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Articles on Vikings

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A 1765 painting of Helios, the personification of the sun in Greek mythology. Wikimedia Commons

How ancient cultures explained eclipses

The sun was worshiped as a deity in many cultures – and witnessing it get extinguished could be a particularly terrifying event.
Late Viking Age Swedish rune-stone commemorating a man called Víkingr. Swedish National Heritage Board, Photo Bengt A. Lundberg

What does the word ‘Viking’ really mean?

What the Old Norse for Viking can tell us about the Scandinavian explorers.
“Yes it’s a new thing we’re trying out, it’s called ‘international trade’.” Anna Gowthorpe/PA

Vikings were pioneers of craft and international trade, not just pillaging

The connections between technology, urban trading, and international economics which have come to define modern living are nothing new. Back in the first millennium AD, the Vikings were expert at exploring…
Mum’s gone to Iceland. Creatista/Shutterstock

Viking women travelled too, genetic study reveals

The traditional picture of Vikings is one of boatloads of hairy men pillaging their way along the coasts of Europe. Though true to some degree, this stereotype has more recently been tempered with the…
What does a 21st century Viking look like? Anthony Devlin/PA

More than blood and bling: our many visions of the Vikings

The Vikings have arrived at the British Museum. This exhibition, the first of its kind for decades, is notable for its scale and ambition. That there is sufficient demand is unsurprising, given the recent…
Irish monks and Pictish warriors were probably here before the Vikings. Gareth Codd Photography

Vikings didn’t find Faroes first (they were 500 years late)

The Faroe Islands could have been inhabited 500 years earlier than was previously thought, according to a startling archaeological discovery. The islands had been thought to be originally colonised by…

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