#the viking age

[a-gnosis]

04: Draugadróttinn

I know a twelfth: if I see up in a tree a noosed corpse, I can so cut and colour the runes that the man will walk and talk with me.

Hávamál 157, translated by Neil Price

... “and sometimes he (Odin) awakened the dead from the earth or sat himself under hanged men. Because of this he was called draugadróttinn (‘lord of ghosts’) or hangadróttinn (‘lord of the hanged’).”

Snorri Sturluson, Ynglinga Saga, translated by Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes.

"It is worth emphasising that these are ordinary human dead, not the powerful volur whom the god also consults in poems such as Voluspá and Baldrs draumar. Óðinn is not all-knowing in himself, but he is prepared to run terrible risks to seek out knowledge from those who possess it. From his interrogation of the hanged, and the dead sorceresses, it is clear that death gave access to a secret lore that the god himself could only reach at second-hand. This is important because it suggests a new aspect of Viking-Age belief, namely that human beings could potentially explore places closed to even the most powerful of divinities."

The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia by Neil Price.

[gwydionmisha]

When Was The Viking Age? 

This captures perfectly the two biggest things I endlessly try to explain to people about Periodization .

1: Periodization is inherently arbitrary and depends on the specific thing you are studying and exist because things like papers, classes, and books need a beginning and end date.  You can’t jam all of history into any of these things, so you need to draw some arbitrary lines, but a person studying Japanese History will draw a different set of line than someone studying say German theology than someone studying Central American archeology. 

2. Periodization is only useful insofar as it’s giving you some degree of useful information to the people trying to study the same sorts of things, and the people doing it don’t take it to seriously.

[auressea]

@skaldish I thought you might find this interesting?

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

WAITS PATIENTLY, EAGERLY, TO SPLIT YOUR SKULL IN THE DARK FOREST.

PIC INFO: Spotlight on digital art of Jorvak the Skullsplitter, sworn enemy of Spawn the Bloodaxe, and inspired by SPAWN Series 22 "Dark Ages Spawn: The Viking Age," artwork by Ling Yun, China, using throwback Photoshop software, c. 2005.

Source: https://forums.cgsociety.org/t/dark-ages-spawn-skullsplitter-ling-yun-2d/887978

[notacluedo]

Long hair won out in the end rip all the short haired Menelaus truthers

Art used as reference from littleulvar on twitter: https://twitter.com/littleulvar https://twitter.com/littleulvar/status/1210636583713591296

[whereserpentswalk]

People don't realize how liminal it is to be a time traveler. How you don't ever really feel like you're in the time you are. Even when you're in your own time, everything is off, your coat was something you bought in interwar France, the book you're reading on the train is from a bookstore you had to visit in Victorian London, even your necklace was given to you by a Neolithic shaman, from a culture the rest of the world can never know. You find yourself acting strange even when in the present, much less in the past you have to work in.

You remember meeting a eunuch in 10th century China, and having him be one of the only people smart and observant enough to realize you were from a diffrent time. You could talk honestly with him, though still you couldn't reveal too much about your time. And it was still so strange hearing him talk casually about work and mention plotting assassinations. You're not allowed to but you still visit him sometimes.

You remember that the few times you were allowed to tell someone everything it was tragic. You knew a young woman who lived in Pompeii, who you had gotten close to, a few days before she would inevitably die. On your last day there you looked into her eyes, knowing soon they'd be stone and ash, that the beauty of her hair would be washed away by burning magma. And you hugged her, and told her that you wanted her to be safe, and told her she was wonderful and that you wanted her to be comfortable and happy. And you let her tongue know the joy of 21st century chocolate, and her eyes see the beauty of animation, knowing she deserved to have those joys, knowing it wouldn't matter soon. And you hugged her the last time, and told her she deserved happiness. And when you left without taking her it was like you were killing her yourself.

You want to take home everyone you're attached to. There's a college student you befriended in eighteen fifties Boston. And you can't help but see him try to solve problems you know humanity is centuries away from solving. And you just want to tell him. And it's not just that, the way he talked about the books and plays he likes, his sense of humor. There's so many people you want him to meet.

You feel the same way about a young woman you met on a viking age longship. She tells stories to her fellow warriors and traders, stories that will never fully get written down, stories that she tells so uniquely and so well. She has so many great ideas. You want so dearly to take her to somewhere she can share her stories, or where she can take classes with other writers, where she can be somewhere safe instead of being out at sea. She'll talk about wanting to be able to do something, or meet people, and you know you're so close to being able to take her, but you never can, unless she accidently finds out way too much then you can't.

You remember the longship that you met that young storyteller on. You were there before, two years ago for you, ten years later for the people on it. The young woman who told you stories wasn't there ten years later, you had been told why then but you only realize now, her uncle, who ran the ship, had been one of the first people to convert to Christianity in his nation. He killed her, either for not converting or for sleeping with women, you're not sure, but he killed her, and bragged about it when you met him ten years later.

