Tag: Norway
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Raid 2: Northmen, Danes, and Swedes
The ‘Viking’ homeland was more diverse than you’d think—but of course we’re going to start with the classics: Northmen (aka Norwegians), Danes, and Swedes. We’ll cover their Old Norse names, the regions where each group primarily lived, and even talk about their natural resources and how they survived/shaped their cultural identities in their respective environments…
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Viking History: Wends, Balts, and Finnar
We’re wrapping up our coverage of the people inhabiting the ‘Viking Age’ North! This time we focus on the ‘side’ characters: Wends, Balts, and Sámi/Finns. As you’ll learn in the video, these groups frequently mingled with the Norse, creating complex settlements and cultural expressions. We’ll also emphasize just how much environment affects cultural development, including…
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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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Yuletide with Egil and Arinbjorn
Gather ’round the hearth, Hall Companions! I have been gone for quite some time wandering about gathering some much-needed fresh air, but now it is time for me to return and share a story—and given the time of year, I’d say a tale about Yule is in order! Last year, we talked about how the Yule…
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The Old Norse-Icelandic Calendar
This blog post will teach you how to tell time like a Viking! Well….not exactly. First of all, not all Scandinavians were Vikings, but that’s a conversation for another post (like this one). Secondly, the information that we actually do have about the Norse calendar comes from medieval Icelandic sources, hence why I constantly add…
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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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Drinking in the Medieval North
Please gather around, friends, for another anonymous wanderer has sent a request to this hall! I hate to admit that it was long ago now, but a raven once came to me bearing this message: “i’d be curious to hear from a possibly more academic side how you see drinking/alcohol playing into heathenism? i’ve heard…
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King Hakon the Good Complicates Yule
As many are of you are already aware, this time of year is popularly regarded as a Revived Yuletide with the Winter Solstice typically being the beginning of this ‘New’ Old Yule. Yet, although I too regard this day as a New Yule, I must also admit that this is not historically true. Long ago,…
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The Origins of the Viking Age
Many people across Europe saw the coming of the Vikings as divine punishment, but what really caused the people of Scandinavia to take Europe by storm? What made them capable of pulling off these raids? There are many possible explanations, although much is speculation. Some key candidates to be discussed in detail are: For now,…
