Nordic, Celtic & Germanic Fellowship

En mindre kendt amulet fra vikingetiden er vedhæng formet som miniatureildstål. Her Roulfs egen udgave, smedet ud af en tyk sølvtråd, drevet ud og formet ved hjælp af hammer, ambolt og ringrigle. Smykket er inspireret af et par lignende amuletter fundet i depotfund i Danmark. Der er fundet flere udgaver af miniatureværktøjer og -våben, som er blevet brugt som smykker. F.eks. leer, ildstål, hamre, økser og naglejern. Har de haft en bestemt betydning eller blot været pynteudgaver af hverdagsobjekter? Eller har det været så praktisk at smeden har vidst hvordan et ildstål skulle laves, og derfor nemt kunne forme et i sølv?

From Iceland — Saga Stories #2: Egils Saga Potential second wave of coronavirus infections in Iceland

So gorgeous!
~ Asta

LOL!
~ Asta

Exactly right!
~ Asta

LOL, oops.
~ Asta

BACK IN STOCK - The Age of the Vikings > https://grimfrost.com/collections/books/products/the-age-of-the-vikings

- Honorable Mention for the 2015 PROSE Award in European & World History, Association of American Publishers

- One of The New York Post’s Best Books of 2014

The Age of the Vikings tells the full story of this exciting period in history. Drawing on a wealth of written, visual, and archaeological evidence, Professor Anders Winroth captures the innovation and pure daring of the Vikings without glossing over their destructive heritage. He not only explains the Viking attacks, but also looks at Viking endeavors in commerce, politics, discovery, and colonization, and reveals how Viking arts, literature, and religious thought evolved in ways unequaled in the rest of Europe. The Age of the Vikings sheds new light on the complex society, culture, and legacy of these legendary seafarers.

The bow and arrow differ in significant ways from all the other Viking weapons.
Unlike other weapons that might require only a good strong swing, the bow demands more: some technical prowess that comes only with training.
Unlike other weapons, the evidence for Viking-age training in archery is extensive. Archery instructors and archery ranges are mentioned in the literary sources, along with practice tools, which are also found in archaeology.
Unlike other weapons, there were archery competitions, often presided over by the king.
Unlike other weapons, the bow was often the king’s chosen weapon. In naval battles, it is said King Óláfr helgi fought most often with his bow.
How Vikings actually shot their bow and other fascinating topics are discussed in our new book, Men of Terror A comprehensive analysis of Viking combat by William R. Short and Reynir A. Óskarson, which will be published by Westholme Publishing in summer, 2021, and is now available for pre-order from your favorite bookseller or Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Men-Terror-Comprehensive-Analysis-Viking/dp/159416360X/
The picture depicts Ullr, the god of archery, as seen on the Böksta picture stone U855.
Photo: Bengt A Lundberg, RAÄ, CC BY.

🇩🇰 Lyren fra Ribe
Ved den seneste udgravning i Ribe fandt arkæologerne i 2018 et stykke af en lyre. Det lå i et helt almindeligt hus, der dateres til ca. 720erne e.Kr., på vikingernes markedsplads. Det er det største og ældste fund fra Danmark. I topstykket sad fire af de seks stemmeskruer, og det tyder på, at det er blevet repareret med trænagler. Hvis du vil se det spændende øjeblik, hvor arkæologerne gravede lyrestykket fri af kulturlaget, så klik her: https://www.facebook.com/ribeexcavation/videos/1781517398592027

🇬🇧 The Ribe Lyre
During the latest excavation in Ribe in 2018, the archaeologists found a head piece of lyre. It was found in an ordinary house dated to around the year 720 in the Vikings' marketplace. It's the biggest and oldest find of a lyre in Denmark. The piece still had four out of six tuning pegs in place and it looks as if it has been mended with wooden pins. If you would like to see the exciting moment when the archaeologists found the lyre piece, go here: https://www.facebook.com/ribeexcavation/videos/1781517398592027

Foto: sol.sydvestjyskemuseer.dk

Amazing mask unearthed in Denmark yesterday! Congratulations Søren Juul Thomsen.
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During the Yule season, you might have come across the Yule Lad, Ketkrókur. He's the one that uses his hook (krókur) to steal your meat. In addition to the mythology surrounding the yule lads, there's some neat etymology here as well. The Iceland word, krókur generally refers to a hook or corner but can also be found in Icelandic place names like the town Sauðárkrókur. And it shares some interesting connections to English.

English borrowed this word from Old Norse and it entered the language as "crook". The word can refer to bent or angled objects, like the crook of your arm, as well as to people that commit petty crimes: crooks. The idea was that a crook must have a twisted or bent sense of morality, leading them to commit crimes.

