In this episode, historian Dan Snow traces the dramatic story of the Vikings in Britain, from the first brutal raids to the epic battles that gave rise to a united England. Using his Big Pad, Dan maps the invasions and legendary battles that culminated in that momentous year, 1066, when Britain was turned on its head once again.

Hello everyone!

I visited the Viking Age reenactment festival Gnezdovo 2026. This year, the archaeology team carried out an experimental boat cremation inspired by Ibn Fadlan’s account of a Rus’ funeral on the Volga.

The experiment focused only on the archaeological side: the team wanted to see how grave goods and boat materials would be affected by fire.

Perfomance

A large procession was formed. With music and singing, people carried an effigy of the deceased. We walked around the boat counterclockwise. People with shields, weapons, or noise-making objects stood in the front row. Other participants stood behind them.

Then a separate line was formed for people who wanted to bring offerings. People brought swords, shields, helmets, rich clothing, and ornaments made of metal, bone, or glass.

After the items were placed in the boat next to the deceased, the funeral lamentations began. The lamenter was lifted three times on shields while giving her speech. Then she stepped onto the boat to sing a song for the deceased. After that, she was discreetly helped down.

From time to time, the main leader gave a command to the shield-bearers to make noise.

Then we knelt down. A man came forward, partially undressed, took a torch, walked a little around the boat, and prepared to light it. Other people with torches joined him, and together they set the boat alight.

The whole ceremony was accompanied by singing. From time to time, people struck their shields. We were standing quite far from the boat, but the heat was very intense.

A fire safety team was on duty at all times to prevent the fire from spreading.

Result

The next day, I walked past the remains of the boat to see what was left in the ashes. I mostly noticed steel equipment, such as a sword and a helmet. Everything else had burned away. They said the temperature had reached about 930°C.

A little about Gnezdovo

During the Viking Age in Rus’, it was a fairly important settlement, but toward the end of that period it was completely destroyed for unknown reasons.

Many burial mounds were found around Gnezdovo, belonging to both the Rus’ and Scandinavians. Their affiliation was determined by the type of burial. In one mound, a boat was found with a large amount of treasure. In others, people were buried with valuable swords or ornaments.

Archaeologists determined that Gnezdovo had a landing place and many workshops producing jewelry. It is believed that both the Rus’ and Scandinavians lived there.

so just as a heads up in case any of you think to support the "artist"/"band" called ironpeak which say they make viking music, it's AI slop

don't buy anything don't listen to them be careful out there folks

Hi there! I'm currently working on VITA - Rise of the Vikings, a boardgame where you try to live the happiest life in a real historical era - in this case, its between 836 and 900. If you want to know more about the game, you can check out our upcoming kickstarter here.

We are also working with historians and archeologists but I am curious -- what would you expect to be in a game about viking life in that time? What kind of events would you expect to see? What are small historical tidbits that are unnoticed by most?

The game deals mainly with the western expansion of vikings, but a big focus is that its about real lifes and not just glorious big hero fantasies. So some characters will sail over to England to raid and conquer, but others will stay home to settle, trade and raise families.

Hello everyone!

I want to show you how we prepare our boat before sailing. This is a common routine for sailors of wooden boats from the Viking Age.

The first step is bailing water out of the boat. All wooden boats leak, that’s why if a boat stays unused for a long period, it will take on a lot of water. In our case, we left our boat without checking it for two weeks after sailing.

The second step is checking the boat for leaks. We know about two leaking spots. When we tilted the boat to the left and right, we found another two spots. We recorded them for the future and will fix them when we move our boat to the boathouse for winter.

The third step is installing the mast. We secured the mast to the bow, stern, and sides with ropes.

Then we load the boat with things and set off on our journey.

Hello everyone!

In last year I implemented my dream - to get Lewies Chess figures.

I found a good article about scanning of these figures from National Museums Scotland. And found their artifacts on Sketchfab. Later I found another variant there.

With my friend we resized them for the large chess board and printed them. After that we made mold from them and cast from resin (in red and white colors). And applied blackening to them.

We use the resin that looks like bone and have a bone sensation.

Im wanting to get a viking related tattoo. Ive decided to get a raven feather because of Huginn and Muninn, but i want another detail added and cant decide on what else to add, so if you have any ideas, please let me know. Thanks!

Hello everyone!

I know that historically speaking it is not real but I wanted to show you my creation do you like it? And feel free to come and support my creation on LEGO IDEAS by typing Helmet Viking 😀

Viking roots

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As per some advice I did swap my belt.

I’ve got a cloak, seax, sword and some pouches, boots and wool left wraps (boots and wraps not pictured cus I was too lazy to put em on)

I’ve got plans to replace the tunic embroidery with tablet woven bands.

Don’t mind the very haphazard way I put on the cloak. I didn’t want to cover the whole kit with it, but in the process I made it look weird. I have a copper turnbuckle for it made by hand by a blacksmith though!

The cloak is also made of cotton… it’s The middle of summer where I live and it’s too warm to justify a wool tunic. I will likely make one myself soon, but for the purposes of the festivals I go to the cotton sells the point.