The island of Donan is a tidal island in the Western Scottish Highlands. At approximately one kilometre from the small village of Dornie there lies the picturesque, spectacular, and mesmerising Eilean Donan Castle, one of the most reputed medieval landmarks of Scotland. The island’s Scottish name (Eilean Donan) literally translates as ‘Island of Donn쎡n’, a…
This article will briefly discuss the two most largest Norse settlements dating to the Viking period in Northern Europe. The first one, judging by its size and its population, was most likely Hedeby, although recent research suggests that Upp쎥kra might have very well surpassed the latter in both regards. Hedeby/Haithabu Hedeby was an important Viking…
The picturesque UNESCO Norwegian N쎦r쎸yfjord area in the municipality of Aurland in Sogn og Fjordane county, Western Norway will see Njardarheimr Viking Village steadily becoming a reality as 2017 progresses. A popular touristic destination for ship cruises in Scandinavia, the village of Gudvangen from the same fjord will be soon home to a small reconstructed…
Helluland and Markland were (alongside Vinland) territories that were described in two Old Norse medieval sources, namely the sagas of Erik the Red and of the Greelanders. Thus, according to the Icelandic sagas, these two remote locations were the first to be spotted by Leif Erikson prior to his arrival in Vinland (situated in present-day…
Below is a list of 10 major historical battles that unfolded in Scandinavia or overseas during the tumultuous Viking Age. The list comprises a notable series of both land and maritime clashes which shaped the history of the early medieval Scandinavian monarchies (as well as other parts of Europe at the time). These battles were…
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