Episodes
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This time on the podcast C. J. and Terri muse about what a TED talk on Vikings might look like. We get philosophical â as we often do â about how people engage with the Viking Age past and history in general, and we try to thread the needle between our tendency to overly romanticize Vikings with our need to acknowledge that some pre-modern ways of life could actually be antidotes to the stresses of our modern existence. Heady stuff.
But just when you think we might be overthinking things, we also laugh a lot and somehow end up talking about the concept of âViking washing,â a new Disney Viking-themed park, and Otto von Bismarck. Go figure.
Take a listen and enjoy the ride! And as always, if you like what we do let us know andâŠ..
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I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and Iâ
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
For an exciting change of pace we sat down with Ian Stuart Sharpe, the creative mind behind the multifaceted Vikingverse, an alternate world where Viking history plays out, shall we say, a bit differently than in your uni textbook.
From comics and novels to tutorials for learning âmodernâ Old Norse and RPGs, Ianâs Nordic story world brings the Viking Age to life in ways even the Norns could never have fated.
The entire enterprise is based on the âwhat if?â proposition, or what we historians call Counterfactual History. At any given moment each of us is faced with decisions in life and multiple paths we can take. How do we choose which one? What if we can go back in time and take an alternate path? Can we rewrite history and learn from it? These are the questions that Ian applies to the Vikings.
The Viking Age was a time of big change, including leaving behind the Old Ways in favor of becoming Christian. But what if that had never happened? What if Odin and Thor still ruled the day, and the world was still populated with spirits like the alfar and dvergar? This is the world Ian invites us to explore. And if you venture in, you just might find itâs a path worth taking.
Click here to buy any of Ianâs products or access his free content.
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Episodes manquant?
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If youâre a fan of the show, youâll remember our fascinating chat last year with Mathias Nordvig. Heâs an expert in Norse mythology, folklore, and the Nordic Story World.
Some people may think that those myths are just cool, fanciful stories about the exploits of gods like Odin and Thor or creatures like dwarfs and giants meant simply to entertain and pass the time on those long Scandinavian winterâs nights. But in this new episode, we dove deep into Mathiasâ research about why that wasnât the case for Viking Age people and why it shouldnât be for us moderns either.
Our conversation stemmed from his new translations of Danish and Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish rune poems and also arguably the most widely read and studied poem from the Viking Age, Völuspå: The Vision of the Witch, which contains some deeply embedded themes about survival in a harsh yet magical Northern world.
It also recounts some pretty dark stuff about the Nordic worldâs view of the cataclysmic end times event known as Ragnarök. Why did they believe in such a thing? Was it really THE END, or did something come after? Was there a way to forestall it?
The poemâs themes of social discord, the breaking of bonds in families, climate change, environmental disaster, and nervous anticipation of an unknown and yet inevitable future seem eerily similar to where we are in the world today. Are we headed for our own Ragnarök? Can the way they viewed it tell us something about how to cope in a turbulent modern world? Yeah, we went there.
This episode will make you think about the connection between us and the Viking Age in ways youâve probably never thought of before. As Mathias warns, we forget our past and traditions at our peril.
In checking out Mathiasâ new translations, youâll also be supporting small, independent publishing and the artists who helped him bring these works to life. At Vikingology we have no affiliate relationship and do not profit from any sales. We just believe interesting people doing cool important things should be supported :)
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Brothers must battle one another,
become each otherâs slayer,
and sistersâ sons will sever the bonds of kinship.
There will be hardship in the world and much whoredom,
axe-age, sword-age, shields smashed to pieces,
wind-age, wolf-age, until the world falls,
no man will spare another.
Völuspå, stanza 45. Translation by Mathias Nordvig.
This time on the podcast, archaeologist, historian, and friend of the show Davide Zori of Baylor University is back for a third time to share his new book on the history of the Viking Age, Age of Wolf and Wind: Voyages Through the Viking World.
Painstakingly researched over many years and beautifully written, itâs a book about Viking history but just as importantly itâs about how we know what we do about that time which continues to captivate so many of us. Through case studies of the written evidence such as sagas, the material culture from archaeology, and a bit of hard science such as genomics, Davideâs approach to the Viking world is interdisciplinary and at the forefront of where the study of this past is headed. We at Vikingology couldnât be happier to help spread the word. Itâs a must-read for anyone interested in this fascinating history.
