God of Wednesday

The Viking Age, I was taught, was an era of strict gender roles. The woman ruled the household. The man was the trader, the traveler, the wa...

A year or two ago, a friend compiled a book of advice for his son's 18th birthday and asked me to contribute. Here is what I wrote: Whe...

Songs of the Vikings--Viking poetry--has been the topic of this blog a number of times. Poetry was the gift of Odin , according to the 13t...

Lovers of Icelandic sagas are celebrating these days: It's the 350th birthday of Arni Magnusson, the man who, more than anyone else, s...

In 2010, on the night of Snorri Sturluson’s murder, September 23, I sat on the stones surrounding his hot tub at Reykholt in western Icel...

 The History Channel's The Vikings series, and especially the sexy Ragnar Lothbrok, inspired a number of my friends to ask, What one ...

One thing I love about Iceland is how alive the medieval world remains. City streets, candy bars, and beers are named for Norse gods a...

  Viking Language 1 by Jesse Byock is the book I was looking for 30 years ago when I decided I had to learn to read the Icelandic sagas ...

"I know giants of ages past, … I know how nine roots form nine worlds / below the Earth where the Ash Tree rises..." Last we...

Floki: "Ragnar Lothbrok challenges you to meet him in single combat." Earl Haraldson: "Ragnar Lothbrok has a very high op...

Authors don’t have total say over their books’ titles. Publishing houses have people who specialize in such things as th...