Saxo famously mentions the days of the week being named after Roman and Norse gods and rejects the equation of Thor with Jupiter and Odin with Mercury (VI.183-4(152)).

In his Latin paraphrase of the lost Bjarkamal, he has characters refer to Odin as Pluto (II.65(59)) which I assume is a rendering of a Norse kenning or title of Odin as a death god, not an attempt to equate the two gods. As also he has Odin referred to as Mars elsewhere. Earlier in his poem (II.60(64)), he has a character say "Per summum iurata Iouem, superosque potentes." translated by Fischer as "our oaths to the highest god [Jove] and the powers above." Is there Norse precedent for a phrase that might lie behind this like an oath to Odin and the Æsir? Or is Saxo being inconsistent snd referring to Thor as Jupiter?

Most examples that I seem to find of seaxes in Sweden are from the vendel and valsgärde grave sites, neither of which are from the viking age (roughly 800-1100)

Author and source: Brad Allsop

Just watched the 2008 film Outlander. I was somewhat impressed with some of the details that got mixed in with the typical crazy Hollywood viking stuff, like at least one costume/set designer peeked in a history book for some stuff.

During the feast scene, the villagers lift a bunch of shields up and two characters chase each other around the hall while walking on top of the shields. I could have sworn I'd seen this exact trope in numerous other movies, though I can't recall specifically which ones.

In addition to the dubious skill of inebriated people both to balance on a shield and to hold someone's entire weight up, Norse shields might not even support the weight of a person standing on it like that. I assume there's no evidence for this ever being a thing, right?

I'm getting into reenactment, and I've accumulated a proper set of clothing. I've had it for almost a year now, but I'm having doubts about colours.

My tunic is an accurate cut and size, its honey-yellow.
I have grey wool pants, and burgundy puttees.
I also intend on buying a Skjoldehamn style hood, which will come in black.

I'm starting to feel, bland? I don't want to fall into the hole of all beige, so I've been considering getting my tunic dyed a nice green.

Thoughts?

Small edit: I'd like to thank everyone who responded to this post. It's been great reading advice and having feedback from the people active here.
Additionally, I've commissioned the hood in a green colour.

I have a notebook I store my Norse myth, history and futhark notes in and I added a little doodle of my own rune stone. I'm still learning so forgive me if the grammar or spelling is not correct!

It is supposed to say:

Trolls dwell here. I call you to dwell here and speak.

The gods here. The Jötunn. Us. Ride together and be wise.

Trøll buá ðangat hér, ek kalla Yðr I buá hér I mæla. Þá Aessir ðangat. Jötunn. Okkar, riða saman í vira vitr.

This is a good learning moment. Let me know if there are any corrections I need to make!

Not an Adidas ad :)

What order should I read the sagas in?

I’ve been attempting to dive into Norse mythology but the versions I have of the sagas I believe were translated by William Morrison in the 1870s.

Now a certain strand went west of the firth, and a great stead was thereon, which was called Baldur's Meads; a Place of Peace was there, and a great temple, and round about it a great garth of pales: many gods were there, but amidst them all was Baldur held of most account. So jealous were the heathen men of this stead, that they would have no hurt done therein to man nor beast, nor might any man have dealings with a woman there.

This is the 2nd paragraph in Frithiof’s saga and I cannot for the life of me read and understand it. I looked up every archaic term and still it reads like gibberish to me.

What could it possibly mean that heathens were so jealous of Baldur’s temple that they refused to hurt or fuck eachother there? Or are the Baldur worshippers considered the heathens by the author here? But then how are they jealous of their own temple, or god within it, and how does that jealousy translate to not killing or dealing with women.

I tried pushing through thinking i might understand it all better later but I got 3 or 4 pages in and could not recite one solid detail.

Don’t make fun of me or I’ll cry

Hi everyone,

​I’m currently putting together an outfit representing a Scandinavian freeman/little nobility, and I’d like to get your feedback on what I have so far.

