Sliasthorp, Fabled Viking Military Town, Possibly Unearthed In Germany

"In what may be one of the biggest digs of the 21st century, a team of Danish archeologists believe they have uncovered a once thriving center of Viking activity, Sliasthorp, the fabled military base occupied by the earliest Scandinavian kings.

Since excavations began in 2010, roughly 200 buildings, along with weapons, precious jewelry, glass beads, and silver coins have been unearthed at Füsing, near the Danish border, National Geographic reports, findings that they say offer valuable insights into the military organization and town planning of what is thought to be the earliest Viking settlement in the historical record."

Read the full article at the Huffington Post.

Danes vs. Somali Pirates

All I could think when reading the headline was, "Don't mess with the experts, guys. Danes were a-viking long before you young men got the idea." Story courtesy EagleSpeak:
"The Danish navy captured 16 Somali pirates and freed 12 captives when it intercepted a "mothership" vessel off the Horn of Africa, it said on Thursday.

The Danish warship Absalon, serving in NATO's counter-piracy mission Ocean Shield, stopped the vessel off the east coast of Somalia on Wednesday, boarded it without resistance, arrested the suspected Somali pirates and found the hostages."

The full story may be accessed via Reuters.

Forget the crisis - Iceland survived 500 years of Danish rule

"How a deserted island became Snowland, and then Iceland, adopted Norwegian sovereignty and then Danish, took all our cash and gave us back ash." This encapsulation of Iceland's history, which includes the legend of  Ingólfur Arnarson, is available for viewing at the Copenhagen Post.

The Snow Queen

This story by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen contains elements very reminiscent of the old sagas and legends. The title character, particularly as portrayed in the 1957 Soviet animated film, shares many characteristics with the Frost Etins. Also, the heroine's name, Gerda, is a variation of Gerd. Gerda ventures to the land of the Snow Queen to free her love Kay from the queen's icy palace. In the original story, Kay has his mind enchanted by splinters from a troll's mirror. In the animated film, his heart is turned icy by splinters from the snow queen's ice mirror, and Gerda hopes to rekindle his love and warm his heart. This is something of a turnabout on the story of Frey striving and succeeding in winning the heart of Gerd, the daughter of a Frost Giant.

Here is a clip from the first cinematic adpatation of the Andersen fairy tale, Snezhnaya koroleva, produced in the USSR in 1957. Per Wikipedia,  it was "later dubbed by Universal Studios with the voices of Sandra Dee as Gerda, Tommy Kirk as Kay and introduced by Art Linkletter. In the 1990s, the film was redubbed again, this time featuring the voices of Kathleen Turner, Mickey Rooney, Kirsten Dunst and Laura San Giacomo." This clip is in the original Russian.

How Christianity portrayed Jesus as a warrior to woo the Vikings

"It is one of history’s ironies that the Viking expansion into Europe actually set about the beginning of the end for the Viking religion. As Vikings came into increasing contact with Christians in continental Europe and Britain, their acceptance of Christianity grew – particularly as more and more married Christians. In many cases, however, Vikings converted to Christianity as a way to secure alliances and ensure neighbouring realms would not attack on religious grounds." Read the full article at The Copenhagen Post.