The book is published by Oxford University Press, who is offering a 30% discount. Simply order online and use promo code AAFLYG6
OR, if youâd like to sample a free chapter first, you can read Chapter 1/Introduction for free until March 15 by going here.
Hang on to your hats kids! We are on the cusp of learning more than ever before about the Viking Age, and Davideâs book is the perfect place to start.
To hear more from Davide, check out our previous interviews with him:
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So far, 2024 has been exciting for us at Vikingology, and our good fortunes continue with this chat we had with Professor Clare Downham of the University of Liverpool. She is the leading scholar in the world regarding Vikings in Ireland, but as youâll see we talked about much, much more.
From what drove Clare to study medieval Ireland in particular to issues of gender and ethnicity both then and now, we ran the gamut. And when you get three historians together, thereâs bound to be a philosophical twist regarding how we interpret and engage with the past, so we went there too.
But we started in Ireland. Did you know the quintessentially Irish city Dublin was a Viking creation? Vikings are recorded in Ireland in the early years of the Viking Age, so Clare explained why it was an attractive target to them to begin with and what they did when they got there.
We also explored the matter of female Viking warriors, particularly in light of the bombshell discovery that was published in 2017 about a Swedish grave. Finally a true shieldmaiden? Or just a figment of our modern hopes and desires? We asked Clare for her thoughts on the topic and just why it ended up being so controversial.
We then talked about what the Viking Nordic world was actually like, based on the latest science and evidence, versus what some in the modern era wish it was like. Clare set the record straight about the truth of the diverse and multi-ethnic world that was medieval northern Europe during the Viking Age.
There was so much more we wanted to discuss â including lots of questions C.J. has about Viking connections in Ireland and France! â but in the end we had to agree to meet up again to finish the conversation, so stay tuned!
Thanks so much Clare! It was a real privilege and honor. We very much look forward to part two of our chat soon!
Clare is the author of two books on Vikings: Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ivarr to AD 1014 and Medieval Ireland AD 400-1500, with another on Viking Age Britain and Ireland forthcoming from Penguin Classics. You can also find many of her articles available on her page at Academia.edu.
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This time we had the very great privilege and pleasure of welcoming Dr. Anders Winroth to the show for our first episode on one of the most important game changers in the Viking Age Nordic world â the introduction and acceptance of the Christian faith in Scandinavia. The Vikings would never be the same.
Anders is one of the worldâs foremost scholars on medieval Christianity. He is currently faculty at the University of Oslo after spending several years at Yale University and has published widely about the topic and about Vikings, so we knew he was the right person for the job when we wanted to explore the story around why on earth Vikings â who seemed to be at the top of their game as European menace #1 â would end up settling down and embracing Christianity.
And, itâs not the story you might think.
Scandinavia underwent a lot of change during the roughly 3-1/2 centuries that constitute the Viking Age. They went from traders to raiders and back to traders again, from chieftains to kings, from Nordic to European, and from heathen to Christian. And all of these changes were intertwined.
We asked Anders about how the conversion process played out in various regions of Scandinavia and what it might have taken to convince people who had been pagan for as long as anyone could remember to make that switch. Turns out it depends on whom you would have asked at the time. Chieftain or peasant? That mattered a lot.
But what about a legit Viking warrior? You know, the sword-and-shield badass types we see in modern pop culture? Werenât they having too much fun sailing and pillaging to think about baptism? Wouldnât they prefer the excitement of a good raid to being tamed by Christ? Evidently not, as Anders explains, when one could look at Thor and Jesus and, over time, begin to see the same god.
Another important factor: the perennial Viking question, Whatâs in it for me?
Never underestimate the power of self-interest. It appears that even when it came to the coming of Christianity, the Vikings were the same old opportunists weâve always known them to be.
Tack sÄ mycket, Anders!
You can find Andersâ books about Vikings at all the usual book outlets. We highly recommend you take a look if youâre interested in a good general history about the Viking Age or prefer a deep dive into what it took to make them Christian.
