While we usually think of the Vikings as travelers and raiders, they did not in fact live on their longboats or in military camps. The majority would have spent most of their lives in villages, not too dissimilar from the English and French villages that they were raiding and conquering. While the exact composition and…
The Vikings believed in many different types of divine beings. There were gods, giants, light elves, and other beings that don’t seem to fit into any of these categories. The Vikings believed that they were all more than human and assigned them similar attributes and powers. And thanks to plenty of unclear sources and interbreeding…
The Viking runes are a fascinating topic for historians and mystics alike. As well as being a system of writing that reveals fascinating snippets about the lives of the Vikings, the Vikings believed that the Norse runes also had magical properties, exploited by Viking runemasters, and also used by modern diviners. Let’s take a look…
While Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir, also known as Gudrid the Far-Travelled, may not be one of the most famous Viking women, she certainly is an important one, especially for those living on the western side of the Atlantic. She was the mother of the first Viking, and the first European, born in the Americas. Her personal story,…
Gunnar Hamundarson is one of the most famous Icelandic Viking heroes. His life story is recorded in the Njals Saga. But, while Gunnar was most likely a real person, his character is used in the saga to tell a moral story. While Gunnar is described as a warrior without equal, unlike the bloodthirsty warriors of…
It is a sad truth that until recent generations, most women have been obscured from history. In patriarchal societies with histories written by men about men, we often lose sight of the roles of women, grand and humble. This is also true of Viking history. Even the stories of the goddesses are lost. For example,…
It is well known that the Viking sagas tell the stories of the most impressive Viking heroes, but are they all to be taken seriously? The saga of the infamous Viking poet and warrior Egill Skallagrimsson reads more like Monty Python’s Life of Brian than like the story of a true Viking hero. The saga…
Eric Bloodaxe is one of the most famous Viking warriors, at least in the British Isles. Many Britons today trace their Viking ancestry through Eric Bloodaxe and his prodigy who settled in York. But Eric’s story seems far less noble than that of many other Viking warriors. He was expelled from kingship several times, usually…
Hvitserk is, without doubt, one of the most tragic characters in the History Channel’s Vikings series. One of the younger sons of Ragnar Lothbrok, he is a follower rather than a leader and often struggles when he must choose between his brothers. He is haunted by the things that he has done and eventually goes…
While we tend to think of the Vikings as raiders and warriors, we should not forget that this was just one element of a sophisticated culture that also had music, science, religion, and, of course, visual art. Like most cultures, the Vikings created beautiful things out of many different materials. However, due to the inevitable…