Scandinavia
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Freyja
She is considered the goddess most associated with love, sexuality, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. She is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, keeps the boar Hildisvíni by her side. She is also considered a priestess, and taught Odin the magic arts. She has a magical cloak made of feathers which allows her to fly between different worlds. Freyja is a member of the Vanir tribe of Norse gods but became an honorary member of the Aesir gods after the Aesir-Vanir War (she was given as a hostage along with her twin brother Freyr). Her father is Njord. Her mother is…
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Lagertha
She was a woman not to be taken likely. Strong willed, fearless, and one-time wife of the famous Viking Ragnar Lodbrok. Lagertha was, according to legend, a Danish Viking shieldmaiden from what is now Norway. Lagertha’s tale is recorded in passages in the ninth book of the Gesta Danonum, a 12th century work of Danish history by Saxo Grammaticus. According to the Gesta, Lagertha’s career as a warrior began when Frø, king of Sweden, invaded Norway and killed the Norwegian king Siward, Frø put the women of the dead king’s family into a brothel for public humiliation. Hearing of this Ragnar Lodbrok came with an army to avenge his grandfather…
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Heimdallr
A mighty god in Norse Mythology he keeps watch for the onset of Ragnarok, all the while drinking fine mead in his home Himimnbjorg, located where the burning rainbow bridge Bifröst meets heaven. He possesses the great horn Gjallarhorn, the golden-maned horse Gulltoppr, has gold teeth, and is the son of Nine Mothers. These nine mothers were suppose to be sisters.Many scholars have debated what being “born of nine mothers” implies and have sought to connect the notion to other European folk motifs He has the ability of foreknowledge, keen eyesight and hearing, is described as “the whitest of the gods” (no known explanation for him being the whitest). Heimdallr…
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Freydis Eiriksdottir – Legend of a Viking Woman
Everything that is known about the life of Freydis is based in legend(s), however, we do know that she really did exist and she was the daughter of Erik the Red. As can be noted, Eiriksdottir is translated into Erik’s daughter in much the same way that Leif Eiriksson is translated to Erik’s son. The infamous viking, Erik the Red, was relocated from Norway to Iceland as a result of his father’s banishment for crimes of murder along with the rest of his family. Erik later followed in his own father’s footsteps when he found himself banished from Iceland for crimes of murder as well. The viking had stumbled across…
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KING CANUTE THE GREAT
King Canute was an accidental king. If it wasn’t for another of our infamous kings he probably would never have even come to our shores. That King was Aethelred or Ethelred the Unready. Of course his name is not exactly what it seems, Unready meaning more ill-advised than unprepared and ill-advised he certainly was. For many Saxon kings before Ethelred, Vikings had been a constant threat and so when Ethelred married Emma, the sister of the Duke of Normandy, he felt more secure on the throne having the Normans as allies. Shortly after his marriage, however, Ethelred made a huge mistake. He had ALL the Danish men left in England…
