Traces of the old gods are very much alive in Stockholm. The city bears their marks in a number of ways, not least in some of the place names of its urban geography. Most of the major gods and goddesses have lent their names to a street: Torsgatan (“Thor’s Street”), […]
Larger Than Life Adventure with the Littlest Viking
Beorn: The Littlest Viking Saga is a ton of fun—sort of like if you transported Bill Watterson’s famous Calvin character to a fantasy medieval world inspired by the Norse myths and let him run loose.
True Norwegian Rådhus Ragnarök
It turns out I achieved one of my very few life goals this summer by getting my sorry self published in the one and only Viking Magazine, which is unfamiliar to most people, but nonetheless exists—primarily as a benefit to members of the Sons of Norway fraternal organization here in […]
Beavis and Butt-Head Starring Odin and Thor
ODIN: Huh huh. Huh huh. THOR: Heh heh. ODIN: Huh huh. Huh huh. Vikings are cool. Johan Hegg looks like a viking. Huh huh. THOR: Heh heh heh. This song rules. Heh heh. ODIN: Huh huh huh. Of course you like it, it’s like, all about you, and how you, […]
The Gods of Sweden’s Nationalmuseum
The Big 3 abide in a courtyard near the entrance to the Nationalmuseum in central Stockholm. There, Odin, Thor, and Balder are carved in stone, and look very, very austere. They also look more Roman than Norse, with their togo-like attire barely covering their impeccable bodies of Italian Carrara marble, […]
Norumbega Blót
In the shadow of Leif Eriksson’s Tower at Norumbega, Vinland Lo there did we honor the Leif the Lucky at the sacred site of his Vinland colony! Indeed, a make-shift blót was recently held to honor the colonizer of Norumbega with mead and metal along the banks of the not-so-swiftly […]
That One-Handed God of Warfare and Legal Advice Sure Plays a Mean Guitar
The Scandinavian invasion of Vinland continues to go strong this year. It’s not everyday that the good god Tyr intervenes with his divine providence in…Providence, Rhode Island, to be exact. And it wasn’t on a Tuesday either. For some reason Quebec received that honor this past week (really, Quebec?…well, better […]
Drink to the Deceiver of the Gods
Iceland is undisputedly the most Viking place on the planet. In some cases, the coefficient of Viking discrepancy between Iceland and a comparative test sample is dramatic and severe (Ethiopia, China, most of the U.S. – particularly Florida) while in much rarer cases the coefficient begins to approach zero (Norway, […]
Heroes of Norse Proliferation: Anker Eli Petersen
The last posting to this crappy little website discussed the importance of 1930s era travel artwork, which in a round-about way reminded me of the unsung hero of great Norse postage art, Anker Eli Petersen. This guy hails from the Faroes, which along with Iceland is pretty much the most […]
Djurgårdsbron: Where Silent Gods Stand Guard
Djurgårdsbron is a bridge in central Stockholm where Freyja, Thor, Frigg, and Heimdall stand guard…silently. Just Like in the song, only minus all the decapitations and shape-shifting into wolf-form. And for some reason Odin is missing from the entourage. But otherwise, just like in the song. And if you cross […]
Of Stonework and Meadcraft
I’ve heard it said that you shouldn’t combine alcohol with certain activities involving the use of heavy machinery and/or sharp tools because if you do then you might not use your best judgement and accidentally do something clumsy like cut off your arm or leg. And then if something like […]
Gefion Plows Hard
The goddess Gefion doesn’t fuck around when it comes to farming: when she plows she plows so hard that Sweden loses over 2000 square miles of its land area. This strip of land then ends up being dumped in the water next to the country’s southern tip, forming the Danish […]
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, […]
Odin’s Stuck on the Wall at Oslo City Hall
Ole One-Eyed’s looking mighty impressive from his nook among the bricks of Oslo’s City Hall. Despite the label that Thought and Memory are leading him off into the land of the “twilight forest” he appears to be fastened well in place and won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Sucks for […]
Heroes of Norse Proliferation: Poul Anderson
Poul Anderson is dead, but while he was alive he did awesome things, namely, the authoring of some very good Viking novels. It is somewhat unfortunate that he focused most of his writing efforts on science fiction (although I have heard that his science fiction is good, I have not […]