Gravlaks Cured Salmon with Mustard Sauce

Thor News

Gravlaks served with red onion, lemon, rye bread, crackle bread, potato tortillas, mustard sauce and a small glass of aquavit. (Photo: Adam Liaw, Destination Flavor Scandinavia / SBS Food)

Curing salmon is an easy way to make a really tasty meal, and the preservation method has probably been used all the way back to the Viking Age. Cured salmon is known as gravlaks in Norwegian and regarded a delicacy.

Ingredients
(Starter, snack, serves 8)
1 kg (2.2 lbs) of salmon fillet (about a whole side), with skin, without bones
75 grams (2.6 oz) of sugar
75 grams (2.6 oz) of salt
1 teaspoon of ground pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped dill
Aquavit / brandy

Mustard Sauce
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped dill
80 milliliters (1/3 cup) grape seed oil

You do not have to see the salmon produced here in the Namdalen valley, Central Norway, to understand that the quality is superb. (Photo: SinkabergHansen AS)

Method

Cured salmon
Divide the fish fillet crosswise into two so that there are two approximately equal parts. Place both sides with the skin side down on a large piece of plastic film.

Mix together sugar, salt and pepper and pour the mixture over the fish in a thick layer and sprinkle with dill. Pour over some drops of aquavit (see below) or brandy.

Place one part over the other so that the two skin sides face outwards. The narrow ends shall point in the same direction. Wrap the fish tightly in at least three layers of plastic film. Gently press when wrapping to get out as much air as possible. Place the fish on a dish and put it in the refrigerator for 48 hours.

Turn the fish every twelve hours.

Mustard Sauce
Whisk the ingredients together, except the grape seed oil, until they are well mixed. Continue to whisk when you little by little add some oil until the sauce has got the right consistency.

Gravlaks with Mustard Sauce
Take the fish out of the plastic and put it on a cutting board. Wipe the fish gently with damp kitchen paper to remove the remains of sugar and salt. Wipe again with dry kitchen paper. Cut thin slices of the salmon with a large, sharp knife.

Cured salmon is served with mustard sauce, lemon boats, red onion rings, rye bread and potato tortillas – or be creative and try out other types of bread, however, mustard and red onion are a must.

Aquavit Facts

Aquavit is Scandinavian spirit that has roots back to the fourteenth century. It gets distilled with herbs and spices like moth, fennel and dill. If you do not have aquavit, a good brandy can also be used.

An Altered Past: Modified Dice Tells Tales of Medieval Gambling in Norway

Ancient Origins

Is it true cheaters never prosper? Archaeologists believe that a 600-year-old wooden dice found in Norway was used in Medieval gambling. It was apparently a prized possession of a shifty player, who may have had to toss his “lucky charm” as people caught on to his unfair advantage in their game.

The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) reports the dice had the unusual feature of two fours and two fives, but no one or two. The wooden artifact was not only crooked, but also slanted. It measures 2.1 cm (0.83 inches) high and wide in the top, but 2.2 cm (0.87 inches) in the bottom. The piece weighed a somewhat heavy 16.7 grams.

The dice was probably used by a cheater in Medieval gambling. ( Angela Weigand, UIB )

Archaeologist Ingrid Rekkavik writes that gambling was rather widespread in Bergen in the Medieval period. The problem was severe enough that the practice was eventually banned by the authorities. Rekkavik explains that there was even a city law in 1276 which allowed the King’s Ombudsmen to seize any money from the betting table and fine the gamblers about 107 grams of silver for breaking the law.

The kings throw dice. "Olav the Sacred Saga" by Snorri Sturlason, King Saga, Kristiania 1899. ( Nasjonalmuseet)

 The location where the dice was found was filled with inns and pubs in the Middle Ages, so project manager Per Christian Underhaug is not surprised that it could have been used in gambling. It was unearthed by a wooden street which dates back to the 1400s.

 How did the altered dice end up in the street? Underhaug says it is equally likely to have been intentionally discarded as lost.

Rekkavik has created a couple of possible scenarios for how the dice made its way to the street. She suggests the person trying to cheat at the game was either suspected or caught in the act. One of his fuming opponents may have thrown the dice into the street or the cheater could have dropped the wooden piece when he noted people looking at him suspiciously.

The excavation. The dice was found during an excavation inside this concrete frame in Øvre Korskirkeallmenning in Bergen. ( NIKU)

Live Science reports archaeologists are uncertain how the dice could have worked in betting, but it seems probable that the game saw the roll of a one or two as unlucky and four or five as good.

Although most signs suggest the Medieval dice was a gambler’s tool, there is also the possibility that the artifact was used in some unknown game which didn’t include the numbers one or two.

NIKU writes the object is rare because of its alterations, but it isn’t the only time Medieval dice have been found in Bergen – more than 30 have been recovered so far.

A February 2018 study shows that there are several instances of people attempting to cheat at dice in the ancient past. It says,

“In Roman times, many dice were visibly lopsided, unlike today's perfect cubes. And in early medieval times, dice were often “unbalanced” in the arrangement of numbers, where 1 appears opposite 2, 3 opposite 4, and 5 opposite 6 […] Gamblers may have seen dice throws as no longer determined by fate, but instead as randomizing objects governed by chance.”

Selection of Roman era dice and jetons (tokens). ( CC0)

Top Image: This Medieval dice has two 4's and two 5's but no 1 or 2. Archaeologists believe that it was likely used to cheat while gambling. This photo shows the two 5's. Source: Angela Weigand/UiB

By Alicia McDermott

Viking Crisp Bread / Viking Knekkebrød

Thor News

Tasty crackers, crisp bread, flatbread, wheat loaf and rye loaf baked over the fire or in the oven were served with homemade butter, cheese, honey and ham. It smells fantastic and tastes even better.

