V king HeritageV king Heritage

3/20053/2005

magazine

Högskolan på GotlandGotland University

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Viking Heritage Magazine 3/05

The ignorant booby had best be silent

when he moves among other men,

No one will know what a nit-wit he is

until he begins to talk;

No one knows less what a nit-wit he is,

than the man who talks too much.

From Hávámal(Words from “The High One”)

AAbboouutt tthhee ffrroonntt ppaaggeeThe religion of the Vikings. Human sacrifices and weapon offerings from Lillmyr in Barlingbo parish and Möllegårds in Hörsne parish,Gotland, Sweden. In front: The Madonna from Viklau church (copy) is dated to the end of the 12th century. These objects are exhibitedin the County Museum of Gotland, Sweden. Photo Raymond Hejdström.

Drawing by Lou Harrison, tthhuunnddeerrhheeaarrttssttuuddiiooss@@yyaahhoooo..ddkk

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Heritage News

EditorialTHE CHANGE OF RELIGION in the Viking Age – illustrated on the front page – isthe subject of the two opening articles in this autumn issue. When theViking Age began around 750 AD, most of Europe had already beenconverted to Christianity. In Scandinavia this process of transformation wenton for several hundred years and the first churches were not built untilaround 1100.

In the article Choosing heaven Gun Westholm tells about the Viking-ageNorse Aesir cult – that, in turn, replaced an older fertility religion – andabout its origin and myths that might very well be depicted on Gotlandicpicture stones.

But how was the change from the old pagan faith into Christianitybrought about? You will find some answers in the article The cross and thesword where Alexandra Sanmark discusses the strategies of conversion indifferent places in medieval Europe.

From Orkney we have received an interesting contribution to the debateabout whether the Vikings integrated with the indigenous Pictish people onthe island or slaughtered them, when they took over the islands. Perhapsrecent excavations can lead to new approaches to this debate.

But who actually were the Vikings? To find the answer to this questionyou must read the article, The Worlds of the Vikings, by Malin Lindquist!

And as usual, you will find plenty of good reading for the dark autumnnights in this issue, so curl up and enjoy it!

MMaarriittaa EE EEkkmmaannEditor

Email: marita.e.ekman@hgo.se

IN THIS ISSUEChoosing HeavenThe Religion of the Vikings 33––88

The Cross and the Sword –Strategies of conversion in medieval Europe 99––1133

The tidy metalworkers of Fröjel 1144––1177

The Worlds of the Vikings – an exhibition at Gotlands Fornsal, Visby 1188––2211

NNEEWW BBOOOOKKSS 2211,, 3300––3311,, 3355

DDEESSTTIINNAATTIIOONN VVIIKKIINNGG

The Fearless Vikings… 2222––2244

Genocide in Orkney?The fate of the Orcadian Picts 2255––2277

Theatre and re-enactmentsat Gene Iron-age farm innorthern Sweden 2288––3300

HHEERRIITTAAGGEE NNEEWWSS 3322––3344

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Viking Heritage Magazine 3/05

By Gun Westholm

When the Viking Age began inabout 750 AD, Scandinavia wasamong the last of the heathenoutposts in Europe along withthe Baltic, Russian and Slavicareas east of the Elbe.

Christianity had slowly spread from theMiddle East, Egypt, the Roman Empireand the Byzantium area (4th century), tothe realm of the Franks and, during the6th century, further to England andIreland. Parts of the Germanic area wereChristianised during 7th century, and inthe middle of 8th century the largeCarolingian kingdom was created forminga cohesive Christian area from Italy in theSouth to the Slavonian region in North(fig. 1).

Before the Aesir GodsIn Scandinavia belief in the Aesir godswas the prevailing religion before theChristian message slowly won territory

during 11th century. Many believe thatthe religion of the Vikings arose as aunique phenomenon in northern Europe.

But the Aesir cult was a warriorreligion that had several equivalents inboth Europe and Asia, religions that hadreplaced other much earlier, peacefulbeliefs with clear ties to agriculture andfertility. In these very old forms ofreligion, the chief god was often of thefemale sex – Mother Earth – and a goodyearly crop and high yields from thelivestock were the main purpose forworship.

