Category Archives: old norse blog

Viking Age Iceland: “The Travels of Unn and Hrut”

This is Part 10 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 in the North Atlantic, Iceland was where theContinue reading “Viking Age Iceland: “The Travels of Unn and Hrut””

Vikings Once Called North America Home

To see more Viking articles, click here. Centuries before Columbus, a small band of Norse people explored the Canadian coast. For now, the only proof is a single settlement. Here’s what’s known about how the Vikings came to North America, where they landed and why they left. By Cody Cottier Vinland, or the “land of wine,”Continue reading “Vikings Once Called North America Home”

The Viking warrior who turned out to be a woman

Should we rethink the role of women in ancient societies? For more than 100 years, a high-ranking Viking warrior was assumed to be male. Dr Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson has been studying the grave found in the 19th Century. Her team carried out a DNA test on the bones, revealing that they belonged to a biological woman.Continue reading “The Viking warrior who turned out to be a woman”