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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 Vestfold...
Article
A History of Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean on the northwest corner of the Barents Shelf. It is 800 kilometres (497 mi) north of mainland Norway and sits roughly midway between the top of Norway and the North Pole. It is bordered by Greenland...
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Ragnar Lothbrok's Sons & King Ælla's Messengers
Painting depicting the messengers of King Ælla of Northumbria (r. c. 866 CE) bringing the sons of the legendary Viking hero Ragnar Lothbrok their father's last words. The legends say Ragnar, after invading the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms with only...
Definition
Flann Sinna
Flann Sinna (r. 879-916 CE) was a High King of Ireland from the Kingdom of Mide (Meath) and a member of the Clann Cholmain, a branch of the Southern Ui Neill dynasty. His name is pronounced “Flahn Shinna” and means “Flann...
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Great Viking Army in England, 865-878 CE
Map showing the routes allegedly taken by the Great Viking Army that invaded the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms in 865 CE, under leadership of such chieftains as 'Hingwar', 'Hubba', and 'Halfdene' (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 870-871 CE). These figures...
Video
Norse America: The Story of a Founding Myth
In our interview with Gordon Campbell, we chat all about his new book Norse America: The Story of a Founding Myth. The book tells two stories. One story is that of the Norse proceeding in the 10th and 11th century from mainland Scandinavia...
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Saxo's Gesta Danorum
Original page from Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum - or Deeds of the Danish, written in Latin in the 13th century CE and here preserved in his own hand. It describes Danish history from prehistory through to the late 12th century CE and...
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England Around 910 CE
Map showing England around 910 CE, showing among others the Viking territories under the Danelaw as well as the English kingdoms of Mercia (at this point in time ruled by Aethelred, Lord of the Mercians (r. 881-911 CE) and Wessex.
Article
Viking Prophecy: The Poem Völuspá of the Poetic Edda
The Völuspá (Old Norse: Vǫluspá) is a medieval poem of the Poetic Edda that describes how the world might have come into shape and would end according to Norse mythology. The story of about 60 stanzas is told by a seeress or völva (Old Norse...
Article
The Sun & the Moon in Norse Myth
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...