Female goddesses dominated Europe’sand Asia’s religious beliefs untilapproximately 5000 BC, then a slow

change seems to have begun. The fertileareas of the plains people were taken overby warlike nomads and cattle herdersfrom the mountain regions. These tribeshad male chief gods who honouredwarring activities and warriors who hadfallen in battle. Later on some of the wargods came to be called Zeus, Jahve andOdin.

Outside Scandinavia, Odin was calledWodan/Wotan among the Germanictribes, Godan among the Langobardi andWoden in England. Both Woden andDonar – Thor – are mentioned as early asthe 6th century on the continent. Odinand Zeus have many common qualities, asdo their respective wives Frigg and Hera.

ChoosingHeavenThe Religion of the Vikings

Fig 1. The spread ofChristianity and Islam atthe beginning of the VikingAge, around 750 AD.

White: Pagan regionGrey: Christian regionBlack: Islamic region

Map by Maria Westholm.

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Viking Heritage Magazine 3/05

There are also resemblances between otherAesir gods and the Greek gods ofAntiquity.

The story of creation in our Nordicmythology has many parallels in theancient myths of India and Iran.According to the poetic Edda, a human-like giant is created – Ymer – from thevapour from the huge cold abyssGinnungagap and the heat of its oppositeMuspelhem. At the same time the first cowAudhumbla is created.

The equivalent to Ymer in the oldIndian Veda manuscripts iscalled Yama, and Yima inthe ancient Persian legendsbut it is still the same story!In India the cow is referred toas the source and mother of life.In the Indian epic Mahabharataportrays two heirs – the blindDhritarashtra and the honestVihura bearing close similaritiesto Odin’s sons, the blind Höderand the honest Balder. In theNordic story, the blind Höder ispersuaded to shoot an arrow ofmistletoe at his brother, while theIndian equivalen tells about adice game that ended withcatastrophic consequences. Inboth cases the situation leads tothe disintegration of the wholeworld order.

After the end of the world –Ragnarök – a new world is born.The same cyclic view of timeexists in Iran and Greece as wellas in India. One can also seelinguistic resemblances betweenGreek, ancient Indian languages and theGermanic languages.

It is obvious that the Aesir cult derivedits main features from many religions inSouthern Europe and Asia. It is uncertainwhere the cumulative faith originated, butwe can be very sure that it is a religionthat immigrated to Scandinavia!

But there was a religion in Scandinaviaeven before the Aesir cult. We know aboutthis religion only through sacrificial finds,graves and from illustrations on theGotlandic picture stones. Written sourcesare lacking, with one exception. TheRoman historian Tacitus described thenorthern Germanic tribes’ relationshipsand religion in his work, Germania in 98AC. He mentions two goddesses amongthe Germans: Isis and Nerthus. Isis seemsto be strongly influenced by her Egyptiannamesake – a maritime goddess, withtemples in the mouths of rivers and a ship

as symbol. She has been assumed to bethe model for the goddesses Frigg andFreyja in the North. According tomythology, Freyja was the daughter ofNjord of the Vanir race, and a sister toFrey, who owned the remarkable shipSkidbladne.

“Nerthus, who is the same as Mother Earth,believes that she intervenes in people’s livesand travels in procession among the people.

There is a holy grove on an island in theocean and on this a blessed wagon, coveredwith cloth,”

Tacitus writes and further on in the texthe says:

“that the wagon is pulled by cows. Wherevershe goes there are festivities and no morewars, and weapons are set aside… peace andquiet then prevail.”

Tacitus counts seven different tribes who

worship Nerthus. It has been possible tolocate only one of the names with anycertainty – the Angles. They lived in thenorthern part of Germany, on the borderto Denmark on a peninsula that wascalled Angeln. Two of the other namesbear similarities to those in Schleswig –Holstein.

