The Vikings are renowned for their daring voyages, fierce raids, and rich mythology. Yet, beneath the helmeted warriors and their tales of valor lies another facet of Viking civilization that is equally fascinating their trade networks. Viking trade routes, which extended across Europe, Asia, and even into North America, were instrumental in shaping the Viking…
It feels like almost every day there is news of a new Viking burial discovered in someone’s backyard or during new construction work. These sites reveal stunning pieces of jewelry, formidable weapons, and new insights into what the Vikings thought about both life and death. Let’s take a look at four recent and interesting Viking…
Curses have a long and colorful history. Some of the oldest examples of writing from ancient Egypt and Greece are curses written on papyri or clay tablets for someone who wanted revenge on an enemy. I say “for someone” since literacy was not widespread in the ancient world. This is probably part of the reason…
When you look around the internet, it is not hard to find examples of Thor’s hammer, or Mjolnir, amulets. They were popular pieces worn in the Viking age, and they are also popular pieces of jewelry among modern-day Vikings and followers of the Norse religion. When looking at pictures, it can be difficult to determine…
Coins are among the most useful archaeological finds for historians. They are often marked with a date, or at least the name of a ruler that gives a dating period, providing “terminus post quem” dating information for the archaeological context in which they were found. The imagery used to decorate a coin can indicate much…
How do you tell if you have Viking DNA? If you send your DNA off to an ancestry DNA testing lab, you might get results suggesting that you are 50% “broadly European”, 10% “North African”, and 40% “Norwegian”. That means you have Viking genes, right? You may also be told a fascinating Viking DNA family…
Many of the pieces of jewelry in the VKNG collection are inspired by genuine Viking antiquities that were used by real Vikings almost a millennia ago. These same archaeological finds provide important information that help us to understand how the Vikings lived and what they believed in. Today we decided to pay homage to some…
When you read more sensational stories about Viking history, you will often hear tell of barbaric human sacrifices! While there is evidence of occasional human sacrifices among the Vikings in exceptional circumstances, the practice was rare. It seems primarily to have been associated with kingship. Ahmad ibn Fadlan observed Volga Vikings, a group of Swedish…
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 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…