Unearthing Scotland's Nordic Troves

Carolingian lidded vessel, part of the trove. - ITV.com

"Found in the Galloway area, of the Dumfries and Galloway region in south-west Scotland in September 2014, the assemblage is believed to be of ninth or tenth century Viking culture. The principal finds in the Viking treasure comprise of a decorative gold bird pin, a silver Carolingian pot, a solid gold ring, and a solid silver cross with gold inlay and enamel decorations, over twenty solid gold and silver ingots and dozens of solid silver arm bands decorated with saltire*-type designs."

Read the full article at Coin Week.

How to build a Viking hut

How one man built a Viking style hut on his property, in six days, with step-by-step instructions. See it at Offgrid Quest.

Groundhog Day More Than A Weather Forecast For This Faith

"Some Pennsylvanians look forward with unusual intensity to Groundhog Day, but not for frivolity in Punxsutawney.
Adherents of Urglaawe, a recently founded religion based in Bristol, regard the day as one of the most important in a calendar crowded with festivals that connect them with natural cycles through practices honored by time, if not by monotheistic creeds that replaced old ways."

The complete article by Gwen Shrift may be read at The Intelligencer.

Fibula, Fabula, Fact - The Viking Age in Finland

"The chapters of Fibula, Fabula, Fact – The Viking Age in Finland are intended to provide essential foundations for approaching the important topic of the Viking Age in Finland. These chapters are oriented to provide introductions to the sources, methods and perspectives of diverse disciplines so that these resources and the history of discourse from which they emerge are accessible to specialists from other fields, specialists from outside Finland, and also to non-specialist readers and students who may be more generally interested in the topic. Rather than detailed case studies of specific aspects of the Viking Age in Finland, the contributors have sought to negotiate definitions of the Viking Age as a historical period in the cultural areas associated with modern-day Finland, and in areas associated with Finns, Karelians and other North Finnic linguistic-cultural groups more generally. Within the incredible diversity of data and disciplines represented here, attention tends to center on the identification of the Viking Age through differentiating it from earlier and later periods, and on contextualizing it geographically in an era long before the construction of modern nations with their fenced and guarded borders. Most significantly, the contributions lay emphasis on contextualizing the Viking Age within the complexities of defining cultural identities in the past through traces of cultural, linguistic or genetic features."

The full preface for this peer reviewed publication from the Finnish Literatue Society of Helsinki, edited by Joonas Ahola and Frog with Clive Tolley, may be read and also downloaded at Academia.edu.

Bárðar saga as a source for reconstruction of pre-Christian religion?

Bárðar saga as a source for reconstruction of pre-Christian religion? from eldahei on Vimeo.

Paper given 1 December 2012 at the 2nd meeting of the Old Norse Folklorist Network, University of Tartu. By Eldar Heide, eldar-heide.net/ A PDF of the last proof of the paper is available at academia.edu.

Urglaawe: Food for Groundhog Day

"Groundhog Day is actually the first day of an observance that we know by a few names: Entschtanning, Uffdredde, or Uffdredding (all of which mean "emergence") in Urglaawe parlance. ... In this post, we will cover the more common food traditions. The full article by Robert L. Schreiwer, which includes a recipe for Seimaage (stuffed hog's maw), may be found at the Urglaawe blog.

Margot Adler dies

Journalist, NPR commentator, and author Margot Adler, best known for her pivotal book on Neopaganism, Drawing Down the Moon, passed away on 28 July at the age of 68. Though she was Wiccan and not Heathen, for many the second edition of her most famous work, in which she included a chapter on Asatru and Odinism, was their first exposure to Northern Tradition. Her obituary in the New York Times may be read here. An elegiac piece by Jason Pitzl-Waters appears at the Wild Hunt.

Uncle Thor and the Havamal

"Whatever you may think of its origin, the Havamal is one of the most amazing texts of its kind. The bulk of it is a litany of practical advice for survival and success in the everyday world. My own experiences back in the bad old days confirm its sage advice. The Havamal is unlike codes of behavior in that it is not a set of rules. Nor is it a collection of high-sounding proverbs. To put it simply this stuff works!" To read more of Uncle Thor's vies on The Words of the High One, and how they apply to life in modern Midgard, visit his blog.

Dan Halloran convicted

"Former city Councilman Dan Halloran was found guilty Tuesday afternoon at the federal court house in White Plains of all charges on a five-count indictment in his corruption case."  Full article may be viewed at the Times Ledger.

Sutton Hoo on Google

"Sutton Hoo: Anglo-Saxon Ship Burial" is a virtual exhibit now on display at the Google Cultural Institute. It may be viewed at this link.

