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Nordic history and culture Welcome to your essential news source for all things travel and culture in the Nordics and beyond.

The snekkja never ranked as the grandest ship in any harbor, yet it helped shape kingdoms, trade routes and a lot of ver...
28/11/2025

The snekkja never ranked as the grandest ship in any harbor, yet it helped shape kingdoms, trade routes and a lot of very bad mornings along unfamiliar shores.

This lightweight longship was a key factor in the Vikings' ruthless military expansion across Europe and the surrounding regions from the mid-8th century.

The first article set up Harold, William, and the road to 1066. This second one looks at the Battle of Hastings itself, ...
27/11/2025

The first article set up Harold, William, and the road to 1066. This second one looks at the Battle of Hastings itself, with close attention to shield walls, duels, and the question of how Harold really died.

In the second of our two-part look at the new series, King & Conqueror, we look at how the depictions of warfare stack up against the historical reality. Warning: spoiler alert!

Iceland's flag may be young, but it carries a millennium of history in its colors. This article explores how fire, ice, ...
26/11/2025

Iceland's flag may be young, but it carries a millennium of history in its colors. This article explores how fire, ice, and independence shaped a powerful national symbol.

Despite the human settlement of Iceland stretching back more than a millennium to the Viking Age, its national flag is a little over half a century old. However, despite its youth, the flag has become a powerful unifying symbol for all Icelanders.

Meet Ullr, the Norse god of skiing, winter, archery, and oaths.
25/11/2025

Meet Ullr, the Norse god of skiing, winter, archery, and oaths.

Overshadowed in modern minds by his more illustrative family members, and even by a fellow deity associated with skiing, Ullr survives as a shadowy figure on the edges of our knowledge of Norse mythology.

Behind every famous Viking raid or voyage stood a crew of ordinary sailors. Here's a look at their skills, the dangers t...
24/11/2025

Behind every famous Viking raid or voyage stood a crew of ordinary sailors. Here's a look at their skills, the dangers they faced, and what they got in return for risking it all.

People from Viking societies are rightly championed as some of the most impressive and skilled seafarers ever to have taken to the high seas. Whilst Viking warriors leaping off longships may get all the historical spotlight, the majority aboard were skilled sailors first and foremost.

Vaðmál, a coarse woolen cloth, once powered the Icelandic economy and may have given Viking Age women more influence tha...
23/11/2025

Vaðmál, a coarse woolen cloth, once powered the Icelandic economy and may have given Viking Age women more influence than we used to think.

Once the main export of the Icelandic Commonwealth, vaðmál, a standardized woolen cloth, had a surprising economic, social, and even legal role. Let us regale you with a yarn (pun intended) about this Viking textile.

Buckquoy on Orkney long served as evidence of a harsh Viking takeover of Pictish land. This new research suggests a quie...
22/11/2025

Buckquoy on Orkney long served as evidence of a harsh Viking takeover of Pictish land. This new research suggests a quieter story and gives the Picts far more credit.

A team of researchers challenges the traditional view of Viking domination and calls for further investigations.

Archaeologists in Trøndelag now study two linked Viking Age graves, one with a sword and one with scallops and bird bone...
20/11/2025

Archaeologists in Trøndelag now study two linked Viking Age graves, one with a sword and one with scallops and bird bones.

The grave site was discovered by a local metal detectorist who immediately notified the authorities.

King & Conqueror offers its own take on Harold Godwinson, William of Normandy, and the end of Anglo-Saxon England.
18/11/2025

King & Conqueror offers its own take on Harold Godwinson, William of Normandy, and the end of Anglo-Saxon England.

The new series, King & Conqueror, reimagines the dramatic events leading up to the 1066 Battle of Hastings. We run a historical fine-tooth comb over the series' accuracy. Warning: spoilers ahead!

In 793, a group of raiders crossed the North Sea and struck the island monastery of Lindisfarne. The attack stunned Angl...
16/11/2025

In 793, a group of raiders crossed the North Sea and struck the island monastery of Lindisfarne. The attack stunned Anglo-Saxon England and left Europe facing a new force that would define the next three centuries.

This lightning raid lives in infamy as a brutal event that helped transform Europe and ushered in a whole new and bloody historical age.

Last year, archeologists from the University Museum in Bergen were alerted to an unusual find by Helge Titland, a hiker ...
14/11/2025

Last year, archeologists from the University Museum in Bergen were alerted to an unusual find by Helge Titland, a hiker in the mountain plateau of Aurlandsfjellet in western Norway.

The 1,500-year-old wooden traps were discovered by a hiker in the Norwegian mountains.

Not every Viking ship was made for battle. The knarr, built for cargo and long journeys, made trade and exploration poss...
12/11/2025

Not every Viking ship was made for battle. The knarr, built for cargo and long journeys, made trade and exploration possible from Scandinavia to North America. Here's how it shaped the Viking Age.

The Viking expansion of the early medieval period was not just dominated by pillage and violence. Underpinning this expansion was the forging of economic links and trade networks, in which the humble knarr was instrumental.

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