Ragnar: Did you mean...?

Artist's depiction of the Norse goddess Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr (anglicised as Thorgerd Holgabrudr) facing the Jomsvikings' fleet. A temple was dedicated to Thorgerd in Gudbrandsdal, Norway, in the 10th century CE, and in the sources she frequently...

William of Jumièges, who wrote his work the Gesta Normannorum Ducum (Deeds of the Norman Dukes) c. 1070 CE, is here seen handing over his completed work to William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087 CE). Mainly writing on the Norman conquest of...

A look at some interesting scenes in the Eddas where someone goes to, or from, Hel, and how. Dr. Jackson Crawford is Instructor of Nordic Studies and Nordic Program Coordinator at the University of Colorado Boulder (formerly UC Berkeley...

The women known as Valkyries (Old Norse 'Valkyrja') feature in countless stories of the Norse gods and heroes. Dr. Jackson Crawford is a historical linguist and an experienced teacher of both Old Norse and Modern Icelandic. He currently...

A look at the history of the runic alphabets, and which runes were used to write which language. Dr. Jackson Crawford is Instructor of Nordic Studies and Nordic Program Coordinator at the University of Colorado Boulder (formerly UC Berkeley...

The sagas tell us that the Vikings believed in an undead creature much like the zombie or traditional Eastern European portrayals of the vampire. Dr. Jackson Crawford is Instructor of Nordic Studies and Nordic Program Coordinator at the...

Most of our sources for Norse myth tell of gods and great heroes, but constant references in the sagas also reveal a belief in spirits called dís (plural dísir) and fylgja (plural fylgjur) that we only vaguely understand today. This is a...