Did shieldmaidens really exist? History and legend
Lagertha, a famous grave in Birka, and the gap between the shieldmaiden of story and the evidence in the ground. The Viking Ventures authors on where history ends and legend begins.
Read more →From the writing desk
Blog
Viking history, debunked myths, and the odd glimpse behind the saga.
What was a berserk? The warrior behind the word
Bear-shirts, wolf-coats, and a battle-fury that got them outlawed. The Viking Ventures authors on the real warriors behind the word we now use for losing control completely.
Read more →Silver, scales, and chopped-up treasure: how the Vikings paid for things
Silver measured by weight, treasure cut into pieces, folding pocket scales, and coins minted an ocean away. The Viking Ventures authors on how the Norse actually paid for anything.
Read more →Harald Hardrada: the last great Viking
He fled a battlefield at fifteen, commanded the emperor's guard in Constantinople, ruled Norway with an iron grip for twenty years — and died chasing one throne too many.
Read more →Nid: the Norse insult that could get you killed
In Viking society, calling a man a coward wasn't just rude. The word 'nid' carried real legal weight, and it could end in a duel. A note from the writing of Kingmaker.
Read more →What's in a Viking name? Wolves, thunder, and very unflattering nicknames
Patronymics, compound names that meant bear or wolf, and bynames nobody would have chosen for themselves. The Viking Ventures authors on how Norse names really worked.
Read more →A Viking's CV, and a proverb about a naked woman
A favourite Norwegian proverb, a hard-won reputation, and a glimpse of Kingmaker. Author Ole Åsli on the long road of Ulv across the Viking Ventures saga.
Read more →Hafrsfjord: the battle that made Norway
Around 872 AD, a coalition of petty kings sailed into a fjord near modern Stavanger to stop Harald Fairhair. By the time the water calmed, Norway had a single king for the first time.
Read more →Did the Vikings really wear horned helmets? And other myths
Horned helmets, leather armour, braids, and whether the Vikings even called themselves Vikings. The historical-fiction authors behind Viking Ventures sort the myths from the history.
Read more →Stamford Bridge: the last great Viking battle
Everyone remembers Hastings, but 1066 began with Stamford Bridge — Harald Hardrada's doomed bid for the English throne, and arguably the last great Viking battle fought on English soil.
Read more →Growing old in the Viking age
Turning 50 today feels fine. Turning 50 in the Viking age made you one of the oldest people you knew. On life expectancy, the ættestup myth, and trading the shield wall for the high seat.
Read more →The Jante law: why Norwegians don't brag
A childhood essay contest with no winner, a furious mum, and the unwritten Scandinavian rule that says you're not to think you're anything special.
Read more →My dad and Harald Fairhair
Celebrating a father's 82nd birthday, and thinking about the Viking king who is said to have reached the same age — after roughly seventy years on the throne.
Read more →Viking films and series worth watching
A reader asked us for Viking film and series recommendations. The Last Kingdom, The Northman, and a Swedish knight who captures the Norse world better than most longship epics.
Read more →Ribbe or pinnekjøtt? The Viking roots of julebord
The Norwegian Christmas feast has older roots than you might think. From the midwinter festival of Jól to the great ribbe-versus-pinnekjøtt debate — and what a Norse chieftain would actually have eaten.
Read more →Did the Vikings celebrate birthdays?
The sagas rarely mention birthdays — but naming rituals, memorial toasts, and a gift culture where every present created an obligation. How the Norse marked a life.
Read more →From wanting to write a book to Waterstones
Two friends on vacation in 2016 decided to write a book. Norwegian publishers never replied. This is the story of how the Viking Ventures series went from rejection to a Waterstones promotion.
Read more →Iceland: the edge of the Viking world
Settled by Norwegians fleeing a king's tightening grip, ruled by an assembly instead of a crown, and home of the sagas that preserved the whole Viking age. What Iceland really was.
Read more →When Christianity came north: Haakon the Good and the horse liver
A Christian king in a pagan land. How Haakon the Good's careful faith collided with the chieftains of Trøndelag — and the strange compromise at a Jól feast that nearly split Norway.
Read more →Viking women: power beyond the shield
Forget the battlefield for a moment. Viking women could own land, divorce their husbands, and run farms alone for months — rights most European women wouldn't see for centuries.
Read more →Fimbulwinter: the real winter that shook the North
'Winter is coming' echoes an older and darker warning. The myth of Fimbulwinter, and the volcanic winter of 536 AD that may have helped set the stage for the Viking age.
Read more →Leif Erikson: the Viking who reached America first
Nearly 500 years before Columbus, a Norse crew wintered on the coast of North America. The story of Leif Erikson, Vinland, and the exile family that kept sailing west.
Read more →