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Female Viking Warriors in History: Legendary Valkyries Shield Maidens
From the sagas, the most famous type of female Viking warrior was the shield maiden who took up arms and fought side by side in battle with the men. Mirroring them in the spiritual world...
Collection
Norse-Viking Culture
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...
Definition
Kaupang
Kaupang was a Norwegian Viking Age town with a seasonal emporium established around c. 780 CE and abandoned around c. 950 CE. Kaupang is located on the western side of Oslofjord (Viksfjord) in what is the present-day southeastern county...
Definition
Runes
Runes are letters in the runic alphabets of Germanic-speaking peoples, written and read most prominently from at least c. 160 CE onwards in Scandinavia in the Elder Futhark script (until c. 700 CE) and the Younger Futhark - which illuminated...
Definition
Norse Mythology
Norse mythology refers to the Scandinavian mythological framework that was upheld during and around the time of the Viking Age (c. 790- c. 1100 CE). Complete with a creation myth that has the first gods slaying a giant and turning...
Image
Viking Age Oval Brooches from Hedeby
Two Viking Age oval brooches - also known as tortoise brooches - which were used in a practical way by women to pin up the straps of their overdresses but were often decorated. They came in pairs - one for each...
Definition
Saga
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...
Article
The Danish Conquest of England
The Danish conquest of England was not a singular event, but a series of large Viking invasions of England between 1013 and 1016, which eventually overthrew the native English dynasty. As a result, four kings from...
Article
The Norse in America: Fact and Fiction
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...
Video
What Was the Life of a Viking Warrior Like?
There are few more iconic images than that of a mighty Viking warrior, a hulking berserker with a horned helmet cleaving foes in two with a mighty axe. But history actually paints a different picture of Vikings...