Vikings
WHO WERE THE VIKINGS AND WHAT WERE THEY CALLED? • Learn the truth about this ancient civilization—beyond the past 100 years of historical misinformation.
01 THE MEDIEVAL NORSE MOVING BEYOND COMMON STEREOTYPES • Should we move on from our Vikings obsession, or just go along with it?
VIKINGS IN MEDIA: TOO MUCH, OR NEVER ENOUGH?
IS IT TIME TO STOP THE NORDIC INVASION? • MEN’S HEALTH WRITER GLEN DAKIN WARNS US NOT TO GO BERSERKER FOR ALL THINGS VIKING.
OR ARE THERE LESSONS WE CAN LEARN? • WRITER BILL GIFFORD TELLS BEN COURT THE POSITIVE SIDE OF VIKING CULTURE—AND HIS QUEST TO BECOME LIKE ONE.
NO HORNED HELMETS: VIKING MYTHS BUSTED • As we learned from playing the game of telephone as kids, sometimes the truth gets distorted as it goes down the line. Here, we separate fact from fiction to revealing the truth about this fascinating civilization.
02 THE OSTMEN VÍKINGAR: VIKINGS DEFINED BY THEMSELVES • How this enigmatic group of Norsemen navigated their roles as traders, explorers, and settlers across the medieval world.
WHEN & WHERE THE VIKINGS CAME FROM • DRAWING FROM SAGAS, RUNES, AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDINGS, THIS EXPLORATION PRESENTS A PORTRAIT OF VIKING CULTURE AS ARTICULATED BY THOSE WHO LIVED IT.
AN AGE OF EXPANSION • VIKING EXPLORATION LEFT LASTING INFLUENCES ACROSS EUROPE, ASIA, AND EVEN NORTH AMERICA.
GENDER ROLES AND WOMEN IN VIKING CULTURE • ALTHOUGH GENDER ROLES WERE LARGELY DEFINED BY TRADITIONAL NORMS, MORE RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE HIGHLIGHTS THE DIFFERENCES IN NORSE SOCIETY.
IT’S JUST A PHRASE • These Old Nordic sayings may not be part of everyday conversation, but they could bring some Viking color to modern English.
03 THE NORSE RELIGION FROM THE OLD GODS TO CRYSTALS AND CATS • These three things may not seem related, but all played a significant role in Viking society.
SAY HAIL TO ALL THE GODS AND GODDESSES IN ÁSGARÐR • 13 OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AND INTERESTING NORSE DEITIES.
NO CATS ODIN THE COUNTER! • VIKING SAGAS AND STORIES FREQUENTLY MENTION CATS, HIGHLIGHTING THEIR IMPORTANCE IN EVERYDAY LIFE AND THEIR INTEGRATION INTO NORSE CULTURE.
MYTHICAL CREATURES & BEASTS • Many creatures inspired the inhabitants of Tolkien’s Middle-earth—with its nightmare fuel, cautionary tales, uninhabitable rocky landscapes, and unforgiving seas. Learn about the pets of Norse deities, the explanations for longships lost to the seas, and the Vikings’ anxieties about traveling to unknown lands and fear about what might await them there.
CRYSTAL CLARITY • ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE UNCOVERING SUNSTONES THAT COULD HAVE BEEN USED AS COMPASSES FOR GUIDING VIKINGS SHIPS.
04 LOST WORLD ARTIFACTS THAT INSPIRE AND INFORM • Learn how scientists and other experts are discovering more about the Vikings through lucky circumstances.
HIDDEN IN THE TREES • A STUNNING DISCOVERY PROVES THAT VIKINGS REACHED THE AMERICAS BEFORE COLUMBUS.
BELOW THE SURFACE • THEY WEREN’T SEARCHING FOR IT, BUT ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVERED A VIKING SHIP LESS THAN TWO FEET UNDERGROUND IN EDØY, NORWAY.
SEEKING JOMSBORG • ONE POLISH ARCHAEOLOGIST SAYS HE HAS FOUND EVIDENCE OF THE “MEDIEVAL NEW YORK ON THE BALTIC.”
O CANADA • PROOF OF THE COUNTRY’S VIKING HISTORY.
UNCOVERING DOGGERLAND • AN ANCIENT LAND MASS UNDER THE NORTH SEA IS BEING EXPLORED 8,200 YEARS AFTER IT SUBMERGED.
A POINTED FIND • WHILE CROSSING A GLACIER IN THE JOTUNHEIMEN RANGE, ONE MAN STUMBLED ON A VIKING SWORD PROTRUDING FROM THE ICE.
05 MODERN DAY VIKINGS WHAT EXISTS BEYOND THE MYTHS? • The Vikings are long dead and living it up in Valhalla, but their legacy lives on.
GROWING PAINS • THE...