Here is a Vikings recipe for crisp bread which are easily altered if you prefer baking your bread in a modern oven. Still, why not try bread making over a fire in the garden or on the grill on the terrace.

0.5 jug lukewarm water
6 cups rye flour
6 cups wheat flour
 1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 cups rye flour for rolling out the dough

1 jug = approximately 2 pt. / 1 litre
1 cup = approximately 0,3 pt. / 1,5 dl

Mix all the ingredients and knead well. Divide the dough in 20 pieces and form into balls. Roll out each ball in plenty of rye flour until thin and round. Cut out a hole in the middle of each crisp bread and prick them with a fork. Or if you prefer, cut the dough into strips instead of rounds.

The fireplace must be warmed up well ahead. Before placing the crisp breads on the bottom of the fireplace, sweep it to remove ashes. Turn the crisp breads when slightly browned.

Put a stick through the hole and store the crisp breads hanging from the roof as seen on the picture or store the crisp bread in a closed bread box of birch bark or wood.

The Langeid Viking Battle Axe and a Warrior Who Singlehandedly Held Off the Entire English Army

Ancient Origins

BY THORNEWS

Contrary to what many believe, battle axes from the last part of the Viking age, i.e. the 11th century, had evolved to become light, streamlined, and well-balanced. At the same time, they were powerful lethal weapons, something the recently reconstructed broad axe from Langeid in Southern Norway confirms.

The Viking warrior was well-equipped and trained to use a variety of weapons, but it was undoubtedly the battle axes that created most “shock and awe” among the enemy. Now, the unique weapon found at Langeid in 2011 is recreated, and it confirms that a thousand-year-old rumor is true: Facing a well-trained Norseman with a broad axe was like looking death straight in the eyes.

Viking warrior. (Mark Hooper/CC BY NC SA 2.0)

The Remarkable Grave 8
During archaeological excavations in 2011, several dozen flat graves dating back to the last part of the Viking Age were discovered at Langeid in the Setesdal valley, Southern Norway. The archaeologists found a wooden coffin, but it turned out to be almost empty. However, on the outside they discovered an ornate sword and a battle axe.

The blade was relatively intact, including the toe and heel of the cutting edge. Remarkably, a 15-centimeter (5.91-inch) long wooden stump of the haft was preserved. A band of brass, a metal alloy made of copper and zinc, encircling the stump had preserved the handle due to the antimicrobial properties. X-ray fluorescence analysis confirmed that the band was made of brass, something that made the axe “shine like gold” in the sunlight.

Second Quarter of the 11th Century
The Langeid axe head has a cutting edge of about 25 centimeters (9.84 inches), an original weight of about 800 grams (28.22 ounces) and is clearly two-handed. The haft measured about 110 centimeters (43.31 inches), based upon a few archaeological findings and contemporary illustrations.

According to the archaeologists, the original haft measured about 110 centimeters. (Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo)

The Museum of Cultural History at the University in Oslo only holds six axes of this type – broad axes with brass haft banding.

The Norwegian archaeologist Jan Petersen categorized broad axes as type M in his typology of weapons, appearing from the second half of the 10th century until the Middle Ages.

The Langeid axe has been dated back to the second quarter of the 11th century, which coincides in time with the Battle of Stamford Bridge and perhaps history’s most famous axe warrior.

‘The Battle of Stamford Bridge’ (1870) by Peter Nicolas Arbo. (Public Domain)

The Ultimate Viking Warrior
On 25 September 1066, the battle symbolizing the end of the Viking Age took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England. The battle was fought between an English army led by King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Sigurdsson “Hardrada” (Old Norse: harðráði, “hard ruler”) and Earl Tostig Godwinson, the English king’s brother.

Historians believe the Norwegian army was divided in two, with some troops on the west side of the River Derwent, and the majority of the army on the east side. The English army caught the Norwegians by surprise and the Norsemen on the west side were either killed or forced to flee across the bridge.

An Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells that a giant Norse axe warrior blocked the narrow crossing and single-handedly held up the entire English army.

Viking warrior with an axe. (Lamin Illustration & Design)

The story is that the Viking cut down as many as 40 English soldiers and was only defeated when an enemy soldier floated under the bridge in a half-barrel and pushed his spear through the planks, mortally wounding the Norseman.

 It is not unlikely that the warrior was armed with an axe almost identical with the one found at Langeid in Southern Norway.

The blacksmiths: Vegard Vike and Anders Helseth Nilsson. (Bjarte Aarseth, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo)

Recently, the impressive Viking axe was reconstructed. You will find detailed information about the project with many photos and videos here.

Top Image: The Langeid Viking Battle Axe: The original and the copy. Source: Vegard Vike, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo

The article, originally titled ‘The Langeid Viking Battle Axe’ by Thor Lanesskog, was originally published on ThorNews and has been republished with permission.

The Great Heathen Army: Viking Coalition Becomes an Anglo-Saxon Nightmare

Ancient Origins

 Viking raids may have been a common factor in the life of a 9th century Anglo Saxon, but there was something terrifyingly distinct when an army emerged seeking revenge.

