza Larrea examines the society and power dynamics found in the Viking Age.
Looking for the Northern Lights in Medieval Iceland, finding Jane Austen
Ármann Jakobsson attempts to answer the questions he keeps being asked about Icelandic sagas.
The Legendary History of Norway
That the legendary forefathers of Norway are named after elements of nature (and winter) is interesting.
Why was Leifr Eiríksson called ‘Lucky’?
Although it might be said that the discovery of a whole continent was a sufficient justification for such an appellation, the sources do not indicate that Leifr earned his cognomen through discoveries or exploration.
Visual material evidence of Viking presence in the Balkans
The purpose of this article is to outline the Viking objects discovered in the Balkans.
Polynesians of the Atlantic? Precedents, potentials, and pitfalls in Oceanic analogies of the Vikings
Though unconnected in time and place, both the Vikings and the Polynesians were changed by their contacts with ultimately the same alien religion and external imperial forces – but they also incorporated and manipulated them to their own ends, and remained uniquely themselves.
Fragments of the past: how to study old Norse religion
The state of the sources of the Old Norse religions presents a great problem. Most of them were written down two hundred or even three hundred years after the Christianization of the North, based on an oral tradition going back to the pre-Christian ages.
Viking runestone reveals fear of climate catastrophe, scholars find
The new interpretation suggests the inscription deals the conflict between light and darkness, warmth and cold, life and death.
The Vikings and their Filed Teeth
Were the Vikings really filing their own teeth and why?
New Medieval Books: Vikings and the Norse World
Ten books published in 2019 that tells us all about the Vikings and the Norse World.