Tacitus tells about how Nerthus’ annualjourney ends:

“Then the wagon and cloth are cleaned, andif you can be believe it, the goddess’

picture in a distant sea. The slavesthat do this are then swallowedup by that sea. From this grows a

secret dread and a pious uncertaintyabout what that is, that only the to

the dead are allowed to see.”

This cult of the northernGermanic tribes can be linked to thepeat corpses that have been foundwithin Danish and North Germanterritory in silted-up lakes.

Nerthus – Njärd (the Aesir Njord)seems to be a Nordic fertility goddessand the first ancestress of the Vanir.

Picture stones as sources ofknowledge The oldest Gotlandic picture stonesfrom the period approximately400–600 AD have symbols that canbe linked to an old agricultural cult

rather than a warrior religion.These feature sun discs withswirling wheels that seem to standfor movement, pairs of animals

that symbolise rites unknown to us,possibly illustrated to promote a plentifulcrop or show ritual animal baiting.

Another motif on the picture stonesfrom this period is fine-looking boats withhigh stem-or sternposts and rudders.Above the ships’ middle section there is asuperstructure with circles on it. The sunthat fills nature with new life every springprobably became a symbol of resurrectioneven for the dead people, perhaps thestruggles of the animal pairs is meant tobe a struggle between life and death orbetween summer and winter and the shipswith their crew can depict a journey forthe souls of the dead to the country of thesun or the realm of death. The circlesperhaps indicate a tribute to the dead –wreaths of honour.

It is not surprising that the inhabitantsof Gotland, located in the middle of thesea, long cherished an ancient agriculture

Fig 2. The partly reconstructed picturestone from Austers in Hangvar parish, atthe bottom a ship’s stem, a sun wheeland on the top a man in front of thegaping mouth of a beast. Photo Raymond Hejdström.

Fig 4. Picture stone withsnake motif from Smiss inNär parish. Photo Raymond Hejdström.

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Viking Heritage Magazine 3/05

and fertility religion that also includedships.

Even on picture stones dated to as earlyas 400–500 AD, there are pictures thatlead thoughts towards the mythology ofthe Vikings. The stone from Austers inHangvar has a sun wheel and probablythe stem of a ship, fig. 2. Above the sundrawing there is a man facing the openmouth of a great beast that closelyresembles a centipede. Several havewanted to interpret the picture as an earlydepiction of Sigurd facing the dragonFafne. Another interpretation is Thorstruggling with the snake from Midgård.

An almost identical stone was foundwhile restoring Martebo church in 1971.On the Martebo stone the whole ship ispreserved while the dragon’s/snake’s upperbody has been chopped away, butotherwise it is the same motif. The sagaabout Sigurd Fafnesbane is recorded onIceland and was spread widely inScandinavia and Germany during theViking era and later.

Is the Auster stone’s motif a sign of theonset of the Aesir cult’s war and warriorworship? There are other examples onstones from same era that show armedmen: on a stone from Vallstenarum inVallstena they carry spears and shields,and on a picture stone with early runesfrom Martebo church there are riders withspears and shields next to the sun wheel.

Snake cult?On several of the old type of stones threefilled circles occur: Martebo church, Brochurch and on the big Sanda stone. Thatall three circles should be symbols for thesun and resurrection seems unlikely.

On the stone from Martebo a snakewinds around the left lower circle, fig. 3,and on the Sanda stone snakes entwinethemselves around the both lower circlesthat lack rays. Is it earth that is meantunder the sun wheel – one to two worlds

– Midgård – entwined by theMidgård snake, one of Loke’sevil sons?

Moreover, later the Sandastone has been “scribbled

on”; a tree with clear rootsstands on a line with a dragon –

possibly the world tree Yggdrasiland with a dragon-like character

that can possibly be interpreted asthe snake Nidhögg, gnawing on thetree’s roots.

During the 6th–8th c. the circlesdisappear from the picture stonesand are replaced by illustrations ofsailing ships, birds and snakes. Pure“snake stones” now appear. Themost well known is the stone fromSmiss in När, fig. 4, where a sittingwoman with an artistic hairstyle

holds a snake in each hand under a so-called triskele with three snakes.

