Several different types of magic are known from the Norse world. There is Seidr magic used by powerful seeresses and Volva (witches). Then there is rune magic practiced by warriors and the Galdrastafir runic magical staves from medieval Iceland. Galdr is another magical art known from the Viking world. This is a type of magical…
The Vikings believed that the runes were not a created alphabet but a fundamental part of the fabric of the universe discovered by Odin and shared with mankind. Used correctly, they could magically shape the world. We have written previously on the blog about the historical development of the runes and what we know about…
The great Viking era began in the 700s when Viking ship technology advanced to the point where they could successfully raid their European neighbors and colonize new lands in the North Atlantic Sea. The Viking Age ended when the Pagan warrior clans had transformed into Christian states under strong kings who developed political relationships with…
We know that Viking culture had sacred spaces to worship their gods because they are mentioned in the surviving sagas and sources. But very little specific detail survives. We must piece together what these spaces might have been like from descriptions in texts written in Christian times, descriptions of the cult practices of earlier related…
One of the things that we get asked about most is Norse holidays. Which ones did the Vikings celebrate, how did the Vikings mark them, and how do they relate to the important holidays that we celebrate today? With those questions in mind, let’s take a look at the Norse calendar and how it frames…
If you are a student of Viking history or Norse mythology then you have probably come across the name Snorri Sturluson. He is one of our main sources for both the legendary stories of the gods and the histories of the Norwegian kings. But considering just how important Snorri Sturluson is as a source, it…
It is well known that the Vikings originally hailed from the modern Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, all of which were formed in the Viking age when areas ruled by chieftains were consolidated into confederated alliances. We also know that the Vikings raided around Europe and eventually began to settle in some of…
If you watch the History Channel’s Vikings, you will notice that it is the kings of Wessex, rather than the other areas of England, that are held up as the main leaders of the resistance against the Danish encroachment. While the TV show takes a lot of liberties with its timeline, this is a reflection…
The appearance of Icelandic actress and former swimmer Ragga Ragnars as Gunnhild on the TV show Vikings has inspired a lot of interest in this powerful woman. In the program, she is a mighty shieldmaiden who was married to Jarl Olavsson. Following her husband’s death, she fell for and married Bjorn Ironside and returned as…
In the Norse sagas, it always seems like the protagonist of the story has an unbelievable life that spans the known world of the day and that they are blessed with uncanny luck until the end. It is not hard to believe that these warriors are touched by divine fate. The saga of Olaf Tryggvason…