Norse: Did you mean...?

Norse-Viking culture is frequently misrepresented in popular media which emphasizes the rugged, militaristic aspect of the people. In reality, Norse culture placed a high value on appearance, personal hygiene, and religious devotion, creating...

Norse mythology, the stories of gods and heroes from in and around the Viking Age (c. 790 - c. 1100 CE) in northern Europe, has provided us with some of the most famous figures in world mythology. Here, in this collection, we look at such...

The idea that it was the Norse who discovered America first emerged in the late 18th century, long before there was any public awareness of the sagas on which such claims were based. In the course of the 19th century, evidence for a Norse...

In Norse mythology, the Sun and the Moon appear as personified siblings pulling the heavenly bodies and chased by wolves, or as plain objects. Written sources, such as the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, have surprisingly little to say about...

Elves and dwarves represent minor divine figures in Norse mythology. Elves (álfar) and dwarves (dvergar) have in common their talent for creating precious objects, skill, agility, and moral ambiguity. Dwarves appear in several important stories...

The Norse tradition of celebrating Yule (Yuletide=Yule Time) influenced many of the later traditions now associated with Christmas. "Yuletide" appears in Christmas carols, is often used interchangeably with "Christmas", and many still celebrate...

Greenland was drawn into the Viking Age and settled by Norse Vikings in the late 980s CE, their presence there lasting into the 15th century CE. Despite its ice-riddled geography, the Norse managed to carve out a living for themselves in...

Norse mythology was the belief of the people of Scandinavia around the Viking age between around 790 and 1100 CE. It consisted of cosmology or story of the beginning of the universe, nine realms of the world tree Yggdrasil and the end of...

Norse meal as depicted in the TV show Vikings.

Statue of the Norse Goddess Idunn (Ydun) by Danish sculptor Herman Wilhelm Bissen, c. 1858. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo by Bloodofox. Idunn was a goddess of fertility who held the fruit of eternal youth (usually...