On the stone from Sandegårda inSanda a snake-like character with twodistinct snakes on either side can be seen,fig. 5. Snakes are clearly important in theprehistoric religious world on Gotland.

Besides Midgårdsormen (the Midgårdsnake), Eddan also mentions the snakesGoin, Moin, Gråbak and Grafvöllund,except Nidhögg, down in Nifelheim underYggdrasil:

“More snakes lie under the ash tree calledYggdrasil than what each silly monkeybelieves”, according to Eddan.

Both the snake-stones above are datedto the period 500–700 AD and we arenow approaching the beginning of theViking era. On at least two of the Viking-age stones both the woman with snakesand the cluster of snakes exist:

On the Hunninge stone from Klinte asnake woman stands watching a battlescene. In the next picture a man liesamong a number of snakes in a hole or ona yard. A woman stands at the entrance tothe yard, fig. 6.

On the stone from Smiss in Stenkyrkaa woman with a snake in her hand iswalking in front of a row of soldiers. Inthe badly damaged frieze above this asnake pit with a man in it can bediscerned, fig. 7.

Snakes have been found in theGotlandic mythology for many hundredyears! Snake pits occur in the Icelandicsagas - Ragnar Lodbrok and GunnarGjukeson both met their destiny in asnake pit in the saga of Ragnar Lodbrok –

Fig 3. Picture stonewith snake motif fromMartebo church. Photo RaymondHejdström.

Fig 5. Picture stone with snakemotif from Sandegårda in Sandaparish. Photo Raymond Hejdström.

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Viking Heritage Magazine 3/05

a Nordic sequel to the saga ofSigurd Fafnesbane.

If dragon- and the snake-stonesare early signs of Aesir religion, thismeans that the transition from theold fertility – and agricultural cultto the Aesir cult was a process thattook several hundred years! Whenthe Aesir religion is described inEddan at the beginning of the13th c, the author – SnorreSturlasson had access to storiesthat depicted the final phase ofAesir religion before it wasofficially crowded out byChristianity. Then it hadprobably undergone a long,slow transition.

The Nordic Aesir gods The Viking-age gods stemmedfrom two races – Aesir andVanir.

The word Aesir comesfrom an old word for “god”.According to Eddan the Aesir includemost of the gods: Odin, Thor, Tyr andothers, twelve gods in total. They aremostly war gods to be appeased byweapon sacrifices among other things.According to Snorre’s Edda, fourteen ofthe goddesses are called Asynjor, (Aesirgoddesses) for instance Frigg and Freyja.

The names of the Vanir are consideredto be related to the Roman goddess oflove Venus (the Greeks’ Afrodite) and theancient Indian word vanah = desire andthey constitute their own race of gods.They were the gods of reproduction andthey ruled over weather, fishing, shipping,seeding and harvest. They seem to be theremains of an ancient agricultural mother-earth cult. This also includes Njord (seeabove) Frigg, Frey and Freyja. Among theVanir are also those versed in magic, whocan grant success in battle and who devotethemselves to love magic.

The Aesir and Vanir fought againsteach other but gradually tired of battle,held a peace meeting and sealed the peaceby both sides going up to a vat andspitting in it, according to Eddan. TheAesir god Odin married the Vanir goddessFrigg and they had two sons, Balder andHöder, amongst other children.

Odin is the highest and eldest of theAesir. He rules over everything and the othergods may be powerful, but they all obeyhim as children obey their father… Odin iscalled universal father because he is father toall the gods, according to the Edda.

Sacrificial finds The Gotlandic Viking-age picture stonesare difficult to interpret but probably giveus pictures of sacrifices, gods andgoddesses, valkyries and Valhalla. Amongthe sacrificial scenes the Hammar stonefrom Lärbro is the one most oftenportrayed – with a human sacrifice on analtar-like arrangement with man carryinga spear in front of Odin, fig. 8.

In Gutasagan is written: “They sacrificed their sons

and daughters and livestock aswell as food and drink. Theydid this because of their falsebelief. The whole country (Gotland)had the greatest human sacrifice.Normally each of the three regions heldtheir own sacrifice.”

