In 1898, a Swedish immigrant named Olof Ohman reported that he found a stone, measuring 30 x 16 x 6 inches in size, while clearing land he had acquired in Western Minnesota for farming. It weighed a hefty 202 pounds. The stone was found lying face down in wetlands covered by the roots of a…
The Viking world was full of symbols. Not only were they a powerful way to express ideas, but the Vikings also thought that symbols had power. The Vikings believed that their runes were more than just a script, they were also a magical tool that could be used to shape the world. Symbols were an…
Archaeologists have confirmed that the stories of Vikings sailing to the New World around 1000 CE. This is thanks to the discovery of a Viking-style settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows at the northern tip of Newfoundland in the 1960s, and other scattered archaeological evidence in this region of Canada. But before this archaeological confirmation, there…
Viking culture centered around community gathering and feasting, which provided social cohesion. Therefore, the modern idea of a Viking festival, where people with a shared interest in Norse history and Viking culture get together, would have seemed like a good idea in the Viking world. Modern Viking festivals are more about fun than marriage alliances…
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…
Title image: Hermodr riding Odin’s steed Sleipnir to Helheim, by W.G. Collingwood 1908. Source: University of Victoria, Canada Before the rise of the motor vehicle, horses played an essential role in shaping human civilization. Horses were essential for everything from transportation to warfare. Viking society was no exception. Horses were functional tools, status symbols, and…
Long before the conversion to Christianity, the Vikings celebrated Yule in December in the lead up to the Winter Solstice and the turning of the year. One of the most important mythological events that was believed to happen around Yule was Odin’s Wild Hunt, known as Oskoreia, Odens jakt (Odin’s hunt), or Asgardreien (Asgard Ride).…
Avalon holds a special place in the hearts of anyone interested in the magical and supernatural. While it first appeared in the stories of the Arthurian legends, it grew in the popular imagination with the publication of Marion Summer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon in 1983. She retells the Arthurian legends from the female perspective,…
Many cultures have stories of “riddlers,” who block heroes at some point on their journey. They pose challenging questions, which the hero must answer correctly, or face the consequences. In Greek mythology, this is usually a sphinx, such as the one who challenged Oedipus. In Norse mythology, the riddler is Vafthrudnir, whose name means “strong…
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…