 The Great Heathen Army would do whatever it took to see the Anglo Saxons fall. The Great Heathen Army (known also as the Great Viking Army, or the Great Danish Army) is the name given by the Anglo-Saxons to a coalition of Viking warriors that invaded England during the 9th century AD. The main source of information regarding the Great Heathen Army comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which is a collection of Old English annals chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. Some information about this army is also in an Old Norse saga known as the Tale of Ragnar’s Sons. Furthermore, archaeology has helped to shed some light on this Viking coalition. Nevertheless, there are many more questions about the Great Heathen Army that have yet to be answered.

Viking army in battle. (Public Domain)

 Accounts of the Great Heathen Army
According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Great Heathen Army landed in 866 AD in East Anglia, “A.D. 866. …; and the same year came a large heathen army into England, and fixed their winter-quarters in East-Anglia,” During this time, England was divided between four petty kingdoms – East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, and Wessex. Faced with such a fragmented foe, the Great Heathen Army was quite successful in their campaigns and succeeded in overrunning much of the country.

Derby Museum Viking Sword found in Repton. (Roger/CC BY SA 2.0)

 The chronicle does not mention the reason for this invasion, perhaps due to the fact that Viking raids were fairly common during that period of time. The Tale of Ragnar’s Sons, on the other hand, mentions that the invasion of England by the Great Heathen Army was aimed at avenging the death of Ragnar Lodbrok, a legendary Viking ruler of Sweden and Denmark. In the Viking saga, Ragnar is said to have conducted a raid on Northumbria during the reign of King Ælla. The Vikings, however, were defeated, and Ragnar was captured by the Northumbrians. Ælla then had Ragnar executed by throwing him into a pit of poisonous snakes. When the sons of Ragnar received news of their father’s death, they decided to avenge him.

Depiction of Ælla of Northumbria's murder on Ragnar Lodbrok (1830) by Hugo Hamilton. (Public Domain)

As is already evident, the military campaign against the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms by the Great Heathen army is treated differently by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Tale of Ragnar’s Sons, and this difference continues as the story does. In the latter, for instance, much focus in placed on Ivar the Boneless, one of Ragnar’s sons. According to the saga, Ivar founded the town of Jórvík, today known as York, and by forming alliances with the neighboring Anglo-Saxons, built up his military strength. Eventually, Ivar invited his brothers to join him in his attack on Ælla. The Northumbrian king was defeated, and the blood eagle was carved from him. Ivar went on to rule over Northumbria until his death.

Ivar the Boneless as portrayed in the History Channel Series ‘Vikings.’ ( History Channel )

A different story is told in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. For instance, the chronicle makes no mention of Ælla’s execution by the blood eagle. Instead, he is recorded to have fallen in a battle against the Great Heathen Army at York. Additionally, tis work focuses on the actions of the Great Heathen Army in a chronological order. For example, in 868 AD, the Great Heathen Army attacked Mercia, and the king sought aid from Wessex to defend his kingdom. The Anglo-Saxon coalition besieged the Vikings in Nottingham. As there was no clear victor, however, the Mercians decided to make peace with the Vikings. In the following year, the Great Heathen Army is recorded to have returned to Jórvík and rested for a year.

King Ælla as he is portrayed in the television series ‘Vikings.’ (CC BY SA)

Questions Remain on the Great Heathen Army
In spite of the available written sources, there are numerous questions about the Great Heathen Army that are still left unanswered. For instance, neither the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle nor the Tale of Ragnar’s Sons mentions the size of the Great Heathen Army. The goal of this army is also another question open to debate. Although the Tale of Ragnar’s Sons provides the reason for the invasion of England, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not. Instead, it seems to be treated as another Viking raid, albeit one that was on a much larger scale than usual

Archaeology has been able to shed some light on the mysterious Great Heathen Army. For instance, a 2016 article published in The Antiquaries Journal presents the results of a project concerning the Great Heathen Army. This project revealed the location, extent, and character of the Great Heathen Army’s winter camp at Torksey, Lincolnshire (872/873 AD).

Additionally, it was reported recently that a mass grave from Derbyshire may contain the remains of some of the warriors in the Great Heathen Army. Such archaeological research has the potential to provide valuable information about the Great Heathen Army and may complement the already available written records.

Battered and broken bodies of Viking warriors unearthed in Derbyshire, England, now identified as soldiers of the Viking Great Army. (Martin Biddle / University of Bristol )

 Top image: The Great Heathen Army. Source: CC BY SA

By Wu Mingren

Discovered: Thor's Shattered Viking Army and their Sacred Hammer of the Gods

Ancient Origins

The mysterious origins of almost 300 violently broken bodies discovered in a mass grave in Derbyshire, England, are “the Viking Great Army!”, announced archeologist Cat Jarman this week.

 Jarman is Head of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the The University of Bristol and she explained that the initial dating of the skeletons discovered in the 80s found them to “span several centuries”. However, Jarman doubted this dating because “the previous radiocarbon dates from this site were all affected by something called marine reservoir effects, which is what made them seem too old.” Basically, the carbon in fish is much older than in terrestrial foods and this confused the radiocarbon dating tests. When this error was accounted for, says Jarman, the bodies all date to the 9th century.

Land-Hungry Warriors
Known to the Anglo-Saxons as ‘The Great Heathen Army’, these land-hungry warriors formed a united army from Norway, Denmark and Sweden. They invaded the four kingdoms of England in 865AD and according to Historian Thomas Charles-Edwards in his bestselling 2013 book Wales and the Britons 350–1064 “having taken East Anglia and then York the following year, they were paid to leave Wessex by Alfred the Great and marched on Northumbria and London.” They reached Mercia by 873AD and spent winter at Repton, where they dethroned King Burgred and installed Cleowulf as ruler of the kingdom.