Interestingly, an older ancestor word to "krókur" entered English as "crutch", which is a hook like object used for mobility. So what about the Icelandic word for crutch? At first, it seems like the word, "hækja", doesn't have any connection here. But "hækja" is related to the English word "hook". And the interesting thing here is that hook and crook do not have any etymological connection. It´s entirely a coincidence that the words converged to have similar meanings.

Tir na nOg - The Irish Legend of Tir na nOg

By Patti Wigington
Updated April 22, 2018

In the Irish myth cycles, the land of Tir na nOg is the realm of the Otherworld, the place where the Fae lived and heroes visited on quests. It was a place just outside the realm of man, off to the west, where there was no illness or death or time, but only happiness and beauty.

It is important to note that Tir na nOg was not so much an “afterlife” as it was a an earthly place, a land of eternal youth, that could only be reached by way of magic. In many of the Celtic legends, Tir na nOg plays an important role in the forming of both heroes and mystics. The very name, Tir na nOg, means the "land of youth" in the Irish language.

Continue reading from the link below:

The Magical Irish Legend of Tir na nOg In the Irish myth cycles, the land of Tir na nOg is the realm of the Otherworld, the place where the Fae lived and heroes visited on quests.

The ancient Orkney site where Picts and Vikings settled now under threat from pandemic Archaeologists fear that a 5,500-year-old site in the far north which was later occupied by the Picts and Vikings won't survive the Covid era.

Take an amazing tour of a lost Pictish village without leaving your house Venture deep into the hills and visit a lost Pictish settlement that people called home 1,500 years ago.

Step back in time and tour an 'enigmatic' Pictish fort in the Highlands Travel back through the centuries to Dun da Lamh, a Pictish-era hillfort with commanding views over Strathspey and which was a place of status, defence and tribal belonging.

NEMUER - Urðarbrunnr - Dark Nordic Ambient Folk (Full Album) Nemuer’s dark nordic folk ambient album Urðarbrunnr will take you to the world of Viking age stories. Tagelharpa and other ancient instruments were used and ...

How beautiful!
- Asta

AGÐIR - Fordums Veg (Official music video -featuring Kjell Braaten) Official music video for ‘Fordums Veg’ Video production by AGÐIR - Tyra Rachel Torp-Bangsund & Ruben Gentékos Featuring: Tyra Rachel Torp-Bangsund, Ruben Gen...

Beautiful 😍

The night sky in Iceland is magical.

Viking Travel Guide to Sweden / History documentary We can learn a lot about the pagan religion of Vikings and their ancestors, not only in old books and manuscripts, but in the landscape itself. Sweden in par...

"By far the best known, as well as the most interesting, of Irish cemeteries is that which extends for about two miles east and west on the northern bank of the Boyne, about five miles from Drogheda. Within this space there remain even now some seventeen sepulchral barrows, three of which are pre-eminent. They are now known by the names of Knowth for the most westward one, Dowth for that to the east, and about half-way between these two, that known as New Grange. In front of the latter, but lower down near the river, is a smaller one, still popularly known as that of the Daghda, and others bear names with more or less certainty... If the three large mounds are those plundered by the Danes, which seems probable, this is sufficient to account for the absence of the usual sepulchral treasures, but it by no means follows that the others would be equally barren of results. On the contrary, there being no tradition of their having been opened, and no trace of wounds in their sides, we are led to expect that they may be intact, and that the bones and armour of the great Daghda may still be found in his honoured grave."

- James Fergusson, Rude Stone Monuments in All Countries; Their Age and Uses,1872.

What a pity Fergusson did not identify the other small mounds by the names then given to them! The photo shows the remnants of a rain shower falling behind Mound B (The Dagda's Mound) with the Boyne in flood in the foreground, at sunset.

https://mythicalireland.com/MI/blog/myths-and-legends/dagda-had-two-mounds-newgrange-and-mound-b/

A best friend!

End them the Viking way

Do you like to make your own mead?
If so, what’s your recipe!

The Largs Viking Festival - 40th Anniversary in 2020 2020 marks the 40th Anniversary of the Largs Viking Festival, which was founded in 1980 to celebrate the famous Battle of Largs in 1263 in which the Scots re...

Bifrost (Old Norse Bifröst).
In Norse mythology Bifrost is the rainbow bridge that connects Asgard, the world of the Aesir tribe of gods, with Midgard, the world of humanity. According to the Prose Edda, the bridge ends in heaven at Himinbjörg, the residence of the ever-vigilant god Heimdallr, who guards the Bifrost.
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During Ragnarök, the sky will split open, and from the split will ride forth the "sons of Muspell" to storm Asgard and slay the gods. Although the bridge is strong, it will break when "sons of Muspell" attempt to cross it, and their horses will have to make do with swimming over "great rivers."

Credit https://instagram.com/norsedivision

Art credit Matias Cabezas Montoya