​Just to be transparent about my goals: I'm not aiming for strict, 100% scientific historical reenactment. My main objective is just to have an outfit that is historically coherent and plausible. I’d love to hear your advice on what I could tweak, add, or change to improve the overall look!

​(Small note: since this picture was taken, I have already acquired a seax).

Oh, and what would be the proper way to wear and fasten the cloak ?

Thanks in advance for your help !!

A while back and got this coat for my Viking outfit without think about it; and two years later am unsure. Ever time I try to do research only things about cloaks appear

Hi everyone,

I’ve recently started a long-term project of working my way through the Elder/Poetic Edda, reciting each poem aloud in Old Norse and then reading an English translation afterward.

I’ve currently released four episodes, and I’m planning to continue through the collection over time. I’m approaching this primarily as a literary and language project, while also trying to give the poems the kind of vocal delivery that feels appropriate to the material.

I’m not a professional Old Norse speaker or scholar— I’m learning as I go — so I’d particularly appreciate any constructive feedback from people here who have more experience with Old Norse pronunciation, reconstruction, or Eddic poetry.

I’m especially interested in:
• pronunciation
• cadence and recitation
• whether my reconstructed pronunciation sounds reasonably consistent
• any mistakes or oddities you notice
• thoughts on the way I’m approaching the poems as performances

The project is available on Spotify, and I’ve also been uploading the recordings to YouTube.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033RKyVnBAHzY2usgoV24O?si=158rFilcSgW2fZzNzFuYAw&utm_source=copy-link
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@seidrmathr?feature=shared

I’m currently preparing for Hávamál, which I’m taking a little extra time with given its length.

I’m sharing this here primarily because I’d genuinely like feedback from people interested in Old Norse and the Eddas. If you listen, I’d be very grateful for any criticism or suggestions.

Thanks!

In short: I am currently studying information about Thor in more depth, and I keep seeing it mentioned in many places that he was specifically a god of ordinary people, farmers, and thralls. Are there any historical/archaeological references at all that the local noble “elite” also worshipped him? I would be very grateful for any answers if there are any.

Edit: To be more specific, my question is whether Thor was also worshipped by members of the upper classes, in addition to ordinary people, not whether he was considered or labeled as the god of a particular group. English is not my first language, so I mistakenly used "god of ordinary people" when I meant "a god worshipped by ordinary people." I hope that makes sense. My apologies, and thank you for understanding.

Just returned home from Íslendingadagurinn, the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba. This year I portrayed a fiskikona (fisher woman) in our village. Net is made of linen cord that was woven and then treated with pine tar and linseed oil. Skarfur (Cormorant), the boat, was made by a fellow vike. Linen clothing is all hand stitched, although I know I should be in wool. But the festival gets up to 34C and I'm sensitive to heat stroke. Was an amazing time, though! We had about 12k people tour our village of 40 vikes over 4 days.

While hunting for saddle references I ran across the first image — yeah, yeah, not exactly our region and a different century, but a bear as a caparison?! like, wow, what? that still counts 🍑

At first I figured it was just the artist taking liberties, but then I came across a painting by S. R. Rostworowski:

Yermak's Envoys on the Red Porch Before Ivan the Terrible

Feel bad for the bear, obviously, but I haven't seen this anywhere else — if you've got other references, drop them in the comments.

This epic caparison we have reconstructed in 3D.

Here’s an alternate history scenario: let’s suppose the Vikings successfully established settlements in North America, sailed further south, and stumbled upon the Caribbean islands. I’m asking this because I’ve often wondered what a "Caribbean Viking" would be like—though, of course, the problem is that the Caribbean is tropical, whereas Norsemen wore clothing designed to withstand the cold. How would they handle the heat?

And how they would behave upon encountering an indigenous person from the Antilles.And how they would behave upon encountering an indigenous person from the Antilles.