Viking army in battle (public domain)

This Was No Ordinary Burial
This week’s University of Bristol report informs that “80 percent of the remains were men, mostly aged 18 to 45, with several showing signs of violent injury.” Strewn among the Viking skeletons were “axes, knives and five silver pennies dating to the period 872-875 AD.” And, among the bodies four children aged between eight and 18 years old were discovered “in a single grave with traumatic injuries.” Archaeologist Cat Jarman said of these burial irregularities “The grave is very unusual…they are also placed in unusual positions - two of them back-to-back - and they have a sheep jaw placed at their feet. All these obscurities suggest human sacrifice formed part of Viking funeral rites

One of the female skulls excavated from the Repton burial site. Credit: Cat Jarman / University of Bristol

A National Geographic article this week detailed the contents of another double grave containing two men, the older of whom was buried with a “Thor’s hammer pendant and a Viking sword and had received numerous fatal injuries including a large cut to his left femur.” Furthermore, a boar’s tusk had been “placed between his legs, and it has been suggested that the injury may have severed his penis or testicles, and the tusk positioned to replace what he had lost in preparation for the afterworld.”

Thor’s Hammer Pendant May Settle Long-Standing Debate
Rightly, this week’s headlines are focusing on the discovery of one of the most successful forces to have ever invaded Britain. However, to me, the presence of a “Thor’s Hammer pendant” stands sentinel above all other discoveries. Outshines the lot! This truly is a Norse cultural treasure and its discovery, among Norse warriors, settles a long-standing archeological debate.

Example of a Viking Thor’s hammer pendant (Swedish History Museum / flickr)

Fist-size stone tools resembling the Norse god Thor's Hammer are known as “thunderstones” and are found in Viking graves in Norway. While one faction of specialists hold that Viking warriors worshiped Thor with grave deposits, others argue that thunderstones actually belonged to earlier, lower burials, and get accidentally unearthed in Viking graves. To settle this debate, Archaeologist Eva Thäte of the University of Chester in the U.K., with fellow archaeologist Olle Hemdorff excavated hundreds of Viking graves in Scandinavia and trawled through thousands of grave deposits. They found “ten Viking burials containing thunderstones up to 5,000 years older than the graves themselves” indicating Vikings reused prehistoric stone hammers as talismans and good luck charms to assist them in the afterlife.

But even with this data, many archeologists still maintain Thor’s Hammers are accidental finds. This Thor’s Hammer debate was highlighted in a 2010 in a National Geographic feature which claimed it was generally “accepted that they (thunderstones) were actually purposely placed by Vikings in graves as good-luck talismans,” but there are still skeptics out there. This week’s announcement, that the skeletons belong to the “Great Viking Army” married with the fact that a “Thor’s Hammer pendant” was discovered, is the smoking gun - the hard evidence that Viking warriors did indeed worship Thor, and “Thor’s Hammers” were used in burial rites.

There are two things skeptics have to accept here. Neolithic people in England were not wearing Thor’s Hammer pendants, so it did not belong to an earlier, lower grave, and did not get “accidentally” dug up. And finally, deceased Viking warriors were stripped naked and buried with carefully chosen items, to help them in the afterlife, so the pendant was a deliberate placement within the Viking warrior grave. The pendant suggests that 9th century England was taken by a band of merciless warriors under the command of their ancient god of thunder and war - Thor. That accepted, I wonder what the battle cry of Thor’s Army sounded like? Thunderous I’d imagine.

Top image: Battered and broken bodies of Viking warriors unearthed in Derbyshire, England, now identified as soldiers of the Viking Great Army. Credit: Martin Biddle / University of Bristol

By Ashley Cowie

Wales and the Britons, 350-1064 (History of Wales) Hardcover – 1 Feb 2013 by T. M. Charles-Edwards. OUP Oxford (1 Feb. 2013)

Christian Round Churches Hide Astronomical Secrets of the Viking Seafarers

Ancient Origins

Orkney is an archipelago in the northern isles of Scotland, annexed by Norwegian explorers in 875 AD and Christianized by King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, (960s – 1000). It was from Orkney where many of the early Viking raids into England were launched. Were Christian Viking round churches in Norway aligned with the round church in Orkney, Scotland, to support astronomical maritime navigation routes?

Blaeu's 1654 map of Orkney and Shetland. (Public Domain)

 Haakon Paulsson, Jarl of Orkney
A Jarl is a Norse title, preceding the title of Earl. By the early 12th century the navigable channels between the islands of Orkney were controlled by Jarl Haakon Paulsson (Old Norse: Hákon Pálsson) (1103-c. 1123), whom King Magnus III of Norway had appointed regent in Orkney. Haakon was a descendant of the Norse lineage of Røgnvald (the Wise) and jointly ruled the Earldom of Orkney with his cousin Magnus Erlendsson, from 1105 - 1114, in which year Haakon had Magnus murdered. As penance for having unlawfully killed his cousin, church authorities ordered Haakon to undertake a pilgrimage to 'the burial place of Christ’, an adventure which was recorded in the Orkneyinga Saga (a historical narrative of the history of Orkney from the 9th to 12th century):

 “Haakon faired south to Rome, and to Jerusalem…upon his return he became a good ruler, and kept his realm well at peace and he built Orphir Church to replicate the Templar built rotunda in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which he had visited while he was in Jerusalem.

