Category Archives: old norse blog

Viking Age Iceland: Kallagrim’s Landtake in Borgarfjord

This is Part 16 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: Kallagrim’s Landtake in Borgarfjord”

The Obsessive Scholar Who Rescued Iceland’s Ancient Literary Legacy

To see Viking articles, click here. How Arni Magnusson Saved a Country’s Stories By Egill Bjarnason In 1701, Copenhagen was a burgeoning city fortress of 60,000, a seaside capital enclosed by canals and high walls with just four gates. The streets were narrow and crowded, lined on each side by cramped, timber-framed buildings, though strewn among theContinue reading “The Obsessive Scholar Who Rescued Iceland’s Ancient Literary Legacy”

Viking Age Iceland: Successful Settlements

This is Part 15 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: Successful Settlements”