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This time we had the lovely opportunity to sit down with Ellen Marie NĂŠss, an archaeologist and lecturer at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, Norway. She is someone very passionate about Viking ships and has worked for many years at Osloâs famous Vikingskipshuset which houses three important ships from the Viking Age: the Tune, Gokstad, and the Oseberg.
Each of these ships has important stories to tell about the Viking Age, and they are in process of getting a new home in which to tell them. If youâve ever had the good fortune to visit them in your travels to Oslo, you will certainly remember the âchurch-likeâ structure they have been housed in for many years, which was built specially for them in the earlier 20th century. The space has provided a quasi-religious experience for thousands of visitors interested in these iconic vessels. If youâve never had the opportunity, you can experience a digital walk-through.
But that building wasnât built to the standards we now know are best for preserving the ships and the many thousands of artifacts found with them, so a new museum is being constructed with a target date of re-opening to the public in 2026. The ships will be able to tell their stories once again in state-of-the-art facilities.
And stories they areâŠ..
The Oseberg ship in particular is the most opulent and significant Viking ship ever found. It was a burial ship created for two women â one of its most intriguing and puzzling aspects â and all of their various grave goods, including animals and possessions that theyâd need in the afterlife. According to Ellen, we donât know who those women were, but we certainly know they were important and they went out in style.
If youâre interested in even more after watching our interview, check out Ellen and other top scholars on Amazon Primeâs series Viking Dead. There are six episodes covering different archaeological finds with fascinating insight into how the Nordic peoples viewed death and their practices surrounding it. In episode 5, âThe Skeletons of the Oseberg,â youâll learn more about this very special ship burial.
As you may have heard us discuss in our interview with SĂžren SindbĂŠk, how we tell the story of the Vikings matters a lot if we want to understand those people on their own terms. At Vikingology we couldnât agree more.
The sagas and other sources about the Viking Age are clear. The Vikings longed to leave a mark in the world and be remembered forever. Thanks to Ellen and her colleagues at the new Museum of the Viking Age, it looks like they will get their wish.
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If you know anything about the study of the Viking Age or have listened to our podcast this year, the name SĂžren SindbĂŠk will not be foreign to you. A Danish archaeologist and professor at Aarhus University, SĂžren has been researching and writing about Vikings for many years, particularly about the maritime trade networks and towns that proliferated during the Viking Age. Sure, the Vikings were often farmers, but the urban centers were really where the action was.
SĂžren is also the project coordinator of the Northern Emporium Project, which since 2017 has been excavating at Ribe, a Viking Age Danish town that was important in the North Sea trading world. The work being done there has proven just how rich the urban experience was in the Viking Age.
In one of our most wide-ranging conversations yet, we discussed why hair combs were the iPhone of the Viking Age, the maritime legacy of the Nordic people, whether C.J.âs salt hypothesis holds any weight, the ethics of archaeology, and how Vikings get interpreted and misinterpreted in the modern era, plus more.
While we meandered around as we tend to do at Vikingology, there was a common thread. In so many ways, the Vikings were simply ordinary people just like us who managed to do some extraordinary things. Though they lived 1,000 years ago, we can still relate to them in many ways.
We hope you enjoy the conversation. We sure did. Mange tak, SĂžren!
To learn all about the excavations at Ribe and what they reveal about the Vikings, check out the two-volume series edited by SĂžren (click the book images).
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This time we dive into the economics of the Viking world by chatting with Dr. Tom Horne, an archaeologist and historian in Glasgow, Scotland, who specializes in Viking trade networks. The nuts and bolts of commerce may not sound like the sexiest topic, but we certainly had a laugh and learned a thing or two. Contrary to what most people think about Vikings, it turns out where business tactics were concerned they did some pretty âun-vikingâ things.
Tomâs work focuses on market âkingdomsâ and the silver trade which he writes about in his 2021 book A Viking Market Kingdom in Ireland and Britain: Trade Networks and the Importation of a Southern Scandinavian Silver Bullion Economy.
Also, check out Terriâs article that we mention, How Breaking Bad and a Renegade Economist Can Explain the Viking Age. She was thrilled to see some similar themes argued in her work and Tomâs.
We talk about Tomâs book, but also why Vikings operated in much the same way as all humans throughout history when it came to getting what they wanted, what exactly it was they wanted most, how sophisticated their business operations were, and how remarkably similar they seem to business practices today.
