Many of the most famous images of the Norse gods we see today come from artist Jahn Bauer, composed in the first quarter of the 20th century. Let’s take a look at the life of the man and some of his best-known works. Who is John Bauer? John Bauter was born in Germany in 1882…
Monumental-sized stones with runic inscriptions and decorations have been found throughout the Viking world, especially across Scandinavia. They were usually erected as memorials for the dead. The practice is traditionally thought to have started around the 4th century CE, with the last examples coming from the 12th century. However, a runestone recently discovered at Svingerud…
We know the Vikings had an expansive outlook and looked beyond their territory for trading, raiding, and settlement opportunities. With that in mind, and despite the geographic proximity of Poland to the Viking world, Poland rarely features in English-language scholarship about the Vikings and their activities. Most accounts jump over the large territories to Novgorod…
One of the most famous mortal characters from Norse myth and legend is Sigurd, also sometimes called Sigfried, who had a love affair with a Valkyrie, slew the dragon Fafnir, and died in unfortunate circumstances after acquiring a cursed ring. Sigurd’s story appears in many sources, both Germanic and Norse. Most fascinatingly, his story is…
On this blog, we often cite the Norse sagas as sources for many of the stories and anecdotes we share. However, one famous poem that rarely gets mentioned is Beowulf. This is for several reasons. First, it is an Old English poem set in the Viking World, so there is debate over whether the world…
While there are many famous Norse gods about whom significant information survives, there are also many gods that are only mentioned in passing. We must piece together the stories of these gods from fragments of information, and they have not made their way into the modern imagination in the same way as Odin, Thor, and…
Hermodr is one of the more enigmatic Norse gods, who only appears fleetingly in the surviving sources. The surviving mentions point to a god with a much more complex mythology and significance, which has now been lost to history. Hermodr means “war spirit,” which may seem appropriate for a god who is referred to as…
Our Norse ancestors lived according to the changing seasons, planting, harvesting, hibernating, and raiding based on when the weather was best suited to these activities. They also counted time according to the visible movements of the heavenly bodies, with dates like the summer and winter equinoxes and the full moon having the greatest importance. Many…
Viking culture centered around community gathering and feasting, which provided social cohesion. Therefore, the modern idea of a Viking festival, where people with a shared interest in Norse history and Viking culture get together, would have seemed like a good idea in the Viking world. Modern Viking festivals are more about fun than marriage alliances…
If you are anything like me, your social media is currently being bombarded with films of Krampus parades happening around Germany and Austria. Locals dress up in terrifying costumes and march through the streets to the sound of drums. This is all part of their preparation for Christmas, but where does this tradition come from…
