The potential discovery of another Viking settlement in Newfoundland is thrilling, especially because the site was found from space. It also doesn’t surprise me. The Vinland Sagas end around the year 1000. However, from other sources, such as the writings of Adam of Bremen, we know the Vikings’ activities in Vinland continued into the 13th-centuryContinue reading “A New Viking Discovery in Canada”
Tag Archives: vikings
On the Lewis Chessmen
For March I’m planning a trip to New York City. I put my vacation request in yesterday for a few days in the middle of the month. The Lewis Chessmen are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through early April, and they’re something I would very much like to see while they’re onContinue reading “On the Lewis Chessmen”
On Apocalyptic Thinking
People are preparing for the Apocalypse. For instance, there are Christians who believe the Rapture will happen tomorrow. Or the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta offered advice for surviving the zombie apocalypse. NASA is even prepared for Viking raids. I’m sure there are pagans who are anxiously awaiting Ragnarok, and some Reformed Gallifreyists mayContinue reading “On Apocalyptic Thinking”
On Delving into Marvel Comics’ Thor
On paper, I should love Thor. Norse mythology? The Viking age? Absolutely fascinating to me. I’ve read the Volsung Saga, the Poetic Edda, the Greenland and Iceland sagas. I’ve listened to Wagner’s Ring Cycle in its entirety several times (even though I don’t speak a word of German). Northlanders is a comic I look forwardContinue reading “On Delving into Marvel Comics’ Thor”
On Reading and Writing, but Not Arthmetic
We’ll start with reading. A few weeks ago, on TrekBBS, novelist Greg Cox recommended in a discussion about alternate histories, a series by Harry Harrison and Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey (writing as John Holm) — The Hammer and the Cross. The premise? The Norse religions put up more of a fight against Christianity in theContinue reading “On Reading and Writing, but Not Arthmetic”
A recent comic purchase… Northlanders #20 DC Comics/Vertigo Written by Brian Wood Art by Davide Gianfelice I love Vikings. Northlanders is a comic about Vikings. (There’s also Image Comics’ Viking, so there’s clearly something in the water.) If you like history, then Northlanders is one of the best comics that you’re probably not reading. It’sContinue reading
On Outlander
My Sophia Myles film festival began with Outlander. Norway, 704 CE. A spacecraft crash lands near a Viking village. The lone survivor discovers that his spacecraft carried an alien creature, the Moorwen, and he begins to hunt it down. He finds one Viking village destroyed by the creature, but before he can kill it he’sContinue reading “On Outlander”
On Runic Writing
On occasion, I’ve deployed my skills in utilizing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Tengwar writing system. And while I have a large collection of different types of Tengwar fonts and know how to use them, the Runic fonts I’ve never used. I have them. I just don’t use them. But then, I am a self-described “font whore.” YouContinue reading “On Runic Writing”
On John Edwards, Viking Warrior
This morning’s Washington Post ran some excerpts from Dana Milbank’s new book, Homo Politicus: The Strange and Scary Tribes That Run Our Government. If the government is a primitive tribe — and yes, there’s some primal sociology at play in politics — then how do candidates stack up in a primitive hierarchy? (Or for theContinue reading “On John Edwards, Viking Warrior”
On Dead Languages
Ah, Saturday morning. Laundry! It being Saturday, and because I don’t want to think, let’s do another meme! Let’s recap some recent memes. I’m Arthurian literature, I’m an INFP (here too), and I’m Ireland. I’m also “All You Need Is Love,” but doesn’t that go without saying? And now, if I were a dead language,Continue reading “On Dead Languages”