Want to know who the âEl Chapoâ of the Viking cartel was? Take a listen and find out.
We also touched on Tomâs work in media outreach, at the Govan Stones Museum, and in archaeology podcasting â his is aptly titled The Shindig â and why itâs important to have these avenues for sharing our knowledge about Vikings with everyone interested to learn. We at Vikingology couldnât agree more and urge you to check out all of Tomâs projects and buy his book.
Thanks Tom! We had a great time and hope to continue the conversation.
You can follow Tom on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. There you can see lots of cool pictures of Viking stuff he and his colleagues have unearthed.
Enjoy!
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If you saw our recent post about Terri heading to Denmark in search of Vikings, you may be wondering what she found. Wonder no more! In this Vikingology Podcast episode, C.J. and Terri talk about the places that resonated the most for her, all of which she has been teaching about for years but never got to experience firsthand until now.
First up, Terri discusses the Ladby Ship on the island of Fyn â a burial mound experience like no other. Extremely impressive, but also visceral in the way it transported her back to the Viking Age.
The next highlight was all the treasures at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen where they have a beautiful exhibit about Viking Age history complete with hundreds of artifacts ranging from weapons to coins to jewelry and even a very large Viking ship. They also have the Hjortspring Boat, a much older vessel that may be something of a precursor to the famed Viking longship and which C.J. has written and given a public talk about that you can check out on his website.
Terri then headed to the royal sites of Jelling and the Trelleborg and Fyrkat Fortresses, all constructed during the reign of Danish King Harald Bluetooth â yes, that one for whom your wireless technology is named â in the late-10th century as expressions of his power. Terri wrote a piece about Harald, who looms pretty large in the Danish imagination regarding the origins of their nation and monarchy.
Last, it was off to Lindholme HĂžje, a major burial site in northern Jutland with around 700 stone settings, many in the shape of a ship. Visually and spiritually stunning!
We end this episode as we often do, by meandering into other things such as movies and historical fiction authors, but we bring things back around to Denmark and Terriâs final impressions of it as a very content, clean, well-designed place that is extremely family friendly. Go to Denmark and take your kids with you! None of you will regret it.
You can also check out Terriâs other posts about her travels in Denmark on her personal Substack.
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After a 6-week hiatus, Terri and C.J. are finally back together for this podcast with a guest we have been looking forward to speaking with for a long time, Dr. Ben Raffield of Uppsala University. Ben is an archaeologist who also thinks like a historian and anthropologist in his approach to researching conflict, military organization, violence, and warrior culture during the Late Iron Age in Scandinavia, that period many of us know as the âViking Age.â
Was the Viking world a place rife with violence? What forms might it take? Who was allowed to commit violent acts? Our conversation provides some context for the reputation the Viking Age has as being a particularly brutal time to be alive.
Connected to the theme of violence, there is one image that usually comes to mind for most of us when we think of Vikings â a sword- or axe-wielding warrior. The âbadassâ quality that many of us ascribe to the Viking Age is due to this stock character who was supposedly rough, tough, and more violent that anyone else in the room. But was this true? Who was a Viking warrior?
Ben helps us answer these questions by discussing what constituted a warrior, the nature of Viking âarmies,â how they operated, what their aims were, and just how many resources it took to put large numbers of both men and ships into the field. He also tells us about the massive and complex mobile communities that made up army encampments abroad. These are not your simple hit-and-run Viking farmers.
It turns out some things we have long thought about these topics are now being overturned, while others are being confirmed. The study of Vikings â like the Vikings themselves â is an exciting, fluid, ever-changing story.
We hope you enjoy the chat as much as we did. Hang on to your horned helmets kidsâŠ.thanks to the ongoing research by Ben and his many colleagues, the Viking ride is gonna get even more interesting in the years to come.
Tusen tack Ben!
If youâd rather watch the interview, you will find it here.
Do check out Benâs latest book, which he co-authored with Neil Price. You may have read about it in a previous post we did. Itâs called The Vikings. It is an excellent, concise introduction to the topic. We at Vikingology highly recommend!