You talk to the storyteller on the longship, ask her about the myths you're there to ask her about, the myths that she loves to tell. You look into her eyes knowing it's probably less then a year until her uncle takes her life. You ask her if you think that those who die of murder go to Valhalla. She tells you she hopes not, she doesn't see Valhalla as a gift but as a duty, she hopes for herself to go to Hel, where she wouldn't have to fight anymore. You slip and admit you're talking about her, telling her that you hope that's where she goes when she's killed. You hope to yourself you'll be forced to take her to the twenty first century, you're tempted even to make it worse, you want to have ruined her enough to be able to save her.

[memories-of-ancients]

Hey Everyone! Look at this Gold and Rock Crystal Bottle from the Galloway Hoard!

In September of 2014 an avid metal detectorist named Derek Mclennan discovered one of the grandest historical finds in Scottish archaeological history. While searching on church lands near Balmaghie, Mclennan uncovered the Galloway Hoard, a viking age treasure hoard consisting of over 100 objects dating to around 900 AD. While the hoard has some gold objects, most are silver including pieces of jewelry, hack silver, and silver ingots.

Among the objects, the most incredible is a rock crystal bottle that is decorated with gold. The bottle was found inside of a silk pouch, the silk coming from either Byzantium or Asia. The crystal jar itself is not from the middle ages but is Roman and dates to the 4th century. Later in the early middle ages the jar was decorated in gold filigree, at the behest of Bishop Hyguald according to an inscription on the gold work. While the identity of "Bishop Hyguald" is unknown, it is thought that he mostly likely came from Northumbria, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in northern England. Northumbria would be conquered and occupied by Danish Vikings in the 9th century, which explains how the bottle became a part of the Galloway Hoard.

Today, the bottle along with the rest of the Galloway Hoard is housed at the National Museum of Scotland

[illustratus]

The Sea Raiders by Albert Goodwin

Depicts four Snekkjas (Viking longships) at sea amidst a flock of seagulls

[broomsick]

Located in Denmark, Lake Tissø (Týr’s Lake) was probably one of the most prominent Týr cult sites of pre-Christian times. More than 12 000 objects have been excavated in this major holy site, many of which were gold or silver. It was customary to sacrifice weapons, tools or jewelry by throwing them into the waters of the lake, most likely as an offering to Týr or to ancestors. It was home to a large hall, a ritual hörgr and a handful of minor houses (ca. 550 – 650).

Some of the most famous artifacts excavated on the site include the Goats of Thórr brooch (late Iron Age), the 1.8 kg of gold neck ring (10th century), and the Valkyries (2nd is possibly Freyja) of Tissø.

[missallanious]

😔 he had to be donut’d eventually, even in my own au

(But he survives this one!! And Jotaro goes berserk lmao)

Still playing w the specifics, and the sketches are kinda sorta connected, but def gets hit with an arrow (shot from Dio’s longbow, the bastard), tbd on whether or not he’s with Jotaro or if his (unconscious) body is found later, both suck in different ways >:)

Also peep Jotaro giving Kakyoin the stink-eye in the first one,,,, he’s still just studying his eye color lmao but Kakyoin is STRESSIN

[oldschoolfrp]

Vikings and Saxons at war (The Palladium Book of Weapons and Armour by Matthew Balent, with armor illustrations by Mary Walsh and Kevin Siembieda, Palladium Books, 1981)

[gwydionmisha]

History Summarized: The Viking Age

[ltwilliammowett]

First fibula chain finished - made by myself

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"...SKULLSPLITTER, A BEING WITH THE BODY OF A MAN AND A HORNED DEMON'S HEAD."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on shots of the Skullsplitter 6" action figure, sworn enemy of Spawn the Bloodaxe, and part of Spawn Series 22 "Dark Ages Spawn: The Viking Age," released by McFarlane Toys in July 2002.

MINI-BIO: "Jorvak the Skullsplitter - named for his favorite deadly battle tactic -- led a band of rogue warriors. Though foul-tempered, Jorvak had known Erik Bloodaxe since childhood, where they fought mock battles as children do. But childish taunts turned to deep hated when Erik stole the heart of a young woman and humiliated Jorvak before all the surrounding villages. Fleeing to the surrounding hills, Jorvak prayed for redemption. But legend says he prayed not to Odin, but to Loki, the god of mischief and deceit. Loki granted Jorvak's desire in a devil's pact: revenge on Bloodaxe in return for an eternity of service. When the deal was done, Jorvak became simply Skullsplitter, a being with the body of a man and a horned demon's head."

-- MCFARLANE TOYS, c. 2002

Source: https://mcfarlane.com/toys/skullsplitter and www.pinterest.com/pin/skullsplitter-the-viking-age--259590365991527441.

[queenfredegund]

Women in History Month (insp) | Week 1: Leading Women

[ingloriousweasel]