Archaeological finds also implythat people were sacrificed duringthe Viking Age on Gotland. InLillmyr in Barlingbo, just next to theGotlandic Allting’s meeting place inRoma, parts of humans have beenfound, along with remains of horsesand lambs. In the same marsh,

weapon sacrifices were also found – someten bent-up swords lay in a heap andbeside them were ten-odd shield bossesstacked on top of each other, see photo onthe front page. In another marsh land, atMöllegårds in Hörsne, there were thirty-

Fig 6. Picture stone with snake motif from Hunninge in Klinte parish. Photo Raymond Hejdström.

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Viking Heritage Magazine 3/03

odd spearheads and at Gane in Bäl, aVendel-age bracteate and ten Viking-agespears were found. These weaponsacrifices are connected with the Odincult (see front page).

But the largest site of Viking-ageweapon-finds on Gotland isGudingsåkrarna, northwest from Vallstenachurch. Since the 19th c. over 500weapons have been dug up from thedrained marshland here – mostlyspearheads, but even swords and forgingequipment such as raw iron and forgingtongs. On other occasions silver has beenfound here along with spearheads andscythes. At an excavation during the1930s, 8 spearheads appeared stuck into acircle approximately 1,5-meter radius andwith a horsehead-shaped stone in themiddle.

While it can be suspected that theweapon sacrifices were offered to Odinand possibly also to Thor, probably thesacrificed scythes are meant to appease thegod Frey. Frey was the god of love whogave peace, pleasure and good crops.Adam of Bremen writes at the end of the11th c.:

“If an epidemic or famine threatens, youshould make sacrifices to Thor’s statue, if awar is imminent, to Odin, if a wedding isto be celebrate, to Frey.”

Besides Gudingsåkrarna, scythes havebeen found in ways that can beinterpreted as sacrifice: four scythes boundtogether with two chisels and a cuttinginstrument have been found at Findarvein Rone and eight scythes, two raw irons,three forks and a key at Bringes inNorrlanda. Small miniature scythes havebeen dug up at Stenbys in Lokrume.

One more group of finds of a sacrificialcharacter must be mentioned – iron ringsthat were found in stone mounds andbogs. The largest find comes from Dunein Dalhem, where approximately 1400rings of different sizes lay neatly indifferent layers with earth in between. Wecannot link the ring finds to any specificgod, they are assumed to be a very ancientrelic with roots in a Bronze-age cult.

The god Thor with power overthunder is portrayed on a picture stonefrom Alskog church and possibly even ona stone chest from Sanda cemetery withhis weapon, the hammer Mjölner.Fragments of a similar picture stone fromHemse seem to have same motif. On theboth the later stones, the hammer is morelike a club. Mjölner can also be portrayedas an axe.

While miniature Thor’s hammers are arepeated find from graves on the

continent, they are very rare in Gotlandicgraves. On the other hand there are foursilver Thor’s hammers in Gotlandic silvertreasures from the late Viking Age(Alveskogs in Eke, Mickels in När, Geretein Fardhem and Kvie in Othem).

In the Gotlandic graves, amber amuletswere sometimes placed at the feet of thedead or on their breasts. In male graves,they were shaped like a little axe and infemale graves they have a conical shapewith a groove. Small block stools of silverand amber have also found. The axes aswell as the block stool can be linked toThor’s cult. Thor is portrayed sitting onsuch a stool on a find from Lund. Thesmall amber amulets have theirequivalents in Latvia.

A few amulet rings of iron and bronzewith small miniature objects on each havebeen found on the island – from Riddarein Hemse comes a ring with horse, spearand sword and from Sandegårda in Sandaanother with some rings, a block stool (?)and an animal.

Silver Hoards Burying sacrificial finds meant to appeasethe gods seems, therefore, to have been acommon phenomenon on Gotland. It waseven more common to place silver hoardsunder the floors of the buildings. Up untilthe present no less than about 750Viking-age silver hoards have come tolight on Gotland!

