Tag: viking
-
Viking History: The Migration Period (c. 400-550 CE)
Today we’re raiding the Migration Period (dates vary, but 400-600 CE is the gist) to show how it set the stage for the Viking Age. It’s just a brief overview, but we talk about how the ‘fall’ of the Roman Empire was a bit more complicated than most assume, how catastrophic eruptions a world away…
-
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…
-
Viking History: 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…
-
Let’s Raid the Vikings
Vikings. What do you think when you hear that word? Whatever comes to mind, this video will help separate popular fantasy from historical reality.
-
Pod-Prep: Beginning Beowulf
The votes are in, my friends! Our Thingmen over on Twitter have decided which work of medieval literature will kickstart the revival of The Fjorn’s Hall Podcast: Beowulf. Indeed, it has been decided that I will take on one of the most discussed works of medieval literature right off the bat. Prepare for (some) disappointment.…
-
Álfablót: Sacrificing to the Elves (Audio Version)
Occasionally, Viking fans and modern-day Norse pagans throw around the term álfablót (elf-sacrifice), but what does that actually involve? What is an elf-sacrifice, anyway? And what is it for? In this episode of the Fjorn’s Hall Podcast, I share a few stories from medieval sources dealing with this topic: sacrifices made to the elves. Although…
-
Old Norse-Icelandic Calendar: 2019-2020
Want a cool graphic to help you navigate this year like a Viking? Want one that’s historically informed to the best of this author‘s abilities? Well, for starters then, that was a poor use of the term ‘Viking,’ as most of my guests and readers will know by now. And if that sentence stumps you,…
-
ヴィンランド・サガ: Vikings in Manga & Anime
Although the Vikings never quite made it to Japan (as far as we know), their culture still managed to find its way there hundreds of years after the Viking Age. But the impact has been…minimal, to say the least. After all, whenever a curious wanderer searches for バイキング (that’s ‘Viking’ in Japanese) on Google, they…
-
Concerning ‘Red Gold’
When you look at gold, what color do you see? Probably some shade of yellow. Why, then, do Old Norse texts often mention ‘red gold’? Is it different from normal gold? If so, what is it? I was asked this question on Tumblr recently, so I took a moment to dig up an answer. Here’s…
-
“All Waters Flow to Dyrafjord”
This quote comes at a pivotal movement of Gisli’s Saga, when a man named Vestein decides to face his fate despite warnings from his friends. At this point, those friends (who were sent by Gisli himself) had ridden tirelessly to catch up to Vestein, and they implored him to turn around before riding into the…
-
Spring Arrives with Baldr
Today is the first day of spring, which, for me, is a day to admire the constant renewal of life in the world around us. More specifically, though, I always find myself thinking of Baldr, who (as many of us know) returns from Hel to restore life to the post-Ragnarok world. As stanza 59 of Völuspá recounts: …
-
The Poetic Edda: Studying a Source for Norse Mythology
In recent years, the popularity of the Norse myths has grown exponentially. With bestselling books such as Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology and History Channel’s award-winning television series Vikings, the stories of the Norse gods and their human heroes have become a part of our modern cultural life. The thousand-year-old deities that encompassed a rich oral…
