Burial Site of Bluetooth?

The below webpage discusses the use of satellite data to identify a possible burial site of the Viking king Bluetooth. The data, analyzed by a team of researchers, suggests that a large, previously undiscovered circular feature located near the town of Schleswig in Germany may be the final resting place of the historical figure. The team used a combination of ground-penetrating radar and LIDAR data to make their discovery. The article suggests that further excavations and investigations will be necessary to confirm the site’s identity as the burial ground of King Bluetooth.

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/06/satellite-data-points-to-possible-burial-site-of-bluetooth-viking-king/143997

Secrets of Scotland’s Viking Age Hoard

In Scotland’s Galloway region, a Viking Age hoard of metalwork was recently discovered by a metal detectorist. The hoard includes silver arm bands, brooches, and a silver ingot, as well as a unique silver-gilt Christian cross. The artifacts date back to the 9th or 10th century and provide insight into the cultural exchange between the Vikings and the local population during the Viking Age. The cross, in particular, suggests that the person who buried the hoard may have been of mixed Norse and Christian beliefs.

This discovery adds to the growing body of evidence that the Vikings were more than just raiders and plunderers. They were skilled craftsmen and traders who had a significant impact on the cultures and economies of the places they settled. The Viking Age was a time of great change and cultural exchange in Europe, and the Galloway hoard provides a glimpse into the complex interactions between the Vikings and the people they encountered.

Overall, the discovery of the Viking Age hoard in Galloway is a fascinating glimpse into the past and adds to our understanding of the Vikings and their impact on the world.

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/465-2205/features/10483-scotland-galloway-viking-age-hoard

Children of Ash and Elm

Beyond the stereotype of the rampaging, blood-spattered raiders lay a sophisticated culture with highly developed ideas on identity, the supernatural and what it meant to be alive.

“I have gone with bloody blade where the ravens followed, and with screaming spear; Vikings fought fiercely. Raging we gave battle, fire ran through men’s houses, I let bloody bodies sleep in town gateways.” Thus we see the celebrated 10th-century Icelandic warrior-poet Egill Skalla-Grímsson attempting to impress a woman at a feast (as related in his eponymous saga, here in Christine Fell’s translation). There are ample reasons why the Viking Age (c750–1050 AD) earned the terrible but somehow stirring reputation that has engaged the public and academic imagination for centuries. But the truth is more complex.

Throughout the later 20th century, Viking scholars opened up the world of the early medieval Scandinavians beyond the violence. Academics embraced trade and travel, migration and colonisation, along with the sophistication of Viking art, poetry and material culture. (In fact, it could be argued that this almost went too far, until the Vikings’ aggressive side all but disappeared from our histories). New archaeological discoveries have broadened the picture further still.

A fascinating and in-depth ready by Neil Price is distinguished professor of archaeology at Uppsala University in Sweden. The whole article can be read at: Inside the Viking Mind; the view

https://www.historyextra.com/period/viking/inside-viking-mind-identity-beliefs/

Happy 2020 – how to hold a viking sword and some physics…

Happy New Year everyone! Something a bit different to start the new decade ;a short and very interesting video on how to hold a viking sword and it makes perfect sense. We’ve all been doing it wrong, all those movies we’ve watched over the years… well they’ll just have to be remade

And the physics… well you may remember from school that Force = Mass x Acceleration (f=ma)…  so if the mass of you sword is a given and unchanging, then it’s not how hard you can hit someone with it that makes the difference, but how fast you accelerate the sword into them that makes the difference. The higher this number, the more force you have.

The video: https://youtu.be/T8vgM1j2beE

All of which may come in handy when the Apocalypse finally arrives.

A quick guide to the Viking “world tour”

A quick guide to the key dates in the Viking “World Tour” from the raid on Lindisfarne to Harald Hardrada’s defeat: Eight Viking dates you need to know:

 

 

The raid on Lindisfarne – 8th June 793
The Great Heathen Army lands – 865
York is conquered by the Vikings – 866
The Danelaw is formally agreed – 886
The Second Viking Age – 10th Century
The Vikings reach Both America – c1000
Swein Forkbeard becomes the first Viking king of England  – 1013
The end of the Viking Age – 1066

For a slightly more detailed description of these events check out:

https://www.historyextra.com/period/anglo-saxon/key-viking-dates-lindisfarne-raid-danelaw-swein-forkbeard-harald-hardrada-stamford-bridge/

 

 

High speed viking boat…

A nice Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash

And also this… a speeded up image of a Viking ship being built:

https://imgur.com/gallery/g54FMqQ

Which lasts all of about 15 seconds but is worth a quick look… a tiny insight into their design and construction..