An example of a page from the Orkneyinga saga, as it appears in the 14th century Flatey Book. (Public Domain)

Was Haakon Paulsson a Templar Knight? Haakon was a wealthy warlord who had undertaken a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, in the fashion of the Templars. He even had a round church built in the style of the Templar rotunda, which he encountered in Jerusalem, upon his return to Orkney. He had visited Jerusalem at the same time as the founding Knights Templar. An interpretation panel installed at Orphir Round Church claims it is the “northernmost Knights Templar round church in the UK”. However, it is disputed whether Haakon built a “Templar church”.

Although Templars vowed to ‘defend the Church of the Holy Sepulchre’ and subsequently built many round churches reflecting its underlying design, circular church design was not limited to Templar architecture and several monastic institutions had built in the circular style. Nevertheless, so often it is written that all of Europe’s circular churches were built by the Knights Templar, but it is much closer to the truth to say that ‘they built some, possibly most’ of Europe’s medieval round churches.

King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, (960s – 1000) who forcibly Christianized Orkney. Painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo. (Public Domain)

 Furthermore, if Haakon had become a Templar Knight in Jerusalem then he would have been obliged upon joining to relinquish his “material wealth and possessions” to the Order. This transaction would certainly have included his valuable agricultural and strategically located lands at Orphir and as such it would have been listed somewhere in the inventories of Templar properties in Scotland. However, there is no mention of Orphir anywhere in the records. The northernmost Templar property recorded in Scotland was a Preceptory House (farm, temple, bank) located in Dingwall on the Black Isle, near Inverness. It must be added however, that many 12th century knights and noblemen avoided the ranks of the Knights Templar for socio-political reasons, yet they maintained strong mercantile and military relationships with the Order.

Ashley Cowie is a Scottish historian, author and documentary filmmaker presenting original perspectives on historical problems, in accessible and exciting ways. His books, articles and television shows explore lost cultures and kingdoms, ancient crafts and artifacts, symbols and architecture, myths and legends telling thought-provoking stories which together offer insights into our shared social history. www.ashleycowie.com.

Top Image: Wasteland Viking Ship. (CCO Public Domain)

By Ashley Cowie

What Comforting Items Did Vikings Have That Are Still the Height of Luxury Today?

Ancient Origins

By ThorNews

In the largest and most richly equipped Viking burial mounds discovered in Norway there are usually found beds and several types of bird feathers and down from pillows and duvets, including eagle-owls’ feathers. This demonstrates that wealthy Viking aristocrats slept as they lived: quite comfortably.

Modern technology and knowledge makes it possible to separate feathers and down from different bird species, and according to the Norwegian research portal Gemini.no, there have been discovered remains from a variety of birds – including the Eurasian eagle-owl, Northern Europe’s largest owl.

There have also been discovered everything from the exclusive down from the common eider known for its extreme insulating properties, to “common crow” feathers.

Eiderdown is regarded as the most exclusive and is even today highly sought after for duvet manufacturing. Only about 0.56 ounces is collected from each nest, and it takes 18 to 35 ounces to produce one duvet, equivalent to down from about sixty nests.

This clearly shows that back in the Viking Age, bird feathers must have been a really exclusive commodity, and that the luxury of owning a pillow and duvet was reserved for only the wealthiest in the Norse society.

Feathers in Metal
In some Viking burial mounds there are found prints of different feathers in metal. If a sword was placed on a pillow next to the buried person, it corroded over time and the feathers got covered with rust.

An approximately one centimeter long well-preserved fragment of a bird feather found in a grave dating back to the Viking Age. Even after many hundreds of years, it is possible to see the colors and that this is a crow feather. (Image: Jørgen Rosvold, NTNU Unversity Museum, Trondheim)

Researchers are now investigating Swedish and Norwegian younger Iron Age graves, among others the magnificent Oseberg Viking ship buried in the year 834 AD, to determine which bird species the feathers come from.

The researchers are analyzing fragments dating all the way back to the year 570 AD, and throughout the Viking era. There is so far not found older feathers and down, but this does not mean they were not used in duvets and pillows.

Copy of the bed found in the Oseberg ship burial chamber where two elderly women were found lying next to each other. (Image: Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo)

Inside the buried Oseberg Viking ship, two elderly women were found in a separate burial chamber just behind the ship mast.

The chamber was decorated with a stunningly woven tapestry and the two women were placed next to each other in a made bed – with duvets and pillows.

Five other beds were also discovered in the Oseberg ship grave – all most likely equipped with duvets and pillows filled with bird feathers, ensuring that the two women would sleep comfortably in their Afterlife.

Top image: Reconstruction of the Myklebust Viking ship burial chamber c. year 870 AD, Norway, probably containing King Audbjorn of the Fjords. The king’s head is resting on pillows filled with bird feathers. (Source: Arkikon.no via Thornews)

 The article, first published under the title ‘Vikings Filled Their Pillows and Duvets with Eagle-Owls’ Feathers’ by Thor Lanesskog, was originally published on ThorNews and has been republished with permission.

Norwegian Vikings Cultivated Cannabis

Ancient Origins

BY THORNEWS

On a secluded Iron Age farm in Southern Norway, archaeological findings show that it was common to cultivate cannabis in the Viking Age. The question is how the Vikings used the fibers, seeds and oil from this versatile plant.

For more than fifty years, samples from archaeological excavations at Sosteli Iron Age Farm have been stored in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, according to an article on research portal Forskning.no.

Analyses show that in the period between the years 650 and 800 AD, i.e. the beginning of the Viking Age, hemp was cultivated on the remote mountain farm.

