Many people have for quite some time been wondering if the Vikings used a sunstone (Icelandic: sólarstein) to navigate the sea. Historians, researchers, and even folks down at the local …
The Helm of Awe
The Helm of Awe or The Helm of Terror (Old Norse: Ægishjálmr) is probably one of the most recognized Icelandic symbols, and according to Norse lore, anyone who wears this …
Younger Futhark – How to Pronounce the runes
The runic alphabet that was used during the Viking Age is called Younger Futhark. These runes can be found on hundreds of runestones throughout Scandinavia. This alphabet does not consist …
Plant Dye Colors in the Viking Age
Our knowledge of the colors that were used during the Viking Age derives from excavations of burial sites, where the archeologists have been lucky enough to find remains of textiles. …
What colors did the Vikings paint their houses?
Have you ever wondered what kind of colors were used in Scandinavia during the Viking Age, and which kind of materials they extracted the colors from? If so, then continue …
Trade in the Viking Age – Do you know which trade towns that were the most important ones?
When many of us think about the Viking age, we often have images of men with long hair and an epic beard, holding a long sword or a giant Dane …
Viking houses – What did they look like?
During the Viking age, most people lived in the countryside around the world and that was of course also the case for the people in Scandinavia. These people lived in …
The Raven Banner
The Raven banner… the flag flown by the Vikings when they raided the shores of their victims across Europe, or so the story goes… In reality, the raven banner was …
What does the word Viking mean?
I have often come across people who are telling me, that it is not correct to use the word Viking for all the people who lived in Scandinavia during the …
Who were the Vikings?
The Vikings were the people who lived from the 8th century to the 11th century in Scandinavia. They came from what today is Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. During the Viking …
Freya cat gift ideas – Top 20
A lot of people across the world love cats, and this is also the case for the Gods and Goddesses in Asgard. Freya is not only the Goddess of beauty …
Top 20 Loki merchandise & gift ideas
This is a list of what I think are some of the most interesting Loki merchandise that I have come across. If you love the trickster Loki, and perhaps the …
Top 20 Thor merchandise & gift ideas
This is a list of unique Thor merchandise for the biggest Marvel fans on the planet. This list contains gifts for both children and adults, for instance, Marvel action figures, …
The Best Norse Mythology Books
There are many books about Norse mythology, and it can be difficult to decide which one to buy. I know, I have been there myself. That is exactly why I …
Viking Market Calendar 2022
View PostThe Last Song – Yxengaard
The last song event is a live-action role-playing experience (LARP), where the participants will be playing characters during a time of cultural crisis. It is a fictional story that is …
Vikingting at Tingvatn
Every year the Vest-Agder-Museum in Norway holds the Vikingting event where they share their passion for history and celebrate their cultural heritage with the visitors. The location is filled with …
Ravnsborg Viking Summer Market
Ravnsborg Viking summer market is placed right in the heart of nature, just outside the town of Korinth on southern Fyn. The market is usually held between the end of …
International Ribe Viking Market
The city of Ribe can be traced back 1,300 years, which makes it the oldest city in Denmark. It is believed that the first international marketplace in Scandinavia began in …
Moesgaard Viking Moot
If you have an interest in the Viking Age, then you should definitely visit Moesgaard Viking Moot in Denmark. This annual event takes place near the city of Aarhus, and …
Trelleborg Viking Festival
Every year, for one week only in July (week 29), Trelleborg Museum is hosting the annual Trelleborg Viking festival right next to the Viking fortress, Trelleborg. This event has something …
Giants and Giantesses in Norse mythology are really called Jötnar which means devourer
The giants and giantesses were among the first living beings according to the creation of the world in Norse mythology. The first giant was called Ymir, and it is from …
Night and day in Norse mythology (Nótt & Dagr)
Night (Old Norse: Nótt) is a very beautiful giantess with skin and hair as dark as the night. She is the daughter of the jötunn Narfi (Nörvi), who is one …
Origin of the wind in Norse mythology
In Norse mythology, the wind originates from the great eagle called Hraesvelg “Hræsvelgr” (corpse gulper) who sits at the northern end of heaven. When Hraesvelg flaps his wings, to take …
Elves in Norse mythology
The elves (Old Norse: álfar, singular, álfr) are divine beings in Norse mythology. Not much is known about them, but they have some form of connection to the Aesir and …
Dwarves are the best blacksmiths in Norse mythology
The dwarves (Old Norse: dvergar, singular, dvergr) are creative and skillful beings in Norse mythology. They came into existence from the rotting flesh of the giant Ymir. When the Aesir …
Vanir are the Gods and Goddesses of fertility and magic in Norse mythology
The Vanir is an old branch of gods in Norse mythology, they are associated with health and fertility, and especially sorcery. The word Vanir is plural and Vanr is the …
Valkyries are female beings who bring those who died bravely in the battle to Valhalla and Fólkvangr
In Norse mythology, a Valkyrie (Old Norse: Valkyrja, plural Valkyrjur.) are female humans (possible former nobles), or female Jötnar who has been chosen by Odin to serve. Their role is …
