New England Coastal Sampo

“This was Estonindian black metal dub. Music for wounded bears as they shrugged off tranquilizer darts. A genre so conclusively suicide-inducing, blue-ribbon Congressional panels were afraid to listen to it. If Francis Scott Key had been a ninth-century raider whose head was still throbbing and clanging from an ax-blow to […]

Great Norse Birthday Suits!

Ask and Embla stand proudly above the main square of Sölvesborg, Sweden, bearing their mighty fine birthday suits for all to see. Not only is this inspirational because these were the first two humans in Norse mythology, but also because we just don’t get enough Norse mythology these days. So, […]

Longships + Wellness

This guy Olav Bjørnerud is my kind of artist. He doesn’t just sit around bemoaning via an obscure website/blog about how Vikings and their artwork have been in decline since 1066. No, instead he sees a space that lacks a Viking-related sculpture and then he goes and makes one with […]

A Good Day to Hail Leif

Today is the official Leif Erikson Day of 2013, and what appropriate and ironic timing! Leif’s Icelandic ancestors all bailed from Norway when they finally got too disgusted with their slimy politicians to bother sticking around. Lucky for them, they were able to find a nice (if harsh), uninhabited island […]

The Boners of Östergötland

In Östergötland, Sweden there are many boners carved into the surfaces of large rocks that protrude up through the ground. And, while we’re on the topic, I am sure there are many other boners in Östergötland of another sort as well…that also do their own sort of protruding. But those […]

Icelandic Lava Beer

Finally! The Icelanders have begun smoking their beer (in addition to smoking their whales and their puffins). I personally can’t think of a more befitting national, Viking-appropriate meal for Iceland than one composed of smoked endangered animal, smoked cute little penguin-type thing, and smoked beer inspired by volcanic eruptions. How […]