Foreign envoys and resident Norwegians in the Late Middle Ages – a cultural clash?
In this article, I will discuss the question of multiculturalism in Norway in the Late Middle Ages, focusing on potential cultural differences in the interaction between Norwegian farmers and foreign envoys or royal administrators.
Three individuals, three stories, three burials from medieval Trondheim, Norway
This article presents the life stories of three individuals who lived in Trondheim, Norway, during the 13th century. Based on skeletal examinations, facial reconstructions, genetic analyses, and stable oxygen isotope analyses, the birthplace, mobility, ancestry, pathology, and physical appearance of these people are presented.
Medieval Clothing in Uvdal, Norway
A special feature of three of the bodies was that their skulls were wrapped in linen cloth. Not only the forehead and neck, but also mouth, nose and eyes were covered with linen. These linen wrappings must have been applied especially for burial purposes.
Thousand-year-old cathedral surrenders its secrets, stone by stone
The secrets of Norway’s St Olav’s shrine and Nidaros Cathedral have drawn pilgrims for nearly a thousand years. Curious researchers have also made the journey, eager to solve the mysteries locked up in the cathedral’s stones.
King Eystein’s Raid on Aberdeen
In the early 1150s Eysteinn Haraldsson, the eldest son of the late Harald Gille, who shared the kingship of Norway with his younger half-brothers, led a fleet across the North Sea.
Brewing Viking beer — with stones
There’s nothing archaeologists like better than piles of centuries-old rubbish. Ancient bones and stones from trash heaps can tell complex stories. And in central Norway, at least, the story seems to be that Vikings and their descendants brewed beer by tossing hot rocks into wooden kettles
Popular Culture and Royal Propaganda in Norway and Iceland in the 13th century
Do the kings presented in Strengleikar appear as the European Christian rex justus kings, which was the dominant medieval royal model, or do they convey another image – an image that may be interpreted to explain both the intended function and the popularity of the translations in Norway and Iceland
A Wolfish Reflection: A Literary Analysis of the Werewolf Story in ‘The King’s Mirror’
Why has the werewolf story been selected? How should it be read and understood?
The use and the abuse of history, national heritage and nationalism
‘Icelanders or Norwegians? Leifur, Snorri and national identity then and now’ followed by a panel discussion
Viking toy boat discovered in Norway
A thousand years ago, for reasons we will never know, the residents of a tiny farmstead on the coast of central Norway filled an old well with dirt.
Dressed up with bling stolen in Viking raids
When a female Norwegian Viking died some time during the ninth century, she was buried wearing a status symbol: a beautiful piece of bronze jewellery worn on her traditional Norse dress.
The Making of a Missionary King: The Medieval Accounts of Olaf Tryggvason and the Conversion of Norway
The following article examines the oldest extant accounts of the conversion of Norway, from the Latin works of the late twelfth century until Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla from around 1230.
BOOK EXCERPT: King Cnut and the Viking Conquest of England 1016 by W.B. Bartlett
The Viking Conquest of England in 1016, saw two great warriors, the Danish prince Cnut, and his equally ruthless English opponent, King Edmund Ironside fight an epic campaign.
Yolande de Dreux, Queen of Scots
Susan Abernethy brings us back to medieval Scotland once again to look at another Scottish Queen, Yolande de Dreux.
BOOK REVIEW: The Northern Queen by Kelly Evans
Kelly Evans’Anglo-Saxon novel centres around the story of Aelfgifu of Northampton (990-1040); from her rise in court and eventual marriage to one of England’s most famous early kings, Cnut the Great (995-1035), to her repudiation, and later life with her sons after Cnut’s passing.
Women’s Work and Family in the Viking Age
A look at women’s work and family life in the Viking Age.
Iron Age boathouses in Arctic Norway viewed as multifunctional expressions of maritime cultural heritage
Boathouses have been in use in Norway for at least 2000 years and c. 850 structures pre-dating the 16th century have been recorded.
Food and technology – Cooking utensils and food processing in medieval Norway
By comparing archaeological evidence of cooking utensils from urban and rural contexts in Norway ca. 1,000–1,500 AD – in this case new technologies represented by imported ceramic vessels versus domestic steatite vessels and new types of stone griddles – my aim is to examine how new ways of preparing food were transmitted, either incorporated into routinised practises, ignored or transformed.
Medieval Oslo recreated on Minecraft
A new Youtube video is showing the results of a project by history students at the University of Oslo where they recreate how a…
The Mad Norse King
What happens when the mental health of a medieval King of Norway declines and falls into madness? The story of Sigurðr the Crusader, who reigned for over 25 years, reveals a fascinating account of mental illness from the 12th century.
13th century insult discovered etched into the walls of Nidaros Cathedral
LAURENSIUS CELVI ANUS PETRI / Lars is Peter’s butt.
King Sverre on Drunkenness
Sverre Sigurdsson, a medieval King of Norway, tells his followers about the dangers of overdrinking.
Buried, Forgotten, Disinterred?: The 1944 National Socialist St. Olav Monument at Stiklestad
In ‘Buried, Forgotten, Disinterred?: The 1944 National Socialist St. Olav Monument at Stiklestad’, Øystein Ekroll gave the audience a glimpse into a struggle going on in Norway as it deals with its Nazi past.