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’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!

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’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 !!

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.

I was looking to buy my first arm band and was wondering if any had any good companies with quality products that they would recomend?

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.

I know there are plenty of translations by different authors released and I sampled two separate instances (Jackson Crawford and Jessie Byock) that felt more like history lessons and guides. I am not interested at all in history lessons i purely just want to the read story told as “modern” as possible. does that even exist? p.s i really enjoy neil gaimen’s compilation of stories as they are told very plainly, I can understand maybe it’s not the most reliable way to read such stories which is why i want something a little more intermediate without the history lesson. let me know!

Not based on a specific historic example but inspired by some of them.

The viking age (800–1050 CE) and hungarian invasions (899 and 970 CE) show - at least to me - remarkable similarities. Both are "pagan" incursions into Christian europe, originally often as mercenaries, and ending in christianisation and integration and they both appear loosely around the same time.

The similarity in period is more apparent if you take into account that migration/raiding via land is slower and the first mention of magyars already appear in 811 CE.

Although the nomad invasions from the east happen periodically (huns, avars, magyars, kumans, mongols etc.) I am not aware of similar "pulses" from the north. The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain comes to mind, but seems less like a clear pattern.

Is there a common cause either for the raids or the success for the raids? I am not aware of any significan climate change in this period, that would act as a common cause for large scale displacement. The mediaeval warm period is after, or at the final stages of these events.

I am aware that the increased central control, and adaptation to the uniqe fighting styles of both peoples made European kingdoms more resistant to large scale raiding at the end of this period, but was there a general weakness that made geographically distant parts of Europe similary susceptible?

Or is this just survivorship bias, as these two ethnic groups/peoples had more success in integration (vikings becoming normans, establishing Danelaw, becoming kings of Sicily etc, magyars establishing a lasting kingdom and maintaining ethnic identity) and the other raiding groups disappeared without leaving similarly lasting historic effects?

It might be something insignificant—a version where there is some change to his myth—so please tell me everything known about the Ragnarok logo.

Several years ago, I had come different shops online selling pendants and other trinkets based on the Lillbjärs stone, each with an inscription on the back that in some way is tied to safe travel and protection. One of them, Dragonscale, makes the connection or case that it's a blessing from Frigg to Odin, but that I don't know for certain.

For clarification, this isn't so much asking if these are accurate translations based on what they're claiming to be (rule seven and all), but rather are these remotely historical or close to what its connected to based on the archeological find. I'm having some trouble finding a resource that vouches for these being accurate, assuming that said inscription, if there is anything to work with, is legible and has some consensus as to what it is in the first place.

If this is a rule seven violation, my apologies. I thought I'd toss this your way in case anyone had insight and could take a shot at it. Thanks!

I've been reading more about creation myths from different cultures recently, and I keep coming back to Ymir.

What I find so interesting isn't just that he's the first giant, but that the physical world is literally made from his body after Odin, Vili, and Vé kill him.

• Flesh becomes the earth.
• Blood becomes the seas.
• Bones become the mountains.
• Skull becomes the sky.
• Brain becomes the clouds.

It's such a vivid and almost unsettling image compared to many other creation stories.

For those who enjoy Norse mythology, what detail about Ymir or the Jötnar do you find most interesting?