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This time on the podcast we had the very great pleasure of exploring the Viking mind with Dr. Mathias Nordvig, a Nordic myth and folklore scholar from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Arguably, for most of us when we think of âNorse mythology,â what comes to mind may be the sagas or visions of Odin and Thor, or maybe Freyja, thanks to the popularization of these things by people like game creators or the Marvel Universe. But what do those figures or stories tell us about how Nordic people viewed their world? Can we inhabit the headspace of a Viking and know how they perceived their place in the cosmos?
Mathias Nordvig thinks we can and that there are powerful lessons there for living in the modern age. In this enlightening conversation we talk about volcanoes, elders, tradition, belief versus knowing, what he calls the âNordic Story World,â the natural world, and more. Donât worry about the meander; itâs all related. And worth it. Lots of deep food for thought.
As a Dane who has lived all over the Scandinavian world, Mathias brings a lot to the table on this topic. He skillfully weaves his knowledge as a researcher with his practice as a follower of the Old Ways in his book ĂsatrĂș For Beginners: A Modern Heathenâs Guide to the Ancient Northern Way wherein he connects past to present in an accessible and thoughtful way. Turns out Viking philosophy has a lot to teach us about our relationship to each other and to the planet. And if we listen, we might just create a better future.
You can also find Mathias on The Nordic Mythology Podcast, as well as his new solo endeavor The Sacred Flame Podcast.
Please do take a listen.
Takk fyrir Mathias! You are a gift.
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This time on the podcast we head east to Gotland, a small island off the coast of Sweden in the Baltic Sea. Our tour guide is author Octavia Randolph, a wonderfully charming person who has made Gotland her adopted home.
Did you know that Gotland is the site of the largest Viking silver hoard ever found? Or that so many Arabic silver dirham coins were buried there by Vikings that rabbits literally unearth them when digging their warrens? Or that it is where the majority of Viking Age picture stones are found? If you know anything about Viking expansion, none of this will surprise you for the eastward route they took from Scandinavia to Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Byzantine Empire was well traveled and passed straight through and around Gotland.
Octavia tells us a bit about the vast history of the place â people have been living there since prehistoric times â and what makes it so special. She also talks about what drew her to the history of the Viking Age, her book series The Circle of Ceridwen Saga, and the new tours she is leading to showcase her beloved island.
Youâll find a video version of this interview here on our Substack. If you want to see the beautiful photos she shared with us, please do check it out.
We both thoroughly enjoyed the chat and Octaviaâs passion! If the conversation doesnât make you want to visit Gotland, youâd better check and see if you have a pulse.
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At Vikingology we like to ponder the various ways that people access and interact with the Viking Age past. C.J. writes historical fiction about it, Terri teaches about it at college and university, and our guests all have their own unique ways of experiencing it. And so it is no different in this episode where we interview Gabe Martin, leader of the historical reenactment group Timberhaven Vikings, based in Portland, Oregon.
We wanted to understand why some people choose to learn and share information about the Vikings by becoming one. We talked with Gabe about the issue of authenticity and what can be gained by recreating the past in very tangible ways such as making clothing, weapons, and tools â a mechanism sometimes referred to as âexperimental archaeology.â
We also discussed the challenges of presenting Vikings to modern audiences who sometimes misunderstand or misappropriate the Nordic past.
What does it mean to be a "weekend warriorâ in the Viking sense? Take a listen and find out.
If youâre interested in the video version of this interview, you can find it on our Substack.
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We know the Vikings traveled far and wide and that they had a significant impact on many of the lands where they roved, but in the English-speaking world we tend to focus on western Europe. What about their activities in Central Europe? It was a well-trodden path for Scandinavians seeking to get to the East and the riches of places like Constantinople and Baghdad, particularly through what is now Poland because of its coast line along the Baltic Sea.
But what do we know of Vikings in Slavic lands? Did they raid? Did they trade? Did they settle and change the place? Are there still signs they were there?
In this episode we speak with archaeologist Leszek GardeĆa to explore the relatively-unknown impact Vikings had on the Western Slavs. We talk about who the Western Slavs were, how they were culturally distinct in the Viking Age, violence, graves, myths, and even a bit about women warriors.
Did the Vikings change Poland? The answer might surprise you.
Read Dr. GardeĆa's book about women and weapons mentioned in the episode.
