Tag: Viking
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Icelandic ‘Viking’ Nicknames – My First Conference Paper
This year I was fortunate enough to give a presentation at The Háskóli Íslands Student Conference on the Medieval North, a wonderful conference for graduate students to share their early research across literature, history and archaeology. Sadly, with Covid, this took place in the slightly dingy confines of my room rather than Reykjavik, but it…
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Resources for Early Medieval Language Learning
A historian of the early medieval period needs to wear many hats, and an understanding of contemporary languages is crucial. Many primary sources haven’t been translated to modern English and, where they have, questions of variable translation underly questions of interpretation. However, getting started in these language can be a tough task. I’m not a…
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St Anskar, ‘Apostle of the North’
This week we look at the Vita Ansgarii, the Life of Anskar – a hagiographical account of the Frankish mission to convert the ‘Vikings’ in Scandinavia to Christianity during the 9th century and St Anskar, nicknamed ‘The Apostle of the North’.#ComissionsEarned this post includes Amazon Affiliate links – as an Amazon Associate I earn from…
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River Kings by Cat Jarman: A Review
Cat Jarman’s new book River Kings is a huge triumph, not only for the study of the Vikings in England more broadly, but for the accessibility of the archaeological method, and the outstanding uses it can be put to. #ComissionsEarned (This post includes Amazon Affiliate links) – As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying…
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The Viking Society for Northern Research
This week we’re looking at the wonderful Viking Society for Northern Research, a society founded in 1892 to further the study of the ‘medieval North’ and Old Norse studies. Today, it is one of the foremost academic societies for the study of the ‘Vikings’ in the world. You can access the website for the society…
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Top 10 Viking Videogames
Learning about history comes in all forms of media, and that includes videogames. It shouldn’t all be reading books (although, if that’s your thing, I’ve got a good reading list for you here!). Videogames provide a much more casual way to explore historical contexts, along with mythology, and are becoming increasingly easily accessible. The list…
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The Viking World – Artefact Database
The Swedish History Museum in Stockholm hosts the world’s largest collection of Viking artefacts, which tell an impressive story of life, religion, and death in Viking-era Scandinavia. This has recently been digitized into an impressive free online collection that can be browsed on their website here. Each item is provided with an impressive amount of…
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Onund ‘Treefoot’ the Viking
Onund appears in the beginning of Grettir’s Saga, a 14thC Icelandic Saga, as a kind of genealogical backstory. A free version of the saga is available on the Saga Database here if you want to explore it more, based Morris and Magnusson’s translation, and for the purpose of accessibility this will be the translation used…
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Ibn Fadlan and the Rus
What can the writings of a traveller of the Caliphate tell us about the Rus, an elusive and largely invisible set of ‘Viking’ settlers in the east of Europe? Is his account to be taken seriously, or is it essentially a work of fiction? #ComissionsEarned (This post includes Amazon Affiliate links) – As an Amazon…
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‘Anglo-Saxon’ Boat Burials – Why?
The burial at Sutton Hoo Mound 1 is England’s most famous archaeological site, and contains a body buried in a magnificent ship. But why would the ‘Anglo-Saxons’ have buried their dead in ships – what social, religious and economic significance might they have ascribed to this rare but spectacular form of burial? I remember the…