The Viking Dragon Blog
Norse Gods
What does the Old Norse word ‘Viking’ mean?
From academia to pop culture, many of us refer to all men, women and children from 8th to 11th century Scandinavia as ‘Vikings,’ whether they are the vicious warriors from The Last Kingdom or the ...
Norse Gods
Yule, Odin & Santa Claus
Yule was one of the most important festivals in the old heathen calendar. As the days drew short and the nights grew long, there were celebrations as well as a tinge fear in the cold, crisp air. T...
Norse Gods
The Origins of Yule
In Scandinavia they don't call it Christmas (Christ-Mass), instead they still retain the old pagan name for the Yuletide celebrations which they call Jul (pronounced Yule).
Yule was a pagan fest...
Norse Gods
The Beginning of the World
In the beginning was the Yawning Void in which was neither heat nor cold, light nor darkness, until a spark arose and kindled, feeding on itself, into a vast world of flame.
At the far end of the...
Norse Gods
The Winning of Gerd
The Norse god Frey was the son of Njord of the Vanir and the brother of Freya. Like Njord and Freya, he was beautiful and well-beloved, and men sacrificed to him at marriages. But the story of Frey...
Norse Gods
Thor, the Giant's Kettle, and the Midgard Serpent
In between their epic battles and their prodigious journeys, the Norse gods were fond of feasting. Once they invited themselves to the hall of a giant named Aegir who kept a good table. Aegir d...
Norse Gods
Brynhild's Origin and Brynhild's Love (Andvari's Curse, Part VI)
An earlier blog post described how the young hero Sigurd rode through a wall of fire to waken Brynhild, the beautiful armored woman who lay asleep within the enchanted ring. He had been told that s...
Norse Gods
Regin's Death and Brynhild's Waking (Andvari's Curse, Part V)
An earlier blog post described how the young hero Sigurd killed the dragon Fafnir, who had once been human. Sigurd was egged on to this exploit by his foster-father Regin, who told Sigurd (truly) t...
Norse Gods
Sigurd's Origin (Andvari's Curse, Part IV)
'Sigurd and the Dragon' described how Sigurd killed the dragon Fafnir, thus getting for himself fame, wealth, and Andvari’s curse. But even before he met Fafnir, Sigurd had inherited a complex load...