The Nordic countries were not immune to the hysteria of the European witch trials. While laws against witchcraft had been on the books in each country since the Middle Ages, the executions began in the 16th century in the period of the Reformation, when there was a new focus on weeding out heresy with the…
In polytheistic religions, individual gods are often best identified by their attributes, key things they carried with them that distinguished them from the other gods in the pantheon. In Greek mythology, Zeus has his thunderbolts, and Hermes has his winged shoes. Norse religion is no different. Odin always carries his famous spear Gungnir and ravens…
It is now well-known that the Vikings set foot in the New World around the year 1000, when Leif Erikson and his family led several expeditions to areas around Newfoundland, which they called Vinland. However, the Vikings didn’t settle in the region, as the goods they were able to take back home weren’t worth the…
The Vikings began raiding the coastal regions of France at the end of the 8th century, at around the same time that they started raiding in England. Just as in England, the scale of their raids grew over time. Five thousand Vikings, under the leadership of a chief named Ragnar, sacked Paris in 845, and…
Vegvisir, also known as the Norse Compass, is a Norse magical wayfinding symbol. It will help you find your way, even if you do not know your destination. Vegvisir is a magical runic stave, known as Galdrastafir, that appears in medieval Icelandic grimoires (magical manuscripts). The grimoires date to between 1500 and 1800, so the…
The Vikings started raiding England at the end of the 8th century and moved to invading and colonizing in the 9th and 10th centuries. By the early 11th century, there were even Viking kings of England. But not long after that, the Norman Conquest happened, and Viking influence largely disappeared from England. But what happened…
It is not uncommon for people to ask me why the Vikings, who were so active to the west in England and France, did not give the same attention to their German neighbors in the East. The short answer to that question is that they did, but it is not as well-documented as the English…
I was recently asked whether the Celts had a version of Valhalla. The simple answer is no, since Valhalla emerged from the old Germanic religion, and the Celtic religion had a different root. But they did have an idea of an Otherworld, where the divine and the dead meet. That is not unlike Valhalla, where…
Most histories of the Vikings concentrate on their activities in the west. This includes their raids on neighboring regions, such as England and France, their settlement of Iceland and Greenland, and their voyages to the New World around the year 1000. But now, archaeology is drawing increasing attention to Viking activity in the east, where…
Candle magic is one of the most popular forms of magic spells, especially for beginners. Spells utilize the power of the flame, representing the element of fire, which represents creative force, transformation, passion, and vitality. Fire is considered a powerful tool of both destruction and creation in various traditions. Among the Vikings, they believed that…
