Anyone who has seen the History Channel’s epic show Vikings will be familiar with Ivar the Boneless, Ivar hinn Beinlausi, the brutal but crippled son of Ragnar Lodbrok. A cunning and ruthless tactician, he leads his brothers on an invasion of England in order to avenge the death of his father. But how likely is…
What do you think of when you hear the name William of Conqueror or also called Guillaume Le Conquérant in French? King of England after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. True. French leader as the Duke of Normandy. Also true. Viking Warrior King ? This one is true as well. A descendant of the…
The Viking sagas are full of powerful warriors that called themselves kings while raiding across Europe – it is difficult to know how much of their stories are history, and how much are legend. One of the most memorable of these mythical figures is the 9th century Viking raider Bjorn Ironside. One of the many…
We often imagine the Vikings as having a work hard, play hard culture. They gave their all on the battlefield, and afterwards celebrated with nights of heavy drinking of mead and beer, out of large drinking horns ideal for drinking games! That is actually not too far from the truth. The Vikings did mark their…
While many of us were still grieving about the end of the History Channel’s epic Vikings series, Netflix threw us a lifeline and announced that it would be working with the same creators to make a sequel, Vikings: Valhalla. This new series will be set 100 years after the current show and will tell the…
It was not just Viking men, but also Viking women, that were known and feared as ferocious warriors. Of all the Viking shield maidens whose stories have been preserved, Freydis is probably the most ferocious. The daughter of Erik the Red, she travelled to Vinland in the Americas where she terrified the natives. She was…
Almost as famous as Viking warriors are the Nordic runes, evocative symbols that have a feel of magic about them. Even modern Viking use them as tattoos. Indeed, the Vikings themselves thought that these symbols, that they also used for the mundane such as commerce and politics, carried magical powers. Read on to learn more…
Modern culture has very firm ideas about what the Vikings looked like, well encapsulated by their presentation in the show Vikings. Tall, blonde, burly, with long beards and a bit dishevelled from their hard life as warriors. On television Viking style includes hair adorned with braids and beads, eyes covered in warrior’s kohl, and faces…
As well as being warriors that terrified and raided their neighbors, the Vikings had a rich culture with elaborate religious beliefs, sophisticated literature, stunning art, and, of course, traditional music. Our knowledge of Viking age music, like our knowledge of the traditional music of many cultures, is limited. We do not really have any idea…
Death was an essential part of life for the Vikings. A warrior people, death on the battlefield was common and considered an honorable and even desirable end. Living before the epoch of modern medicine, for the Vikings disease could be rampant and minor accidents fatal. Death also meant significant changes in the lives of the…