We usually think of the Vikings as sailing out of the Scandinavian homes to Britain where they pillaged, stole, and massacred many of the local inhabitants. But in a historic massacre that took place on St Brice’s day in 1002 CE, the Anglo-Saxons turned the tables on the Vikings, massacring many of the Vikings who…
Hoards are among the most important archaeological finds for many cultures, including the Vikings. A hoard could also be called a “wealth deposit”, because they are basically a group of valuable objects collected by someone and then deposited somewhere, usually in the ground. It is assumed that most hoards were deposited to protect wealth, with…
The Vikings have a reputation for being violent and brutal due to their raids on their neighbors, and especially their raids of churches and monasteries, an act considered sacrilegious by their Christian neighbors. But, as we have previously pointed out, this was only one aspect of life among the Norsemen. They were also traders, builders,…
We dedicate quite a bit of column space to Viking treasures since these artifacts often inspire pieces in our collection. Most of the objects from the Viking Age that we have shared come from the Viking world Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, and North Sea islands and the regions where the Vikings had a great…
There is good evidence that the Vikings were sailing into the Baltic and the region of Estonia from the start of the 9th century and that by the 10th century, they were having a big impact on the area with several Estonian-Viking settlements emerging in the mostly Finno-Hungarian region. However new archaeological evidence suggests that…
While most people have heard of the Knights Templar and now that they have something to do with the Crusades, few people know much about their history or their Viking connection. This is a brief history of the Knights Templar that highlights some of the practices that they seem to have borrowed from Viking warrior…
We know that the Vikings believed in life after death. What exactly they believed it looked like is unclear. While surviving sources provide descriptions of Valhalla, Odin’s hall in Asgard for brave fallen warriors, Helheim, the underworld, and other afterlives, these were written by Christian observers of Norse culture and were highly influenced by Christian…
Did you know that the Vikings were contemporary with the Crusades that saw Christians from the West try to recapture Jerusalem ? The Vikings were already officially converted to Christianity when the Crusades began, though pagan traditions continued. However, the Vikings did not join the main Crusades into the Holy Land. Instead, they had conquests…
When the Vikings landed on English shores they didn’t just take away slaves and previous goods to line their own pockets, they left quite a lot behind. Laying down roots as settlers from the mid-9th century, they had a pretty big influence on local culture and society. Let’s look at some of the ways that…
Many modern pagans, and other people who want to create greater alignment with natural cycles, celebrate the Wheel of the Year. These are festivals that align with important moments in the solar calendar, and therefore the seasons, such as the solstices and equinoxes. While there are many neo-pagan festivals based on the idea of the…