Welcome to the great Viking blog by Glanz & Gravur: over 750 articles on Norse mythology, runes, gods, symbols, the history of the Vikings and their everyday life – honestly researched, with sources and a clear myth check. Bilingual in German and English.
Our latest articles on the Viking Age and Norse mythology.
Haakon the Good (Hákon góði Haraldsson, c. 920 to 960/961) is said to have grown up at King Æthelstan's court and to have died at Fitjar. What …
Oleg of Kyiv (Old Norse Helgi) is said to have taken Kyiv in 882 and threatened Constantinople in 907. What the Primary Chronicle, the treaty of 911 …
Thorfinn Karlsefni and Gudrid led a settlement attempt in Vinland around 1010. What Eiríks saga, Grœnlendinga saga, archaeology and the 1021 …
Rurik (Old Norse Hrœrekr) was called to rule in 862 according to the Primary Chronicle. What chronicles, Ladoga excavations and the Rorik of Dorestad …
Ingólfr Arnarson is regarded as Iceland's first permanent settler. What Íslendingabók and Landnámabók report, what tephra and Reykjavík excavations …
Ubba was one of the leaders of the Great Heathen Army in the ninth century, yet almost everything about him is late, thin or disputed: what Abbo, the …
Olaf Haraldsson, king of Norway 1016 to 1028, killed at Stiklestad in 1030 and raised as a saint by Bishop Grimkell in 1031: what skaldic verse, the …
Halfdan Ragnarsson (Healfdene) between the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Asser, the Annals of Ulster and the sagas: what is established about Ashdown …
Guthrum, the Danish war leader who surprised Alfred the Great at Chippenham in January 878, lost at Edington, accepted baptism and ruled East Anglia …
Start with the big fields of knowledge – from the Norse gods and the runes to the history of the Vikings. Every article separates evidence from interpretation.
Odin, Thor, Freyja, Loki and the whole pantheon of Æsir and Vanir – with Edda sources.
From Lindisfarne to Hedeby: raids, kings, trading towns and treasures of the Viking Age.
Clothing, food, crafts, family – real life in the North.
Longships, navigation and the great voyages to Vinland and Miklagard.
Elder and Younger Futhark, meanings, runestones – plus the daily-rune tool.
Edda, sagas and the great stories from Sigurd to Ragnarök.
Yggdrasil, Asgard, Midgard, Hel – the cosmos of Norse mythology.
Trolls, dwarves, draugr and valkyries – the inhabitants of the saga world.
Blót, Yule, seiðr and the yearly cycle – how people in the North believed and celebrated.
Valknut, Vegvísir, Thor's hammer, animal style – genuine or modern inventions?
Horned helmets, skull cups, the Viking prayer: what is true and what is not.
Festivals, museums, names, gifts and the right rune for your engraving.
Germanic peoples, Celts and Slavs: the great family tree with over 750 articles on peoples.
The articles our readers look up most often.
Yggdrasil is the world ash of Norse mythology: three roots, three wells, nine worlds, the eagle, Ratatoskr and Níðhöggr – what the Edda really says.
Odin, the All-father of Norse mythology: what his name means, the eye sacrifice, the runes, the ravens Huginn and Muninn, Sleipnir, Valhalla and his …
What is Ragnarök? Fimbulwinter, Fenrir, Naglfar and the last battle – who dies at the doom of the gods in Norse mythology and who survives.
Berserkers fact-checked: bear-shirt or bare-shirt, Haraldskvæði and Snorri, the Lewis chessmen, the Icelandic ban – and what fly agaric really …
Ibn Fadlan went to the Volga for the caliph in 921–922 and described the Rus and a ship cremation. What the account proves, and what The 13th Warrior …
Which rune means protection? Algiz, Tiwaz, Uruz, Thurisaz and Eihwaz checked against the rune poems, real runic amulets and modern interpretation.
Not only Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld: all the known Norns and everything the sources report about them – the Well of Urðr, many Norns of different …
Vikings in Aachen: in winter 881/882 the Great Army sacked Aachen, Cologne, Bonn, Prüm and Trier. What the Frankish annals really say, and what is …
All 791 articles, sorted by field. Click a field to open its list.
The Vikings were Scandinavian seafarers, traders, farmers and warriors of roughly 793–1066. "Viking" describes an activity rather than a people – most lived settled lives as farmers and craftspeople.
No. There is not a single archaeological find of a horned helmet from the Viking Age. The image only arose in the 19th century through opera and painting.
In the Norse gods of the Aesir and Vanir – above all Odin, Thor, Freyja and Loki. Their world held nine realms around the world tree Yggdrasil.
Runes were the script of the Germani and Vikings – for inscriptions on stones, weapons and everyday objects. There is the Elder Futhark (24 signs) and the Younger Futhark (16). More in the rune lexicon.
The Edda is the most important source on Norse mythology: the Poetic Edda (Codex Regius) and Snorri’s Prose Edda (13th c.). Read many lays bilingually in our library.
Ragnarök is the prophesied doom of the gods – the last battle in which many gods fall and the world sinks. Yet from the end a new, greening world arises. More in the Ragnarök article.
