Images

Painting of the giantesses Fenja and Menja grinding salt with the magic grindstone Grótti, a scene from the Old Norse poem "Song of Grótti". Painted by Carl Christian Peters (1822-1899 CE).

An 1859 illustration of Yggdrasil: The Mundane Tree, copied from an older version by Finnur Magnússon (1781-1847). Courtesy of The Public Domain Review.

An 1882 CE engraving, titled "Heimdallr Lifted by his Mothers, the Nine Wave Maidens" by German artist Carl Ehrenberg (1840-1914 CE). The illustration depicts the Norse god Heimdall being born. Published in Nordisch-germanische Götter und...

Illustration depicting the Norse god Heimdall, from the Edda oblongata, a 17th-century illuminated manuscript of the 13th-century CE Prose Edda, which is the basis for the modern understanding of Norse mythology. Made c. 1680 CE. Collection...

Illustration of Jörmungandr (the World Serpent) from the Edda oblongata, a 17th-century illuminated manuscript of the 13th-century CE Prose Edda, which is the basis for modern understanding of Norse mythology. Made c. 1680. Árni Magnússon...

A Roman mosaic depicting a troupe of comic performers, wearing masks and playing musical instruments. The figure on the left plays a pan flute, while the figure on the right plays a tympanon (hand drum). From the "Villa of Cicero", Herculaneum...

Red-figure krater depicting the god Dionysus and a Maenad, one of his female followers. Dionysus is seated on the left, holding a thyrsus (pine staff) in one hand. The maenad stands before him, holding a tympanon (frame drum), decorated with...

Map showing some of the major regional resouces of the eastern Mediterranean, the Near East, East Africa, and Central and South Asia.

Map of the provinces of the Byzantine Empire in 1025 CE.

A recreation of the Roman empress Valeria Messalina (c. 20-22 CE-48 CE), wife of the emperor Claudius (r. 41-54 CE). Messalina's facial features are very loosely based on a combination of Roman portraits and artistic license. Messalina is...