Many explanations as to why thesetreasures have been left buried until ourtime have been searched for: they werehidden away; those who knew about the

places died and took their secret withthem to the grave; they were payment fora future bride purchase that was neverused or that the silver was intended asblood money to get someone out of adifficult situation.

But the burying of silver can also beconnected with the Aesir cult! If there wassilver lying under the floors in at leastevery other farm on Gotland, this couldnot have been unknown to the otherinhabitants of Gotland. Every abandonedhouse would have been searched byrelatives or others!

Another explanation can also exist, thathas to do with the life after this. In SnorreSturlasson’s Ynglingasaga there is a chapterabout the laws Odin made for the people:Odin made in his country the same lawsthat had applied among the Aesir. Heordained that all dead men should beburnt and their properties to be carriedonto the funeral pyre with them. Hedecreed that each and everyone shouldcome to Valhalla with the wealth that hehad on the pyre; he should also enjoy thatwhich he had dug down in the ground.(author’s italics).

Here we get another explanation forthe hoards – they were intended for life inValhalla!

We can imagine that the farmer, whenhe knew the end was near, took away asmuch of the family’s fortune that hebelieved he would need in his next lifeand placed this under the floor. Perhapsthis took place in ceremonies with familiespresent – the contents in the urn or thebox showing of course the position which

Fig 7. Picture stone with snake motif from Smiss in Stenkyrka parish. Photo Raymond Hejdström.

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he had achieved during hislife. Perhaps, his son, inturn, placed silver in thesame urn when heapproached old age. Theimportant thing is thatnobody could take up thesilver, even if they knew thatthe silver lay there! Then, thedead ancestors would getinto trouble and incur theterrible revenge of the deadand Aesir gods!

Aesir and ChristianitySnorre’s Edda was written down duringChristian time and there are manyparallels with biblical texts in the stories.But there are also many similarities withancient Persian and ancient Indianmythology and we can assume that theAesir religion was a mixture of old beliefswith Euro-Asian origins and newChristian elements.

Information from archaeologicalsources on Gotland shows that Christianobjects existed on the island as early as the9th century onwards. Gutasagan describesthat Christian areas existed withinGotland’s trading areas throughout thewhole Viking era:

“Even though the Gutes were heathens,they still sailed with merchant products toall countries, Christian and heathen. Thenthe merchants witnessed Christian customsin Christian countries. Then some of themallowed themselves to be baptized andbrought Christian priests to Gotland.”

Nothing would indicate dramaticevents in connection with the conversionto Christianity. Many things imply, on theother hand, that heathens and Christianlived peaceful side by side for a long time.

During the 11th c. Christian crossesand rune texts with Christian messagesbecame more and more common. Theoldest churches on Gotland are dated toabout 1100 AD. Gutalagen formulates theformal Christianising of Gotland – thelaw begins with:

“This is the first in our law, that weshould say no to paganism and say yes to theChristian faith and all believe in a GodAlmighty…”

But all expressions of the old religiondid not disappear immediately. The faithin – and the dread of – the old Aesir godslived on in folklore and customs for along time. Thor is the Aesir, whose nameand characteristics seem to have survivedthe longest in folk religion and well into

historical time he has been invoked inorder to protect houses and people duringthunderstorms.

With the introduction of Christianityeven the goddesses disappeared. God wasnow naturally male. Maria is admittedlyJesus’ mother, but no goddess! But ineveryday religion, the Blessed Mary got tobear Freyja’s role as a symbol of fertility,see the front page. She was alsoworshipped as a kind of mother goddessand alleviated at childbirth pains, therebyalso replacing Frigg. In many places shealso got to take over the power over theweather, crops, fishing and livestock fromthe ancient gods and goddesses.

About the authorGun Westholm is the Senior Curatorand responsible for the exhibitions atthe County Museum of Gotland. Sheis an archaeologist and the author ofnumerous articles dealing with theViking and Medieval history ofGotland. Her thesis dissertation onViking-age Visby was published in1989.

This article was first published in Swedishby the County Museum of Gotland in theirannual book, Gotländskt Arkiv 2004, thisyear called Gotland Vikingaön (GotlandViking Island).