1300 years ago, hemp was cultivated on Sosteli Iron Age Farm in Vest-Agder county. (Photo: Morten Teinum / Visit Sørlandet)

This is not the first time that traces of cultivation this far back in time have been found, but Sosteli stands out.

 “In the other cases, it is only made individual findings of pollen grains. Here, it is discovered very much more,” archaeologist and county conservator Frans-Arne Stylegar told forskning.no.

A Hemp field in Brittany, France. Is it from this area the Norsemen imported hemp seeds back to Scandinavia? (Photo: Barbetorte/ Wikimedia Commons)

Sosteli is located much less centrally than other places where similar findings have been made, indicating that cannabis cultivation was common throughout the Viking Age.

 Textiles and Ropes
 Hemp is the same plant as the cannabis plant used for hashish production. It is however uncertain whether the Vikings used cannabis as a drug.

The plant was most likely used for production of textiles and ropes.

Hemp fibre (public domain)

Previously, there have been several findings of hemp seeds in Eastern Norway, including in Hamar municipality, dating back to the 400s AD.

 In the Oseberg ship burial mound, a little leather pouch full of cannabis seeds was found. It belonged to an elderly woman aged between 70 and 80.

The skeleton reveals that she had various health problems – most likely cancer that caused her death – and it is not unlikely that the seeds were used as painkillers.

Scientists do not know if the Vikings used cannabis as a drug, and there are no sources that neither confirm nor deny if they did.

Top image: A cannabis crop (public domain)

The article ‘Norwegian Vikings Cultivated Hemp’ by Thor Lanesskog was originally published on ThorNews and has been republished with permission.

Archaeologists in Search of Beer End Up Discovering Valuable Viking Trove

Ancient Origins

A team of archaeologists searching to find beer and other brewing materials, ended up discovering something way more valuable; a trove of amazing Viking artifacts, including an out of place Celtic fitting from a book.

Surprising Discovery Shocks Archaeologists
This was supposed to be another day at work for the team of archaeologists exploring the Byneset Cemetery, adjacent to the medieval Steine Church in Trondheim, Norway. However, they ended up discovering something way more valuable than the beer brewing stones from the Viking Age they were looking for. The team of archaeologists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) University Museum discovered a trove of valuable Viking artifacts. “We started the project with slightly lower hopes for what we might find than what's recently emerged,” Museum’s director Reidar Andersen, who was present at the site when the trove was unearthed, said as Phys Org reports.

 Jo Sindre Pålsson Eidshaug and Øyunn Wathne Sæther, research assistants at the NTNU University Museum, also expressed their surprise when they discovered the trove during their excavations.

Excavation site was adjacent to the Steine Church, Trondheim, Norway. (Image: Raymond Sauvage, NTNU University Museum.

Viking Trove Includes an “Imported” Irish Object Coincidentally, the director of communications for the museum, Tove Eivindsen, happened to be there at the moment of the discovery and was particularly surprised by a find that appears to be of Irish origin,

“The find is probably a gold-plated, silver fitting from a book. It appears to be Celtic in origin, and might have come from a religious book brought here during the Viking Age that disappeared several centuries ago, and that hasn't been seen by anyone since then – but for now everything is speculation,” he said as Phys Org reports.

Mr. Andersen added, “Someone very politely called this an Irish import, but that's just a nice way of saying that someone was in Ireland and picked up an interesting item."

Raymond Sauvage from NTNU's Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, and the project’s director for these excavations, agreed with Mr. Andersen, as he’s not quite sure if the foreign item ended up being part of the Viking trove in a peaceful manner, “Yes, that's right. We know that the Vikings went out on raids. They went to Ireland and brought things back. But how peacefully it all transpired, I won't venture to say," he said according to Phys Org. He also added that the discovery is really rare and you won’t find it everywhere in Scandinavia, as there are only a few areas where people had the resources to go out on such voyages.

The item which is deemed a "Viking import" from Ireland. Image: NTNU University Museum

Archaeologists, however, used the scientific term for a foreign find as this one and referred to it as an “imported object.” They explained that it doesn’t necessarily mean that it was bought or traded for, taking into consideration, of course, the well-known tactics of the Vikings.

 Site Holds Great Promise for the Future
According to the archaeologists the site will probably offer more finds in the near future. The team also unearthed a belt buckle, a key and a knife blade, so they hope now to uncover even more precious artifacts in future digs. As Phys Org reports, the church dates from the 1140s and used to be connected to a large, old farm estate from the time of the Vikings, "Steine Church was built in the 1140s," Sauvage said, explaining that the archaeologists also found a link to Nidaros Cathedral.

Ultimately, Sauvage mentioned that the archaeological mission was originally planning to do a sampling of layers containing brewing stones, but the site proved to hide below way more significant and valuable items than they believed before the excavation works began. For that reason the dig was significantly expanded, and now artifacts dating as far back as 700 AD have been unearthed. The excavation works were funded by Trondheim’s municipality and lasted for five weeks during the summer of 2017, while the cemetery expansion started on 16 October.

Top image: A fitting, probably from a book. The style is typical of Celtic and Irish areas and dates from the 800s. Silver with traces of gilding. Image Credit: Åge Hojem, NTNU University Museum

By Theodoros Karasavvas

Did the Viking Age Really Start on 8 June 793 AD?

Ancient Origins

BY THORNEWS

 “Never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race (…). The heathens poured out the blood of saints around the altar, and trampled on the bodies of saints in the temple of God, like dung in the streets”.

