While we think of the Vikings as legendary warriors, the Vikings themselves had their own legendary heroes and fighters. There were the Berserker warriors believed to embody the spirit of the bear to become invincible in battle. Read our post on the Berserkers here. And there were also the Jomsvikings. The Jomsvikings were a semi-legendary band of Viking mercenaries believed to have been active in the 10th and 11th centuries. They are also said to have held on to old Norse religious practices while the rest of the Viking world was converting to Christianity. The Jomsvikings were probably a gro ..read more

Many Wiccan and Neo-Pagan traditions venerate the triple goddess, who manifests as the maiden, mother, and crone. They represent past, present, and future, and also the cycle of life and death as new growth, fertility, and death. She aligns with the cycles of the moon, with the maiden the waxing moon, the mother the full moon, and the crone the waning moon. While the triple goddess of Wicca is a modern phenomenon, largely developed in the early 20th century, it draws on many ancient deities and beliefs. Let’s meet some of the triple goddesses of the ancient world. Hecate The goddess of witchc ..read more

Vikings have a reputation that’s larger than life. But beneath the surface of their fierce and fearsome persona lies a trove of lesser-known facts that might just change the way you think about them. For example, Vikings were legendary navigators, can you imagine that? They were capable of crossing vast and treacherous seas. But did you know they might have used a “sunstone” to navigate? On cloudy days, when the sun was hidden, they allegedly used these crystalline stones to locate the sun’s position, guiding them across the open waters with a precision that seems almost magical. There are m ..read more

One thing that we have in common with our Viking ancestors is an appreciation for a good joke and a robust sense of humor.  The surviving Norse sagas suggest that the Vikings had a dark sense of humor that involved sarcasm, irony, and strangeness. They would tell jokes at the dinner table and on the battlefield, reflecting the modern way that we often use humor to deal with fear and danger. Let’s take a closer look at what we know about the Viking sense of humor and what was considered funny in Old Norse society. Death Jokes The Vikings spent a lot of time fighting, and therefore killing ..read more

Druids were the priests and religious leaders among Celtic tribes and are known to have existed across the Celtic world from Ireland to Germany. What little we know about them comes from observations from writers from other cultures, especially the Romans, and from more modern folklore. While it is believed that the Druids were literate, it is also believed that they were forbidden from writing down their secrets. What we know of the Druids is that they were considered priests among the Celts and set apart in many ways. While they may not have been considered sorcerers, magical practice does s ..read more

On our blog, we share a lot of individual stories from Viking history, whether it was the time that Ragnar Lothbrok sacked Paris, when Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland and established the first Viking colony in Greenland, or when Harald Hardrada lost his life while disputing his claim to the English throne. While these are all fascinating stories, I know it is not always easy to piece them together and figure out how they fit in the overall Viking timeline. With that in mind, I have put together this overview of the timeline of the Viking Age, plus the couple of hundred years before and af ..read more

The torque, also spelled torc or torq, is a metal neck ring used by several European cultures from the 8th century BC onwards. It is mostly closely associated with the Celts, but similar neck rings, usually made in silver, were also commonly worn by the Vikings. But in this article, we are going to look at the Celtic torque, including its origins, cultural significance, and how they were made. Plus, we’ll look at some of the best-known surviving archaeological examples of the Celtic torque, many of which have inspired pieces in the VKNG collection. Who Were the Celts? When we talk about the C ..read more

The Vikings are known for their prowess and warriors, so, unsurprisingly, they have been involved in some of the bloodiest battles in history. While the details of how many men were involved and died in battle are often fantastical and speculative, they clearly left behind bloody battlefields. But what are some of the most legendary Viking battles? Below are my top six picks. Some have been selected for their unimaginable death toll, while others were chosen because they were pivotal moments in history. Siege of Paris – France, 845 The Siege of Paris by the infamous Ragnar Lothbrok was the cu ..read more

Significant confusion exists between the terms Wicca and Witchcraft, with many people choosing to use them interchangeably. But for those whose lives are embedded in these traditions, they have very different meanings. This article will explore what Wicca is, and how witchcraft exists within Wicca, while also trying to make clear that Wicca is just one Neopagan tradition, and it does not represent all Paganism or have a monopoly on witchcraft. Wicca vs Paganism vs Witchcraft: What’s the Difference? Wicca is a form of paganism, one of the many forms. The term paganism was coined in the fourth c ..read more

An Introduction to the Norse Sagas The Norse Sagas are legends and histories about the Viking Age that were composed predominantly in Iceland from the late 12th century onwards. Today, more than 40 individual sagas are preserved in a variety of manuscripts. Read on to discover the historical context of the Norse Sagas and a synopsis of the most famous Norse Sagas to add to your reading list (with links to English translations). The Sagas and the Old Norse Literary Tradition An Icelandic manuscript, Sloane 503, in the British Library While some people claim that the Sagas represent stories that ..read more