Battle of Brunanburh

For centuries, historians have puzzled over the location of the battle of Brunanburh – the clash between a West Saxon army and its Viking-led enemies that helped secure the future of England. It was a fight between Anlaf Guthfrithsson, the viking king of Dublin and overlord of much of Ireland, and King Athelstan. Athelstan led what is believed to have been the first unified English army. The Battle of Brunanburh was fought in late 937AD. An Anglo Saxon army led by King Athelstan (the grandson of Alfred the Great) defeated and destroyed an invading army of Vikings, Scots; an alliance of Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Dublin; Constantine II, King of Scotland and Owain, King of Strathclyde.

After researching medieval manuscripts, records and carrying out land surveys, they are confident that the battle took place on Merseyside – somewhere on The Wirral.

Some historians have said that his battle is arguably one of the most significant battles in the long history not just of England, but of the whole of the British Isles

And here you can get some general background information from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brunanburh

And here is a more indepth article from the every wonderful Michael Wood:

https://www.historyextra.com/period/anglo-saxon/where-did-brunanburh-battle-take-place-location-england-michael-wood/

And this is the news article announcing the fact that after years of pondering and suggestion there is finally the evidence to back it all up

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/ancient-battle-created-england-wirral-17130613

And the fact that it all happened about 20 miles away (as the raven files (obviously) makes it all the more exciting….

100 Viking Swords

Can you imagine the excitiment of finding 100 Viking Swords? Well some lucky people have done just that:

100 Viking swords and spearheads dating to the middle of the tenth century A.D. were found in two caches placed near each other along a remote Viking trade route near Estonia’s northwestern coast. Archaeologist Mauri Kiudsoo of Tallinn University said the bits of broken weapons may have been cenotaphs, or items left as a monument to warriors who had died and were buried somewhere else…. Read more at:

https://www.archaeology.org/news/8041-190930-estonia-viking-swords

Little Green Vikings

 

The coastal Danish city of Aarhus loves to honor its Viking history. It already has a Viking museum and hosts an annual Viking festival. But what if that’s just not enough? Luckily, city officials on are the case. They are displaying their lineage of seafaring conquerors in a very special and ubiquitous way: by turning them into crossing signals.

Local government, in collaboration with the nearby Moesgaard Museum, is putting up more than a dozen across the city. Now the home of more than 300,000, Aarhus dates back to the 8th century; many streets in the city owe their names to the original Viking settlement.

“Many Danish cities had notable importance in the Viking era, but none other than Aarhus have retained their geographical layout since then. It’s no coincidence we have streets named Graven (The Ditch) and Volden (The Fortification),” Moesgaard Museum director Lars Krants said a statement quoted by European publication Thelocal.dk.

In Danish media, Aarhus residents are welcoming the new signals.

“I think it’s a lot of fun actually,” Camilla Pi Kirkegaard told Danish broadcaster DR. “Then you can think about it a little while you wait for the green light. I’ll think about our history, cultural heritage and who we are as Danes.”

Found at: https://qz.com/1696140/photos-of-the-new-viking-street-lights-in-aarhus-denmark/

Heysham Viking Festival 2019

Some photographs from this weekends Viking Festival at Heysham. The two opposing armies matched through the village upto the ruined 6th Century Chapel and rock cut graves on the headland and declared their intent for war. Battle duly unfolded on annointed field at 15:30 hours exactly. There was also a living camp to wander round with people weaving, playing, cooking, making books, casting thimbles and playing musical instruments, as well as chance to go in the village church and see the rare Norse Hogback Stone grave cover.

By now, those of you who have read the book will no a significant part of the action takes place at Heysham.. with the Vikings landing at Half Moon Bay before heading to the church to find treasure….