VISITORS to Peterborough Museum this weekend will have a chance to see Vikings, warriors and soldiers come to life.
The museum is staging a free exhibition of militaria as part of an annual fair organised by the Soke Military Society.
The museum's own collections of arms and armour will also be on show.
Visitors will be able to enjoy displays and demonstrations by costumed re-enactors from local re-enactment groups.
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Monday, 30 November 2009
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Odin at Lejre?
This Viking-Age figurine has already provoked quite a lot of interest on the net. Jonas Wellendorf brought it to my attention on norrønt.no; it’s also been discussed in posts at Norse and Viking Ramblings and The Viking Rune. But is it really Odin, as people have already claimed?
Roskilde Museum is confident that this 2cm-high silver artifact represents Odin on his throne with his two ravens. It was found at Lejre, although not as part of the main excavations there.
It now probably won’t be long before the hall-complex at Lejre is claimed to be the prototype for Valhalla as well as for Beowulf’s Heorot … but how convincing do you find the identification with Odin? Do you have an alternative explanation for this intriguing little icon? Do you agree with Martin Rundkvist that it’s in fact a female figure–Freyja perhaps? Let the speculation begin!
Read the rest of this article...
Roskilde Museum is confident that this 2cm-high silver artifact represents Odin on his throne with his two ravens. It was found at Lejre, although not as part of the main excavations there.
It now probably won’t be long before the hall-complex at Lejre is claimed to be the prototype for Valhalla as well as for Beowulf’s Heorot … but how convincing do you find the identification with Odin? Do you have an alternative explanation for this intriguing little icon? Do you agree with Martin Rundkvist that it’s in fact a female figure–Freyja perhaps? Let the speculation begin!
Read the rest of this article...
Friday, 13 November 2009
The savage beauty of maligned marauders
WHEN we think of the Vikings, most of us probably conjure up images of Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis slugging it out in the famous Hollywood blockbuster.
The film was based on legendary tales from the sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons who are among the many colourful characters featured in Robert Ferguson's masterly book The Hammer And The Cross – A New History of the Vikings.
Tracing the history of the Vikings is notoriously difficult as they weren't literate and their culture was based on an oral tradition of sagas, eddas and the poetry of the skalds. As a result they're frequently portrayed as marauding hordes intent on little more than raping and pillaging.
Read the rest of this article...
The film was based on legendary tales from the sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons who are among the many colourful characters featured in Robert Ferguson's masterly book The Hammer And The Cross – A New History of the Vikings.
Tracing the history of the Vikings is notoriously difficult as they weren't literate and their culture was based on an oral tradition of sagas, eddas and the poetry of the skalds. As a result they're frequently portrayed as marauding hordes intent on little more than raping and pillaging.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Lewis chessmen may have been from different game
A new paper suggests the 12th and 13th century ivory sculptures may have been used to play an ancient Scandinavian game.
Some of the Lewis Chessmen may not have been chessmen at all according to new research.
The 12th and 13th century gaming pieces which were discovered in Uig on the Isle of Lewis in 1831 are considered to be Scotland’s most renowned archaeological find.
The paper by David Caldwell, Mark Hall and Caroline Wilkinson suggests a number of the 93 ivory pieces may have been used in a game called hnefatafl – an ancient Viking board game that pre-dates chess.
Read the rest of this article...
Some of the Lewis Chessmen may not have been chessmen at all according to new research.
The 12th and 13th century gaming pieces which were discovered in Uig on the Isle of Lewis in 1831 are considered to be Scotland’s most renowned archaeological find.
The paper by David Caldwell, Mark Hall and Caroline Wilkinson suggests a number of the 93 ivory pieces may have been used in a game called hnefatafl – an ancient Viking board game that pre-dates chess.
Read the rest of this article...
Lewis Chessmen might not be Chessmen
Some of the Lewis Chessmen may not have been chessmen at all according to new research.
The 12th and 13th century gaming pieces which were discovered in Uig on the Isle of Lewis in 1831 are considered to be Scotland’s most renowned archaeological find.
An article in the journal Medieval Archaeology by David Caldwell, Mark Hall and Caroline Wilkinson suggests that many of the 93 ivory pieces may have been used in a game called hnefatafl – an ancient Viking board game that pre-dates chess.
