Ragnar: Did you mean...?

The Old Norse word saga means 'story', 'tale' or 'history' and normally refers specifically to the epic prose narratives written mainly in Iceland between the 12th- and 15th centuries CE, covering the country's history as well as Scandinavia's...

Charles the Simple (Charles III of France, l. 879-929, r. 893-923) was king of West Francia (roughly modern-day France) toward the end of the period of Viking raids in the region. His epithet `the simple' refers to his habit of being straightforward...

Cwenthryth of Mercia (also given as Cwoenthryth, 9th century CE) was the daughter of King Coenwulf (r. 796-821 CE). Little is known of her actual life but she later became infamous in the 12th century CE through the legend of St. Kenelm as...

Aethelwulf (r. 839-858) was King of Wessex, a region in modern-day Britain, son and successor to Egbert of Wessex (r. 802-839), who had unified and expanded his kingdom with Aethelwulf's assistance. Aethelwulf fought at the Battle of Ellandun...

Frodi (Old Icelandic: Fróði) is the name of legendary Danish kings in Norse mythology. There is a whole range of kings bearing the same name, pointing to fascinating traditions in both Old Icelandic and continental Germanic storytelling...

This documentary on the history of the Vikings covers the beginning of the Viking Age, the Norse and Viking Culture, Norse Mythology and Religion, Ships, Trade, Famous Vikings such as Ragnar Lothbrock, Ivar the Boneless, Bjorn Ironside and...

The medieval sources on the discovery and settlement of Iceland frequently refer to the explorers as “Vikings” but, technically, they were not. The term “Viking” applies only to Scandinavian raiders, not to Scandinavians generally. Some of...

It is said that the early Norse settlers of Iceland in the Viking Age (c. 790-1100 CE) believed it was the home of the gods because of the tale of the creation of the world in Norse religion. In the time before time, the story goes, there...

Writing in runes isn't a simple one-to-one conversion of one letter to one rune. This video shows how Old Norse was written using the runes of the Younger Futhark, and then looks at examples of real inscriptions from the Viking Age. Contents...

Popular, modern conceptions of the Vikings—the term frequently applied to their modern descendants and the inhabitants of modern Scandinavia— strongly differ from the complex picture that emerges from archaeology and historical sources. A...