The Vikings generally had a good diet, rich in animal proteins and much less reliant on grains than their southern neighbors. This is one of the main reasons why the Vikings were on average several inches taller than the English and the French, and why the English sometimes referred to the Vikings in England as…
Crystals are one of the most important tools that a practitioner can have in their magical toolkit. They are believed to act as conduits, channeling energy, attracting and capturing desirable energies for magical workings, or dispelling and blocking negative energy. Different crystals are believed to vibrate at different energy frequencies, and therefore attract, dispel, and…
Natal astrology is present in most cultures, from ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean to ancient China and India. While every culture has a different approach, they are all based on the belief that there is a relationship between the position of the celestial bodies above and what happens on the Earth below. Specifically, the celestial…
In modern Western society, the New Year is often a time to swear oaths or make promises to ourselves about things we intend to do in the new year. While the Vikings did not consider Yule the start of the new year, it was still an important moment when the cold days started to get…
We often talk about “the Vikings”, but the people that we think of today as Vikings were not in fact a homogenous group. They were northern Europeans from present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden whose culture thrived between the 8th and 11th centuries. They also shared a seafaring culture of exploration, trade, and also pillaging. They…
Ragnar Lothbrok is the most famous Viking we know about today. But he was at least as famous for the vast number of warrior sons that he fathered as he was for his own exploits and deeds. Ragnar seems to have had at least nine sons and two daughters, though different sources record different lineages…
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…
Anyone who is a fan of Viking history and culture will be disappointed that the History Channel’s series Vikings has now come to an end. While the show was never the same after (spoiler alert) the death of Ragnar, it filled a very important Viking-shaped hole in our entertainment. While we have been promised a…
The Vikings had a feasting culture. They would often get together for grand festivals, which were also used as a mechanism for social cohesion. Modern Viking festivals are more about fun. Get dressed up, shop Nordic wares, and maybe participate in a battle re-enactment. They are also fantastic opportunities to get together with other Viking…
Looking for Viking names for your loved ones? Here is our list of 40 of the best Norse names that have come down to us through the sagas and inscriptions. What’s in a name? The Vikings believed that their runes were more than just an alphabet. Words had power, and a word written down had…