LLiitteerraattuurree aanndd RReeffeerreenncceessCollinder, Björn (ed.) 1970. Snorres Edda.

Uddevalla.Holmbäck Åke/Wessén, Elias 1979.

Gutalagen/Gutasagan. SvenskaLandskapslagar. Uppsala.

Olson, Emil (ed.) 1919. Snorre Sturlassonskonungasagor I. Lund.

Onsell, Birgitta 1985. Gamla gudar ochglömda gudinnor. Stockholm

Nylén, Erik 1978. Bildstenar. VisbyNäsström, Britt-Marie 2001.

Fornskandinavisk religion. Lund.Svenberg, Emanuel 1984. Adam av

Bremen. Historien om Hamburgstiftetoch dess biskopar. Stockholm.

Thunmark-Nylén, Lena 1983. Gotland ochOstbaltikum. Gutar och Vikingar.Stockholm

Thålin-Bergman, Lena 1983. Järn ochjärnsmide för hemmabruk och avsalu.Gutar och Vikingar. Stockholm

Trotzig, Gustaf 1983. Den gamla och dennya religionen. Gutar och Vikingar.Stockholm.

Fig 8. A sacrificial scene.Detail from the picturestone from Hammars inLärbro parish. Photo Erik Nylén.

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•• VViikkiinnggss iinn MMeellbboouurrnnee

33//22000033VViikkiinngg AAggee ggllaassss bbeeaaddss ((ffiivvee

aarrttiicclleess)) •• CCuullttuurraall ttrraannssmmiissssiioonn •• CChhiillddrreenn’’ss ggrraavveess •• DDeessttiinnaattiioonnVViikkiinngg SSaaggaa LLaannddssccaappeess aanndd SSaaggaaRRoouutteess •• TTrroonnddaarrnneess •• TThhee OOrrkknneeyy

IIssllaannddss •• TTaabblleett WWeeaavviinngg

22//22000055• Viking horses •

• Ailikn’s wagon and Odin’s warriors •• The thegns of Cnut the great •

How to make an early lute and rebec• Kings and warriors •

• Viking events •

44//22000044•• GGoottllaanndd VViikkiinngg IIssllaanndd ••

””SShhoouulldd aa mmaann ccoommmmiitt aadduulltteerryy””GGoolldd aanndd ssiillvveerr hhooaarrddss •• PPaavviikkeenn

NNoo GGuuttee bbyy tthhee nnaammee ooff SSvveenn•• VViikkiinngg AAggee ssoorrcceerreerrss ••

EExxpplloorriinngg tthhee VViikkiinngg hheerriittaaggee

33//22000044•• VViikkiinngg--aaggee SSoorrcceerryy ••

VViikkiinngg ffeessttiivvaallss iinn AAddeellssöö,, KKaarrmmøøyy,,FFootteevviikkeenn •• IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall vvoolluunntteeeerrss

•• GGiissllaa--SSaaggaa pprroojjeecctt,, IIcceellaanndd •••• BBaattttlliinngg ffoorr bbeeeerr ••

LL’’AAnnssee aauuxx MMeeaaddoowwss aanndd VViinnllaanndd

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Now you can also order and pay from our website www.hgo.se/viking

DDeessttiinnaattiioonn VViikkiinngg.. WWeesstteerrnn VViikkiinngg RRoouuttee..Inspiring guidebook to Viking placesin the west. Richly illustrated in fullcolour, 184 pages.

Price: SEK 100 per copyBBeess

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11//22000055•• TThhee bbuuiillddiinngg ooff aa bbooaatthhoouussee ••

•• CCaassttiinngg ttrreeffooiill bbrroooocchheess •••• TThhee GGoottllaannddiicc AAlltthhiinngg •• VVeessttffoolldd–– tthhee hhiissttoorryy tthhaatt ddiissaappppeeaarreedd ••

•• BBrraassllaavv LLaakkee DDiissttrriicctt iinn BBeellaarruuss •••• TThhee VViikkiinngg sshhiipp IIcceellaannddeerr ••

For orders that includeall available back issueswe offer 25% discount.