Category: Special Topics
Vaguely titled, this section holds the various papers, presentations, and projects that Fjorn has undertaken over the years. The content ranges from academic coursework, department lectures, special presentations, and more. Some read more as (unreviewed) academic articles with specific arguments, but most are designed to introduce the audience to a specific or broad topic.
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Special Raid: ‘Viking’ Love Stories
When it comes to love in the medieval North, these are some of the most essential stories to know. We start things off with a fairly detailed discussion about Freyja, the free-spirited goddess of love and war, including her ferocious cats and her experience with magic, aka seiðr. After that, we cringe (and laugh) through…
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Harald Fairhair: Unification and Cultural Migration
This post was originally delivered as a virtual lecture to the New York Ancient Cultures MeetUp on September 20th, 2020. It was a group effort between myself (fjörn) and Joshua Gillingham (author of The Gatewatch). Below is the transcript I used while giving my portion of the talk. As such, I don’t have any footnotes,…
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An Icelandic Pilgrim amid the Crusades: Nikulás Bergsson
During the mid-twelfth century, an Icelander named Nikulás Bergsson went on a pilgrimage that took him over 4,000 miles away from his home in northern Iceland to Jerusalem in the Holy Land. We don’t know much about him, but it is clear that he was a lettered Benedictine monk.[1] Around the year 1153, however, Nikulás…
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Njal’s Saga: A Medieval Best-Seller Most People Haven’t Heard of
If you want to experience a medieval Icelandic ‘family’ saga at peak performance, then this is the saga to read. […]
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The Saga of Iceland’s Independence
Gleðilega þjóðhátíð! Today is June 17th, which means that it is Icelandic National Day! To celebrate, I am sharing the Saga of Iceland’s Independence, which explores the history surrounding Iceland’s road to independence — Join me in the Hall to learn more!
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Samhain
O! How great is the darkness of this night and its horror, and how the demons always appear on this night! Each man that dares to stride out to try this night will no sooner find himself quickly coming back into the house! Despite these horrors, there was once a man named Nera who took…
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Saint Patrick
“My name is Patrick… I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many. My father was Calpornius. He was a deacon; his father was Potitus, a priest, who lived at Bannavem Taburniae. His home was near there, and that is where I was…
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Viking Age Dublin
The story behind Dublin is a fascinating tale of integration, conflict, politics, and economics. The coming of the Vikings and their settlement of Dublin changed the Irish political landscape dramatically. As this settlement grew, the kings of Ireland sought control over its wealth and prosperity. Many Irish and Scandinavian rulers fought over this settlement. To…