Read the rest of this article...
The 12th and 13th century gaming pieces which were discovered in Uig on the Isle of Lewis in 1831 are considered to be Scotland’s most renowned archaeological find.
An article in the journal Medieval Archaeology by David Caldwell, Mark Hall and Caroline Wilkinson suggests that many of the 93 ivory pieces may have been used in a game called hnefatafl – an ancient Viking board game that pre-dates chess.
Read the rest of this article...
Sexuality in Late Medieval Iceland
Is there anything more private than sexuality? And more political? Sexuality has always been used for political purposes, and there are many examples of historical changes where political and sexual strategies of power have interacted. In his dissertation, historian Henric Bagerius at the University of Gothenburg, examines the relationship between politics and sexuality in late medieval Iceland. The results of his research show that sexuality was often used to mark boundaries of various kinds: between chivalrous and common, human and monstrous, and masculine and feminine.
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Doubts cast on Chessmen origins
New research has cast doubt on traditional theories about the historic Lewis Chessmen.
The 93 pieces - currently split between museums in Edinburgh and London - were discovered on Lewis in 1831.
But the research suggests they may have been used in both chess and Hnefatafl - a similar game that was popular in medieval Scandinavia.
Read the rest of this article...
The 93 pieces - currently split between museums in Edinburgh and London - were discovered on Lewis in 1831.
But the research suggests they may have been used in both chess and Hnefatafl - a similar game that was popular in medieval Scandinavia.
Read the rest of this article...
Friday, 6 November 2009
Three arrested for Viking treasure theft
Three men, including the board member of an auction house, have been arrested on Gotland in connection with the plunder of hundreds of Viking-era silver artifacts from the Baltic Sea island, Sveriges Radio reports.
Island thieves bag Viking treasure (2 Nov 09)
The three men, 38, 44 and 45, all live on the mainland, though two also own homes on Gotland.
One of the men, a 44-year-old from Stockholm, is employed by an auction house specializing in the sale of old coins
Read the rest of this article...
Island thieves bag Viking treasure (2 Nov 09)
The three men, 38, 44 and 45, all live on the mainland, though two also own homes on Gotland.
One of the men, a 44-year-old from Stockholm, is employed by an auction house specializing in the sale of old coins
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Island thieves bag Viking treasure
Two archaeologists employed by Gotland county were dismayed to discover the valuables had vanished when they arrived at a field in Alva in Gotland to follow up on a recent find.
"It's just as saddening every time it happens because it's our heritage that disappears," said Majvor Östergren at the Gotland County Administrative Board.
The methodical thieves dug some 250 holes in a bid to secure as much booty as possible. Östergren estimated that the impostors had made off with 500 silver pieces worth a combined total of 250,000 to 500,000 kronor ($35,000 to $70,000).
Read the rest of this article...
"It's just as saddening every time it happens because it's our heritage that disappears," said Majvor Östergren at the Gotland County Administrative Board.
The methodical thieves dug some 250 holes in a bid to secure as much booty as possible. Östergren estimated that the impostors had made off with 500 silver pieces worth a combined total of 250,000 to 500,000 kronor ($35,000 to $70,000).
Read the rest of this article...
A New History of the Viking Age
Penguin have just published The Hammer and the Cross: A New History of The Vikings by the UCL alumnus Robert Ferguson. Ferguson is something of a new name in Viking Studies — although he’s published widely on more modern Scandinavian topics — so it will be very interesting to see what new spin he brings to the subject (as it’s apparently forbidden to write a non-revisionist book about the Vikings these days).
Here’s how the blurb describes it:
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Here’s how the blurb describes it:
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Anglo-Saxon treasures on display
A small selection of the most important Anglo-Saxon find since the discovery of the Sutton Hoo burial site has gone on display at the British Museum.
A total of 18 items, all taken from the Staffordshire Hoard, can be viewed by the public in London.
The hoard, made up of more than 1,500 objects, was first discovered in early July in a field in south Staffordshire by a man using a metal detector.
Read the rest of this article...
A total of 18 items, all taken from the Staffordshire Hoard, can be viewed by the public in London.
The hoard, made up of more than 1,500 objects, was first discovered in early July in a field in south Staffordshire by a man using a metal detector.
Read the rest of this article...
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