With these words, Alcuin of York, a Northumbrian scholar serving King Charlemagne of the Franks and Lombards described the surprising and brutal attack in June 793 on the church of St Cuthbert on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

The brutal Viking raid sent a shockwave through England and the rest of Christian Europe.

The 8th of June is according to the Annals of Lindisfarne the exact date when Vikings raided the Holy Island. Consequently, the Viking Age is defined to have started on this date, maybe at sunrise so that the raiders could sneak into the Northumbrian island under cover of dusk.

But is this really the exact date when Vikings became Vikings? Of course not, but the date marks a deep sword stab into the midst of the heart of the Christian Anglo-Saxon England. They came from the fjords of Western Norway, and when they left, only silence could be heard. 1

 These men from the fjords represented a new and uncontrollable threat, and the attack clearly demonstrated that the English kings (and other European kings) were more or less unable to protect their own people, even priests and monks, facing these brutal raiders.

Year 805 AD, Yorkshire, England: Imagine, you wake up in the morning and you see this Norseman waiting outside your door. (Illustration by: Stian Dahlslett)

The Vikings did not start to be Vikings in the year 793. The Viking Age started long before and followed the development of keels and sails until their longships easily could cross the North Sea and other open waters.

The Oseberg ship (built around 820-834) is the first proof of sailing ships in Scandinavia, but it is likely that this type of vessels were built as early as the mid 700’s.

Three Ships of Northmen
The attack on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, just off the Northumbrian coast in northeast England, was not the first on the British Isles. In the year 789, three ships of Northmen who had landed on the coast of Wessex, killed the king’s reeve (chief magistrate) sent out to bring the strangers to the West Saxon court.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports:

During the reign of King Beorhtric 789 – 802], there came for the first time three ships of Northmen and then the reeve rode to them and wished to force them to the king’s residence, for he did not know what they were; and they slew him .

The Vikings did not leave their written version of events. Nor do the later sagas tell anything about their eight century raids.

However, the assault on the Holy Island was something new and represented a great threat because the pagans attacked the sacred heart of the Northumbrian kingdom and dishonored the very place where the Christian religion started on the British Isles.

This was the holy island where Cuthbert (c. 634 – 687) had been bishop, the man who after his death became one of the most important medieval saints of Northern England.

A carved stone found on the island, known as the “Doomsday Stone”, could represent the Viking attack on Lindisfarne. (Photo: english-heritage.org.uk)

As soon as the shocking news reached Alcuin serving at the Charlemagne’s court, he wrote to Higbald, bishop of Lindisfarne:

The church of St Cuthbert is spattered with the blood of the priests of God, stripped of all its furnishing, exposed to the plundering of pagans, a place more sacred than any in Britain .

The raid on Lindisfarne made the Englishmen understand that their lives would never be the same again, and the start of the Viking Age is therefore set to the “dark date” of the attack, i.e. 8 June 793.

However, if the Vikings had got the opportunity to describe themselves, they probably would have said something like: “We come from the north and honor Odin, Thor, Freyr, and our ancestors. Feel free to call us heathens or Vikings, but we have always been, and always will be free men from the north”.

 Furthermore, the Viking Age did not come to an end at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066, a date determined by today’s historians and archaeologists.

But, this is quite a different story.

Top image: They came from the fjords of Western Norway, and when they left, only silence could be heard. (Illustrating photo from “Trace” Viking movie, by Markus Dahlslett).

The article ‘ Did the Viking Age Really Start on 8 June 793 AD? ’ by Thor Lanesskog was originally published on ThorNews and has been republished with permission.

Puzzling Medieval Runes Found on Stone in Norway

Ancient Origins

A rare find of a stone bearing engravings of runes that date back to the Middle Ages has been unearthed recently at an excavation near Oslo. The relic is a whetstone which was a tool used for sharpening knives. Oddly, this one has some symbols cut into it which have been recognized as being runic.

Medieval Symbols Are From Runic Writing
The whetstone, which was found during earthworks ahead of a railway-construction project in Oslo, Norway, is of polished slate and has been carved with ancient runes, reports LiveScience. It is only the second object of its type to be found anywhere in Norway, the other being found in Bergen on the west coast. Uncovering any items with runic inscriptions is a rare occurrence according to a statement by the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), where the keen eyed archaeologist who picked out the special stone is based.

The spot where the runic whetstone appeared. Image: Khalil Olsen Holmen, NIKU.

 It was recovered from an area of the excavation dating from between AD 1050-1500, a time when Vikings were still dominant in Norway, as LiveScience reports. The runic writing system was used widely in Europe by Germanic language speakers as early as AD 150 and even up to AD 1100, although throughout this time Europe was gradually adopting the Latin alphabet due to the spread of Christianity in the region. After this time use of runes continued but was limited to certain purposes.

Text known as Codex runicus, a vellum manuscript from c. 1300 containing one of the oldest and best preserved texts of the Scanian law (Skånske lov), written entirely in runes. (Public Domain)

The three best-known runic alphabets are the Elder Futhark (around 150–800 AD), the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc (400–1100 AD), and the Younger Futhark (800–1100 AD). These related runic writing systems were used not only to record or communicate but were thought to be used to cast spells too, due to the link to the Old Norse word rún meaning ‘secret’.

It is not known who might have engraved the runes on this stone or for what purpose. Runes have been found on cliffs and large rocks, gravestone inscriptions, religious or magic inscriptions, trade communications such as stock orders or excuses for late payment of bills and even personal or love letters. They have also been used as simple graffiti or to sign craftwork.

Deciphering the Script
The runes on this whetstone are believed to date to about 1000 years ago. Shortly after this time, pretty much all everyday use of the script was lost to the Latin replacement.

