Viking Age Iceland: Studying Iceland

This is Part 2 of our ongoing series about Viking Age Iceland. For centuries, this island country, unique in Medieval Europe, operated with no king, no great lords, no foreign policy, and no defense forces but which developed legal and judicial systems to limit the violence of bloodfeud and protect the rights of freemen. Far out inContinue reading “Viking Age Iceland: Studying Iceland”

The Forgotten Language of the West: Rediscovering Old Norse, Spoken by Icelanders and Vikings

“When a language dies,” said writer, philosopher, and critic George Steiner, “A way of understanding the world dies with it, a way of looking at the world.” Undoubtedly he is correct. Numerous studies have demonstrated the relationship between language and perception of time, language and memory, and even claimed that the language we speak shapes consciousness itself. AtContinue reading “The Forgotten Language of the West: Rediscovering Old Norse, Spoken by Icelanders and Vikings”