Video: Heil Dir Holle

Heil Dir Holle. A song to Frau Holle by Birgit Knorr of Kindred of the Northern Hammer, San Diego CA. The song was sung during an Urglaawe rite at Trothmoot 2013 (thetroth.org).

Europe’s Wild Men

"They dress in bear heads and bells, and behave like beasts."
National Geographic photo gallery:

Swedes set up 'ultimate Viking movie'

Thanks to Eric for finding this:

"After years of ridicule and misrepresentation, the Vikings are on their way home. Plans are well under way for what the Swedish company Fladenfilm is calling "the ultimate Viking movie". The $30m version of Frans G Bengtsson's bloody Nordic saga The Long Ships (which is due to shoot in 2013) will comprise two feature films and a television series. What is different about this project is that it is being made by Viking nations – the Swedes in combination with their neighbours."

The complete article may be found at the Independent.

Searching for the Vikings on the Isle of Man

From Medievalists.net:
"The Vikings were not just the wanton marauders of popular portrayal, says a Longwood University medieval scholar who recently conducted archaeological research on the Isle of Man.

Dr. Larissa “Kat” Tracy examines a Viking-age stone monument on the Isle of Man.
“The exclusive image of rape, pillage and burning by the Vikings is probably inaccurate,” said Dr. Larissa “Kat” Tracy, associate professor of English.

Tracy spent a week photographing inscriptions on Viking-age stone monuments on the island between Great Britain and Ireland as part of a German-based research project on the ancient runic alphabet. What she found is that the Vikings, who raided and settled throughout Europe from the late eighth century through the 11th century, were perhaps more interested in winning the hearts and minds of the people they encountered than is often thought."

The full article may be read here.

The Typochronology of Sword Pommels from the Staffordshire Hoard

"This paper consists of two parts. First, Svante Fischer will discuss the question of correlating typology and chronology into typochronology. Second, Jean Soulat will discuss the typology of the Staffordshire pommels and offer a preliminary date for the hoard. The authors are of the opinion that the sword pommels of the Staffordshire date from the early 6th century to the early 8th century.

The paper has been financed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities (KVHAA)."

The full text of this paper may be found at Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Veteran's Administration Now Accepts Hammer of Thor as Emblem of Faith

The US Veteran's Administration (VA) has released its latest list of  Available Emblems of Belief for Placement on Government Headstones and Markers. Included as number 55 on the list is Mjolnir, or the Hammer of Thor. Our understanding is that the decision comes at the request of the next of kin of  a service person recently killed in combat 

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Troth Blog and Twitter

The Troth now has its own blog for stating its position on emerging issues which impact the Heathen community. Interested parties may view the new blog at http://thetroth.blogspot.com. The Troth can also now be followed on Twitter,  @TheTroth.

”Beowulf” and the Influence of Old English on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

Thanks to Medievalists.net for this:

"It is uncommon for a popular work of art to take roots in an academic context. Many popular novels and films, possibly the two most common mediums of art we encounter nowadays, are written by talented creative writers and aim to achieve a high level of realism to help the reader connect with the work. An exception to this came to popularity nearly sixty years ago. J.R.R. Tolkien, then an Anglo-Saxon professor in the University of Oxford, published his second novel, titled The Lord of the Rings, in 1954. It is while being a full-time professor that Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, an uncommon fact for the third best-selling novel ever written at more than 150 million copies sold.

Reading The Lord of the Rings, however, it is clear that the academic context in which the novel was written contributed greatly to the complexity, depth and aesthetic prowess of the novel. Tolkien being an expert in Anglo-Saxon, nearly all of the names employed in the novel share Old English roots. Moreover, perhaps the greatest and best-known work written in Old English was the heroic epic poem Beowulf. Tolkien is often said to ‘‘have helped to rescue the poem for posterity’’1 by not only writing one of his most important essays on the subject, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, but by basing a lot of The Lord of the Rings on the Anglo-Saxon poem."

The full text of this article by Joly Morin from the 30 April, 2012 edition of Academia may be read here.

Gud Yule, 2012

Inside the Viking Mind: Cosmology, the After-life, and the Self

“My research is essentially concerned with the human condition,” wrote Price from his home in Uppsala, Sweden, where he lives and holds a second appointment at the university, “the familiar age-old questions about life and its meaning that we all ask ourselves at some point – but placing this in a specific historical context and trying to recapture the Vikings’ own perspective on mortality. Every culture seeks its own answers to the eternal questions, including matters of morality, and I think we can always learn from reflecting on others’ attitudes to these same things that we still puzzle over today.”
The full text of this interview by Bill Chaisson of Prof. Neil Price of the department of archaeology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland can be read at Ithaca.com.