Heidrun and Eikthyrnir
In Norse mythology, there are quite a few different animals who live among the branches of the great world tree Yggdrasil. Two of these animals live in the top of …
Wolves in Norse Mythology
The wolves in Norse mythology are often associated with something that is negative, they are frequently seen as evil and unreliable. The most famous wolf is Fenrir, the son of …
Huginn and Muninn are the two ravens in Norse mythology that travels the realms and brings Odin the latest news
In Norse mythology, Huginn and Muninn are Odin’s two ravens. Huginn is the old Norse word for “thought” and Muninn is the old Norse word for “memory”. Every morning at …
Valhalla is Odin’s hall – This is where all those who have died bravely in battle arrive for the afterlife
Valhalla (Old Norse: Valhǫll) is the hall of the fallen warriors in Norse mythology. Valhǫll is two compound words, Valr meaning “dead body on a battlefield”, and hǫll meaning hall. …
Yggdrasil is the tree of life in Norse mythology
Yggdrasil is an eternal green ash tree in Norse mythology. It stands in the middle of the world, with branches that stretch out over all of the nine realms. Each …
Bifrost is the rainbow bridge in Norse mythology
In Norse mythology, Bifrost is the rainbow bridge that connects Asgard (home of the gods) with Midgard (home of mankind). Bifrost consists of three colors and it is so big …
Ginnungagap is the great yawning void in Norse mythology
Ginnungagap is the great yawning void of emptiness that existed before the cosmos was created in Norse mythology. There was nothing in the beginning, only darkness. Ginnungagap consists of two …
The Best Norse Mythology Books
There are many books about Norse mythology, and it can be difficult to decide which one to buy. I know, I have been there myself. That is exactly why I …
The Nine Realms in Norse Mythology
There are nine realms in Norse Mythology, they are called Niflheim, Muspelheim, Asgard, Midgard, Jotunheim, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, Helheim. The nine worlds in Norse mythology are held in the branches …
Norse Mythology – Explained in 5 Minutes
Norse mythology is incredibly rich and deep lore, full of many great stories and poems from Scandinavia and the Germanic countries. Norse mythology which is also known as Germanic mythology …
Ragnarok the end of the world in Norse mythology
What is Ragnarok? The Vikings believed that one day the world as we know it would come to an end, they called this day for Ragnarok, (old Norse Ragnarökr). Ragnarok …
Locations in Norse Mythology
Alfheim: Alfheim is the home of the Elves. Amsvartnir: In this lake is the island Lyngvi, on this island is the Fenrir wolf bound. Asgard: Asgard is the home of …
Creation of the World in Norse Mythology
Before the dawn of time and before the world was created in Norse mythology there was only a big dark vast emptiness called Ginnungagap. From this, two realms came into …
Another piece of wood with a runic inscription found during the excavations at the Medieval Park in Oslo, Norway
Another interesting piece of wood with runic inscriptions has been found at the Medieval Park in Oslo. It was found in the same layer as the knife handle in the …
Huge longhouse discovered near the Viking ship burial at Gjellestad in Norway
In 2018, the remains of a Viking ship and the first traces of an old settlement were discovered at Gjellestad outside Halden. This was the first time in more than …
Four graves with rare objects dating back to the Viking Age were found in eastern Iceland
In 2021, four graves dating back to the settlement period of Iceland were found during archeological excavations on the farm Fjörður by Seyðisfjörður in eastern Iceland. The findings were quite …
Unique runic inscriptions on bone and wood discovered during the excavations in the Medieval Park in Oslo
Just before Yule, the archaeologists Solveig Thorkildsen and Ingeborg Hornkjøl from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), found a rune bone and a rune stick a few days …
Was this unique gold earring given as payment by the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire to one of his Varangian guards during the 11th century?
April 30, 2021, was a special day for Frants Fugl Vestergaard who made a discovery of a lifetime on a newly plowed field at Bøvling in the western part of …
Nordic clinker boat traditions have been included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List as an important living cultural heritage, which must be safeguarded and preserved for future generations
The day has finally arrived where the ancient method of building clinker boats in northern Europe has been acknowledged by the international society as a part of the intangible cultural …
The Viking bones that were found in a misplaced box turned out to be from the famous Mammen grave
It is not every day that someone finds a box full of human remains, but that was exactly what happened recently when a researcher from the National Museum of Denmark …
Origin of the International Viking Day, May 8
It seems that every year, on May 8, images with the text Happy International Viking day are shared across all of the social media platforms. But what is the origin …
Origin of the Vegvisir Symbol
What is the origin of the Vegvisir symbol (Icelandic: Vegvísir ), and how old is it? Can we find it depicted in the ancient caves of Scandinavia, in manuscripts, or …
Baltic Pipe reveals thousands of Viking artifacts
Right now The Baltic Pipeline is eating its way through the ancient soil of Denmark, so it can feed the rest of Europe with cheap gas from Russia. There are …