Archaeologists have pieced together the earliest stone fragments containing inscriptions of Germanic letters, revealing what the Norse language was like before the Viking era. Researchers from the University of Oslo found that the ancient fragments fit together “like a jigsaw puzzle” suggesting that the writing may have been “separated intentionally”. Read the rest of this article ..read more

  Archaeologists in Norway have pieced together fragments of what is now the world’s earliest known rune-stone, dating back to as early as 50 BC. The discovery at the Svingerud grave field offers new insights into the origins of runic writing, a script long associated with the medieval period but now revealed to have a much older history. Read the rest of this article ..read more

  The University of Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History has launched a global study to uncover how people around the world perceive Viking warriors and the enduring legacy of the Viking Age. The Great Viking Survey invites individuals to share their thoughts on these iconic medieval figures and their influence in modern culture. The survey, part of the Making a Warrior research project, aims to map the ways contemporary media and academia shape public perceptions of the Viking Age. Led by a pan-Nordic network of scholars, the project explores the concept of Viking “warriorhood” and its r ..read more

  “Remarkable historical find at Sverresborg. Skeleton at the bottom of the old well. Could it be the Baglers’ victim, thrown into the well in 1197, as the saga claims?” This was the headline in Adresseavisen on December 2, 1938. The manager of Sverresborg Folk Museum, Sigurd Tiller, and architect and self-taught archaeologist Gerhard Fischer found the skeleton while investigating the castle ruins. Three doctors were called in to confirm it was indeed a human skeleton. Despite the uproar caused by the discovery, Tiller was cautious with the press. “Thorough and lengthy investigations ..read more

  A compilation of essays may not necessarily be your first choice when you reach for a book on a library shelf or conduct a quick search on Amazon.  For many of us non-academics, essays are something that brings back pubescent horrors from schooldays. The type of thing that, as soon as you graduated from high school, you'd pledge to avoid for the remainder of your life... until you went to college or university.  Yet one must, as Voltaire's Candide quips, "tend to one's garden," and part of this tending is surely reading both for pleasure and for a purpose.  Muslims o ..read more

  The Viking burial ground at Tvååker revealed 139 graves, including ship-formed stone settings and a ship-formed mound. Photo: Arkeologerna Ship made of oak and stone  The latter appears to be the remains of a wooden ship burial that may have been relatively common in the local area.  "Scientists in the 1950s discovered a characteristic local grave type in Halland County known as 'oblong mounds,'" Nordin and Kjellin tell The Viking Herald.  "These have been interpreted to be the remains of a cremation in a ship site. The cremation here appears to have taken place in t ..read more

  The Galloway hoard is set to be on display in Adelaide in Australia next year One of the UK's most important archaeological finds this century is set to go on show for the first time outside the UK early next year, as it begins its international tour. The Viking-age Galloway Hoard - buried about AD 900 - was unearthed in a south of Scotland field by metal detectorist Derek McLennan in 2014. It contains a variety of objects and materials, including a rare Anglo-Saxon cross, pendants, brooches, bracelets and relics. Read the rest of this article ..read more

  Archaeologists excavated the Myklebust ship mound and found a 140-year-old message in a bottle left by the site’s discoverer, photos show. Photo from the University of Bergen When researchers began reexcavating a Viking burial mound in Norway, they knew they were following the footsteps of an influential archaeologist. What they didn’t know was that he’d left them a note 140 years ago. The Myklebust Ship is the one of the largest Viking ships ever found in Norway, reaching about 100 feet long in its original form. Archaeologist Anders Lorange unearthed the burnt ship in a large burial ..read more

A farmer in Norway's southwestern Rogaland district found the clay-encrusted remains of the Viking Age sword in a field he was clearing. (Image credit: Rogaland County Council) While clearing a field on his farm, a Norwegian man discovered a rare Viking Age sword that's thought to be 1,000 years old. "We were about to start sowing grass on a field that has not been plowed for many years," Øyvind Tveitane Lovra, who found the weapon, said in a translated statement.  When a piece of old iron turned up, he was about to throw it away. But a closer inspection revealed that it was most of a ..read more

Trevor Penny found a Viking sword while magnet fishing in Oxfordshire (Picture: Trevor Penny/Triangle News) A magnet fisherman was shocked to learn a rusty sword he had pulled from a river was a 1,200-year-old Viking weapon. Trevor Penny was using a powerful magnet to look for metal objects in the River Cherwell near Enslow in Oxfordshire when he made the fascinating find. Excited, he notified his local finds liaison officer and gave the sword to experts to verify. They have now dated the weapon to around 850 AD and say it would have once belonged to a Viking. Read the rest of this artic ..read more