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In this episode, we had an interesting chat with William Short and Reynir Ăskarson who are experts in the experimental archaeology of Viking combat and weaponry. You knowâŠthe shiny, sexy stuff that comes to most peopleâs minds when they hear the word âViking.â
We talked about their methods for understanding fighting in the Viking Age, the famed Ulfberht sword, how Vikings may have trained, their battle tactics, and the honor-bound cultural ethos that was critical to life as a Viking.
Learn more about William and Reynirâs work at Hurstwic.
You can also read Reynirâs article about GlĂma, an important method of fighting without weapons during the Viking Age which is Icelandâs national sport to this day. Or if you fancy reading the original in Icelandic, you can find it here.
Also be sure to check out their book Men of Terror: A Comprehensive Analysis of Viking Combat
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Viking Age Iceland was what we might call âprogressive.â They had no king or strong central state as had arisen elsewhere in Europe, but instead, starting in 930 A.D. had the AlĂŸing, a public assembly where chieftains and free farmers settled disputes and matters of law by negotiation and consensus. It was a proto-democratic system ahead of its time and is still referred to as the oldest parliamentary system in the world.
But trouble was brewing by the 1200s that would bring matters to a head. Power had been consolidated into the hands of just a prominent few. As those men set their sights on increasing their wealth and status, their democratic system came under threat and the island descended into civil war, culminating in Iceland submitting to the authority of the king of Norway in the 1260s.
In this episode, Terri and C.J. sit down with Peter Konieczny, co-founder end editor of Medievalists.net and a historian who specializes in medieval warfare. We talk about the Sturlunga saga, which recounts this fascinating period in history that we may consider the final blow to Iceland's Viking Age.
To dive into the source directly, read excerpts of Sturlunga saga in English translation.
If youâd like to watch the video of this episode, youâll find it here.
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Have you ever wondered how Viking houses were built and out of what? It turns out, even archeologists had it wrong for a very long time. In this episode we talk to historian and archaeologist Sigurlaugur IngĂłlfsson, director of operations at the ĂrbĂŠjarsafn Open Air Museum in ReykjavĂk, Iceland, who tells us how Viking houses were built, why they were built that way, and what we can learn from modern reconstructions.
As always, our conversation takes a couple of interesting detours such as Viking Age bathrooms, garbage dumps, and why Icelandic sheep are so special, which Terri has experienced firsthand.
We also talk about several places you can go to experience historic Nordic housing. Check out the Norsk Folkemuseum in Norway, as well as Stöng Settlement and the Viking Settlement Exhibition, both in Iceland.
The video version of this episode is available on our Substack.
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Something was brewing in Scandinavia that reached a boiling point in the 8th century A.D./C.E. We historians acknowledge this phenomenon as the creation of the âViking Age.â But why? Scandinavia certainly existed prior to that time, and Vikings probably did too. So what made this time so special or different? What sent Nordic peoples out into the world to raid, trade, and settle in unprecedented numbers, ultimately changing their world and ours forever?
Terri and C.J. get into the weeds of Viking history to try and answer this $64 million dollar question. As we discuss in this episode, no one root cause can explain the so-called "Viking Diaspora," but that has not stopped historians and archaeologists from trying to piece together the story of what might have happened.
Was it ships? Climate change? Poverty? The warrior ethos? Or something else?âŠ..Take a listen; we cover it all.
What do YOU think caused the Viking Age? Let us know in the comments!
For more background, take a look at James H. Barrett's article that we mention in the episode.
If youâre interested in watching the video version of this episode, you can find it here on our Substack.
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We had so much fun and covered so much interesting ground in our talk with Davide Zori of Baylor University that we made two episodes from it!
Our first episode on the grave of Egil Skallagrimsson is available here on our Substack. Check it out. We have both video and audio versions available.
In this episode, Davide dove into chieftain-level power structures in the Viking Age, particularly in Iceland where Scandinavians emigrated in the late-9th century and had to reinvent themselves without the influence of a king. This meant local âbig menâ jockeyed for power and status in a delicate dance of reciprocity with the other free farmers in their districts.
Davide tells us how providing opportunity to benefit from feasting, raiding, and fighting was crucial to how chieftains expressed their status and authority. Who knew beef, beer, and boats were such a powerful equation for staying in power?
Fascinating stuff.
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