Nancy Marie Brown takes us back to medieval Iceland and introduces us to perhaps the greatest storyteller of the period, Snorri Sturluson. Part of the Art and Culture Series at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum.
"The Saga of the Volsungs" is one of the truly great Icelandic sagas. Composed sometime in the twelfth or thirteenth century by an unknown author, it is the story of Sigurd the dragon-slayer. Filled with elements of Norse mythology and great human…
Many of the streets in this central area of Reykjavík are named after the Norse Gods. The first street to be named was Óðinsgata in the early twentieth century.
It is quite common to find house names with references to Norse myth in areas with a strong connection to Norse heritage - this example is from Kirkwall in Orkney.
Boat names in Scandinavia often make references to the Norse past, and particularly to the seafaring culture of the Vikings. It is less common to come across boats with Viking names elsewhere - this one is registered in Elburg in the Netherlands and…
This statue of a troll stands outside the visitor centre at Geysir, and is a popular place for tourists to take photos. Trolls are a supernatural being (usually antagonist) featuring in Old Norse mythology, but since adopted and adapted in a variety…
In the 1930s German brown coal (or lignite) was often stamped with the syndicate name Troll, a supernatural being in Norse mythology. The association may be with the underground extraction of the coal, or be intended to demonstrate the power of the…
Recital in Old Norse from the original Edda text, Voluspa (The Sibyls Prophecy or Divination of the Witch), a Heathen, Viking Age, Old Norse Poem on Creation, recorded in writing during the 12th Century A.D. (See below for English…
Surtsey is an island that was formed during an eruption in 1963-67. It was named Surtsey (Surt's Island) after the fire giant (or jötunn) Surtr, who will engulf the world with his flaming sword at Ragnarök.
This is the opening poem of the Poetic Edda, chanted in a style influenced by rímur tradition by Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, allsherjargoði (very roughly translated as "high priest") of Iceland's Ásatrúarfélagið (Æsir Faith Fellowship) from…
Völuspá is one of the most important poems in the Poetic Edda, and the most well-known account of the beginning and end of the world (Ragnarok) in Norse myth.
Dr. Jackson Crawford's translation of the Poetic Edda presents this critical source of…
This is a photo of a building named Jötunheimar in Heimaey, the only permanently inhabited island in the Westman Islands. Jötunheimar refers to the 'Giant Land' of Norse mythology. However, we are not sure where this building got its name, or what…
Midgarth is a common Norse placename, and Anglicisation of Miðgarðr, meaning in this case 'Middle Enclosure / Farm' . Miðgarðr is also the 'Middle Realm', and home of mankind, in Norse Mythology.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Vikings’ myths. Thor’s huge hammer, the wailing Valkyrie, howling wolves and fierce elemental giants give a rowdy impression of the Norse myths. But at the centre of their cosmos stands a gnarled old…