In a similar fashion to the Latin system, the individual runes were like letters and could be combined to spell words. These words were often not well separated and so interpretation was necessary. The words were sometimes separated by dots, but this rule was not always followed. With this find, the archaeologists are uncertain of the translation but have make some steps towards an interpretation.

"On the whetstone, the runes 'æ, r, k, n, a' appear. But it is not easy to tell what they mean," the archaeologists with the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) said in their statement regarding the find. The runes could be an attempt to spell a person's name, or they could spell the word "scared," "ugly" or "pain," the archaeologists said.

This figure illustrates the runes. The meaning in this sequence is unknown. Credit: NIKU

“This is probably an unsuccessful attempt to write a name or another rather trivial inscription, but we can see that this is hardly a trained rune carver”, says Karen Holmqvist, a Ph.D. fellow at NIKU and a specialist in runes. It is evident that the standard of proficiency of the writing of the runes here is low. It is thought that the number of people who could use the system was limited ie. runic literacy levels generally were pretty low.

"The findings contribute to the perception that the art of runic writing was relatively widespread in medieval Norway. But many writers would probably find themselves [with a level of knowledge] where they knew about writing, but were not literate," the archaeologists said in the statement. The crude depiction of the runes and possible wrong ordering of the symbols has led to speculation that the rock could have been a learning tool upon which writing was being practiced.

“It is perhaps not that strange that we find some strange spellings and some mirrored runes.” commented Holmqvist about the standard of runic writing generally, “Just think how you yourself wrote when you were learning to write,” she proposed in the statement from NIKU.

 In an attempt derive clarification on the meaning from the enigmatic though seemingly amateur inscription, the team wrote a blog post, in Norwegian, which shares their own finding of the discovery and asks members of the public to contribute their thoughts on what the runes on this stone mean.

Top image: The engraved whetstone found in Oslo, Norway. Credit: Karen Langsholt Holmqvist/NIKU

By Gary Manners

1,000-year-old Viking Boat Burial Discovered Under Market Square in Norway

Ancient Origins

A millennium-old Viking boat grave with bones and sheet bronze still inside has been discovered under a market square in Norway. The grave was found during one of the final days of excavations by the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) in the Norwegian city of Trondheim.

Viking Ship Grave Found in Norway
A team of archaeologists excavating in Norway, have unearthed a 1,000-year-old Viking boat burial measuring more than 4 meters (13 feet). The tomb was found during excavations beneath the market square of the Norwegian city of Trondheim as Live Science reported. While none of the vessel's wood remains, preserved lumps of rust and nails indicate a boat was buried at the site between the 7th and 10th centuries AD. “Careful excavation works revealed that no wood remained intact, but lumps of rust and some poorly-preserved nails indicated that it was a boat that was buried here,” archaeologist Ian Reed told NIKU.

The Viking boat is in a poor state of preservation. Credit: Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU)

The Importance of Ships in Viking Society
Many historians suggest that the Viking ship was one of the greatest technical and artistic achievements of the European dark ages. These fast ships had the strength to survive ocean crossings while having a draft of as little as 50cm (20 inches), allowing navigation in very shallow water. Ships were an important part of Viking society, not only as a means of transportation, but also for the prestige that it conferred on her owner and skipper. That’s why if a high-born clansman did not die at sea he would be buried in a ship on land, often with weapons and pottery.

Viking ships were used for trade, raids and cononization. (public domain)

The Tradition of Viking Boat Burials
Burial of ships is an ancient tradition in Scandinavia, stretching back to at least the Nordic Iron Age, as evidenced by the Hjortspring boat (400-300 BC) or the Nydam boats (200-450 AD), for example. Ships and bodies of water have held a major spiritual importance in the Norse cultures since at least the Nordic Bronze Age. The newly uncovered grave, which pointed north to south, was found with two long bones inside. Like the boat, these bones were oriented north to south, and experts will now perform DNA analysis to confirm that they are human.

Inner view of oak made Nydam-boat. (CC by SA 3.0)

Findings Include Sheet Bronze and a Piece of a Spoon
Other finds included a small piece of sheet bronze propped against one of the bones, as well as what appear to be personal items from the grave. Interestingly, in a pothole dug through the middle of the boat, the team found a piece of a spoon. “We also found a key to a small box in the grave,” team member Julian Cadamarteri told Norwegian daily Adresseavisen. And added, “If it originates from the grave, it [the site] is likely to date from anywhere between the 600s and the 900s.”

Could it be an Åfjord boat?
Åfjord, a municipality in Sør-Trøndelag County in Norway, is mainly known for its distinctive wooden boats that were dragged over this thin peninsula in order to shorten the journey and to avoid risking them in bad weather.

Archaeologists speculate that the newly discovered boat could be an Åfjord boat, which has historically been a common sight along the Trøndelag coast as Knut Paasche, a specialist in early boats, suggests. “It is likely a boat that has been dug down into the ground and been used as a coffin for the dead. There has also probably been a burial mound over the boat and grave,” he tells NIKU. And continues, “This is another discovery by NIKU that refers to a Trondheim older than the medieval city. Other Viking settlements such as Birka, Gokstad or Kaupang, all have graves in close proximity to the trading centre,” pointing out that this is the first time a ship burial from the Iron Age and into the Viking Period been discovered in Trondheim city center. The archaeological investigations are financed by the municipality of Trondheim and the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage.

Top image: An Illustration of a Viking boat burial. Credit: Avaldsnes

 By Theodoros Karasavvas