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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.

A skald could frame a king as brave, lawful, and chosen, even when reality looked messier.
16/12/2025

A skald could frame a king as brave, lawful, and chosen, even when reality looked messier.

Viking Age chieftains and later monarchs skillfully used skaldic poetry as a tool to legitimize power, solidify support, and help shape communal memory. A core element of political authority for Viking rulers was the use of performative praise poetry.

Sweden's flag traces a long path from early state use and royal decrees to standardized colors and rules that govern how...
14/12/2025

Sweden's flag traces a long path from early state use and royal decrees to standardized colors and rules that govern how it is flown today.

The blue and gold of Sweden's flag is as synonymous with the Scandinavian country as ABBA, kjotboller, or IKEA. Yet the history of the Swedish flag may reach back deep into the medieval period, to an era when Vikings had not long left the world stage.

A number of medieval artifacts have been revealed underneath a bus terminal in the city of Lund in southern Sweden.
13/12/2025

A number of medieval artifacts have been revealed underneath a bus terminal in the city of Lund in southern Sweden.

Excavations in Lund have unearthed a number of striking finds, including a large farmstead, leather shoes, and even a well-preserved egg.

Archeological finds from York and Sweden suggest that ice skating was a familiar winter pastime in the Viking Age.
11/12/2025

Archeological finds from York and Sweden suggest that ice skating was a familiar winter pastime in the Viking Age.

Archeological finds from York, Birka, and Sigtuna offer a tantalizing glimpse of wintry Viking life.

Norse myths speak of "nine worlds" tied together by Yggdrasil, but the surviving sources never quite agree on which real...
10/12/2025

Norse myths speak of "nine worlds" tied together by Yggdrasil, but the surviving sources never quite agree on which realms actually make the list.

A key component of Norse mythological and spiritual beliefs was the existence of nine realms. We do a deep dive into the original multiverse, long before any Marvel movie stole the idea.

Jörmungandr, a vast sea serpent, Rán, a net-casting sea goddess, and Ægir, a beer-brewing sea giant, show how Norse myth...
09/12/2025

Jörmungandr, a vast sea serpent, Rán, a net-casting sea goddess, and Ægir, a beer-brewing sea giant, show how Norse myth turns the sea into a world ruled by its own powers.

People in Viking societies held a deep reverence for the sea, as it was a source of sustenance as well as facilitating much commerce and conquest. This deep respect was also reflected in the sagas and stories they regaled one another with.

An interview with archeologists Knut Harald Stomsvik and Raymond Sauvage sheds light on the unusual burial of a Viking A...
06/12/2025

An interview with archeologists Knut Harald Stomsvik and Raymond Sauvage sheds light on the unusual burial of a Viking Age woman in Norway with scallops placed at her mouth.

Archeologists Knut Harald Stomsvik and Raymond Sauvage narrate the story of a unique Norwegian burial site.

Gerðr is a jötunn and earth goddess from Norse myth whose marriage to Freyr sits at the start of the Yngling royal line ...
05/12/2025

Gerðr is a jötunn and earth goddess from Norse myth whose marriage to Freyr sits at the start of the Yngling royal line in Norway and Sweden.

Gerðr, a rather obscure earth goddess, speaks not only to the ancient agrarian traditions of Viking societies but also to their need for the powerful to have divine legitimacy.

The Irish Sea was a busy sea road for Norse ships between Ireland, Britain, and the wider North Atlantic.
04/12/2025

The Irish Sea was a busy sea road for Norse ships between Ireland, Britain, and the wider North Atlantic.

Whilst the Baltic Sea was little more than a Viking pond during the early medieval period, across the waters the Irish Sea proved to be a valuable maritime corridor for profit and power.

The 2025 leg of the journey takes the Viking ship Saga Farmann from Italy through France and on toward England and Londo...
02/12/2025

The 2025 leg of the journey takes the Viking ship Saga Farmann from Italy through France and on toward England and London.

The replica Viking ship has now completed the spectacular yet challenging third leg of its European tour.

Did the Norse of Greenland vanish or quietly leave? A new study explores the unanswered questions around the colony's fi...
01/12/2025

Did the Norse of Greenland vanish or quietly leave? A new study explores the unanswered questions around the colony's final years and why scholars still disagree.

Scholars are divided about whether the Norse died out on the island itself or deliberately abandoned the colony.

Haakon Sigurdsson, often known as Jarl Haakon, balanced alliances with Danish King Harald Bluetooth and other rulers whi...
30/11/2025

Haakon Sigurdsson, often known as Jarl Haakon, balanced alliances with Danish King Harald Bluetooth and other rulers while he effectively governed Norway from the 970s to the mid-990s.

A firm believer in the Old Norse gods, Haakon Sigurdsson would rise to ultimate power in Norway and involve himself in international politics before a dramatic fall from power led to a grisly death. We look at the man who was King of Norway in all but name for two dramatic decades in the Viking Age.

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