God of Wednesday

"Icelandic studies may be more than a mere cultural discipline; they may contribute to the positive exaltation of those who pass thro...

No, Tolkien never went to Iceland. Elsewhere on this blog (see " The Tolkien Connection "), I've talked about how much Tolki...

What is a troll? That's the question answered (sort of) by the very first troll on record, a troll-woman who accosted the 9th-century ...

"Amid Iceland's wild, volcanic landscape, rumors swirl of an ancient manuscript inscribed with a long-lost saga about a ring o...

Whenever I see an Icelandic turf house, especially from the back, I think of the opening of Tolkien's The Hobbit: "In a hole i...

British writer Sarah Moss and I are kindred spirits. Shortly after I visited Greenland to see Viking Age archaeological sites in 2006, I...

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

At the end of Song of the Vikings, I traced the effect of Snorri’s Edda and other medieval Icelandic literature on fantasy wr...

A year after completing my biography of Snorri Sturluson, Song of the Vikings , I am rethinking his character. Snorri, ...