Women in Viking-Age Scandinavia, or, who were the ‘shieldmaidens’?
I will address two questions: a) how are we to interpret the descriptions of these war-like women in the past, and b) does the contrast between active pagan and passive Christian women reflect real changes?
7 Things One Should Know When Dealing with Kings: The Icelander’s Version
Here is MaryAnn R. Adams’ winning advice on how to deal with Norse kings.
Manifestations of psychiatric illness in texts from the medieval and Viking era
The medicine of medieval Europe was influenced above all by the Hippocratic and Galenic legacies, conveyed through the medical School of Salerno, albeit also to an extent embedded in demonological and supernatural beliefs and folklore customs.
Doors to the dead: The power of doorways and thresholds in Viking Age Scandinavia
It is argued that Viking Age people built ‘doors to the dead’ of various types, such as freestanding portals, causewayed ring-ditches or thresholds to grave mounds; or on occasion even buried their dead in the doorway.
The Vikings and clothing accessories they brought home
New study on the use of imported objects in Viking Age Scandinavia
Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them
Read an excerpt from the latest book by Nancy Marie Brown
‘God helped thee; The eagle got food afresh’: Norse Crusaders and the Pleasure of Killing
The men of the north are often depicted in the Norse sagas as taking great pleasure in killing, even doing it for no good reason
Reflections on Our Fascination with Vikings and What It Tells Us about How We Engage with the Past
What drives our fascination with these people who lived so long ago, about whom we know relatively little and yet who my students see very clearly and definitively?
An Eye for Odin? Divine Role-Playing in the Age of Sutton Hoo
This paper presents some new observations concerning the construction of the Sutton Hoo helmet, as a point of entry to a wider discussion of pre-Christian religious and ideological links across Scandinavia.
Rich and Powerful: The Image of the Female Deity in Migration Age Scandinavia
I believe serious blunders have been made concerning the identification of males and females. It
is simply inadmissable to interpret any figure with open, shoulder-length hair as female when all the evidence for the centuries in question shows females have only been depicted with long hair tied in the Irish ribbon knot.
Tolkien and the Viking Heritage
Much has already been written about the influence of Norse mythology on The Lord of the Rings. Less research has so far been done about how other aspects of the culture and history of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons influenced Tolkien’s writing.
Continuity: Folklore’s Problem Child?
Few topics play a more central role in the way scholars have thought – and, in some cases, continue to think – about medieval folk cultures than has the issue of continuity.
Poems by a Viking
What was a poem by a Viking like? In his new book, Crimsoning the Eagle’s Claw, Ian Crockatt has translated dozens of poems of one of the most famous poets from the Norse world.
Ragnar Lothbrok and the Semi-Legendary History of Denmark
An investigation into the historical models for the legendary/literary figure Ragnar Lothbrok, including discussion of semi-legendary Danish history from the early sixth to late ninth centuries. Presents an argument for a female model, Lothbroka.
The Picts and the Martyrs or Did Vikings Kill the Native Population of Orkney and Shetland?
I suspect that the Norse invaders of Orkney and Shetland didn’t just overwhelm’, or ‘submerge’ the native population: I think they killed them.
Viking raids were for more than just money, historian says
In his article, ‘What really caused the Viking Age? The social content of raiding and exploration’, Steven P. Ashby, a medieval archaeologist and lecturer at the University of Cambridge, outlines the many factors that would have prompted Norsemen – both the elites and the regular men – to conduct their raids across Europe.
Vikings in the Prehistoric Landscape: Studies on Mainland Orkney
Norse colonists in Orkney contended not only with the islands’ existing occupants, but also with a foreign landscape filled with visible ancient monuments. This paper provides a brief synthesis of the results of research on the landscapes of Viking-Age and Late-Norse Orkney which explored the strategies undertaken by the Norse settlers to re-model their social identities in their adopted environment.
‘Black Men and Malignant-Looking’: The Place of the Indigenous Peoples of North America in the Icelandic World View
As they headed back to the ship they saw three hillocks on the beach inland from the cape. Upon coming closer they saw there were three hide-covered boats, with three men under each of them.
The Rök Stone – Riddles and answers
Challenges to the mind were popular at the Frankish court at the time of the Rök Stone. Due to the political situation in Scandinavia at that time the stone was made in a combined Swedish and international context. The methods of the stone are clearly influenced by the Frankish renaissance initiated by Alcuin of York.
Of thieves, counterfeiters and homicides: crime in Hedeby and Birka
Material evidence of prehistoric crime is rare. A compilation of finds from Hedeby harbour however offers three case studies, where three different offences – thievery, counterfeiting and homicide – are likely.
The Viking women who disappeared
Women played an important part in Viking Age society, and their role far exceeded that of mother and the ‘housewife’. Why, then, are they barely mentioned in the history books?
BOOKS: Medieval Ireland
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, here are some great books on medieval Ireland!
Choosing Heaven: The Religion of the Vikings
The Viking-age gods stemmed from two races – Aesir and Vanir.
Ceremonial Drinking in the Viking Age
Drinking ceremonies played a very important social role in Viking Age Scandinavia and Anglo-Saxon England.