132 Fun Facts About Vikings

Who was the Norse god primarily associated with thunder and storms?

Thor, the Norse thunder god, was the most widely worshipped deity of the late Viking Age; hammer amulets were worn in Scandinavia even as Christianity spread during the 10th century.

Iceland spar crystals, proposed as Viking navigation aids on overcast days, are nicknamed what?

Sunstones, likely calcite (Iceland spar), polarise light so the sun's position can be estimated under cloud; such a crystal was found in the 1592 Alderney shipwreck.

Which Norse explorer is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, about 500 years before Columbus?

Leif Erikson sailed from Greenland around 1000 CE and wintered in a region he called Vinland, roughly half a millennium before Christopher Columbus.

The raid on what monastery in 793 CE is often considered the beginning of the Viking Age?

The brutal attack on Lindisfarne monastery in Northumbria on June 8, 793 CE, sent shockwaves across Europe and is widely regarded as the start of the Viking Age.

Which Norman leader's 1170 capture of Dublin is taken as the end of Ireland's Viking Age?

Strongbow (Richard de Clare) and Diarmait Mac Murchada took Dublin from its Norse-Gaelic king Ascall mac Ragnaill in September 1170; Ascall was killed trying to retake it in 1171.

Which Danish king won the throne of England in 1016 through conquest?

Cnut the Great, son of Sweyn Forkbeard, became king of all England after Edmund Ironside died in November 1016, and later ruled Denmark and Norway as well.

Which group formed the aristocracy at the top of Viking society's three-tier class system?

Jarls formed the aristocracy of the three-tier society described in the Eddic poem Rígsþula; free farmers and the enslaved made up the two lower tiers.

Which weapon was the most common among the Scandinavian peasant class in the Viking Age?

The spear was the most common Viking Age weapon; a wealthy man might carry sword, shield and battle axe, while the average farmer had a spear, a shield and perhaps an axe or seax.

What term refers to Old Norse prose narratives of heroes and feuds, written mainly in Iceland?

Sagas are epic prose narratives, primarily written in Iceland during the 13th and 14th centuries, detailing historical events, legendary heroes, and family histories of the Norse people.

In 845, a Viking expedition sailed up which river to reach Paris?

The Seine carried Ragnar's fleet of some 120 ships to Paris in March 845; Charles the Bald paid about 7,000 livres of silver to make them leave.

Which 1066 clash is often cited as marking the traditional end of the Viking Age in England?

At Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066, Harold Godwinson's English army destroyed Harald Hardrada's Norwegian invasion force; Hardrada and Tostig Godwinson were both killed.

A medieval Swedish law barred inheritance while in 'Greece' to stem emigration to which Byzantine unit?

The Varangian Guard, the Byzantine emperors' Scandinavian bodyguard, drew so many Swedes that the Västgötalag denied inheritance to any man who stayed in 'Greece', the Norse name for Byzantium.

What hull feature let Viking longships sail metre-deep rivers and run straight onto beaches?

A shallow draft, with the hull drawing as little as a metre of water, let longships ascend rivers such as the Seine and beach directly for raids.

What metal, valued by weight and often cut into pieces, was the main medium of exchange in the Viking Age?

Silver, cut into hacksilver and weighed on portable scales, was the main medium of exchange; a Viking balance with weights was found on the Isle of Gigha.

Which English weekday takes its name from the hammer-wielding Germanic god?

Thursday comes from Old English Þunresdæg, 'Thunor's day'; Thunor was the English form of Thor, whose name derives from a Proto-Germanic word for thunder.

Which figure is credited with establishing the first Norse settlements in Greenland around 985 AD?

Erik the Red, after being banished from Iceland, explored and settled Greenland around 985 AD, establishing the Eastern and Western Settlements.

What was the main aim of the Great Heathen Army that landed in England in 865?

The Great Heathen Army came to conquer the four kingdoms rather than raid and leave; by 878 East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia had fallen and only Wessex held out.

Which part of his body did Odin famously sacrifice to drink from Mímir's well and gain immense wisdom?

He also won the mead of poetic inspiration, and the seeress in Völuspá tells him she knows where his eye is hidden.

What is the name of Thor's hammer in Norse mythology?

Mjölnir, Thor's hammer, was forged by the dwarves Brokkr and Eitri; Loki's meddling during the forging left its handle famously short.

In Norse mythology, what is Odin's hall called, where warriors slain in battle feast until Ragnarök?

Valhalla, meaning 'Hall of the Slain,' is Odin's majestic hall in Asgard where brave warriors who die in battle are taken by Valkyries to feast and prepare for Ragnarök.

According to one Norse account, who first sighted an unknown coast west of Greenland after being blown off course?

Bjarni Herjólfsson, per the Saga of the Greenlanders, sighted the unknown coast around 986 after being blown off course bound for Greenland; Leif Erikson later bought his ship to explore it.

What overlapping-plank shipbuilding technique made Viking longships flexible?

UNESCO added the Nordic clinker boat tradition to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December 2021.

In the Viking social hierarchy, which class were the free farmers, merchants and craftsmen?

Karls were the free farmers, craftsmen and merchants of the middle tier; Old English 'churl' and Norse 'húskarl' (household man) share the same root.

What name did the Norse give to Constantinople?

Miklagarðr, 'the great city', was the Norse name for Constantinople; runic graffiti scratched by a Norse visitor survives on a marble balustrade in the Hagia Sophia.

Besides his hammer, the thunder god's equipment includes iron gloves called Járngreipr and which belt?

Megingjörð, the 'power belt', doubles Thor's strength; Gleipnir is Fenrir's fetter, Draupnir Odin's ring and Brísingamen Freyja's necklace.

Erik the Red left Norway as a boy after his father Thorvald was banished for what?

Thorvald Asvaldsson was exiled from Norway for manslaughter around 960 and took his son to Iceland; Erik was later outlawed from Iceland for killings of his own.

What is the ancient Germanic alphabet Vikings carved into wood, stone and metal called?

Runes survive even in the Bluetooth logo, a bind rune combining the initials of the Danish king Harald Bluetooth.

What name, meaning 'Forest Land', did the Norse give the timber-rich coast west of Greenland?

Markland, 'Forest Land', was the wooded coast (probably Labrador) named by Leif Erikson; Icelandic annals record a Greenland ship fetching timber from Markland as late as 1347.

Odin's name stems from a Proto-Germanic theonym, Wōðanaz, meaning what?

Wōðanaz is usually glossed 'lord of frenzy' or 'leader of the possessed', from Proto-Germanic *wōðaz, 'frenzy, inspiration', the root also behind Old English wōd, 'mad'.

By 1103 the first archbishopric in Scandinavia had been founded in which town, then part of Denmark?

Lund, in Danish Skåne until 1658, received Scandinavia's first archbishopric in 1103–04 under Archbishop Asser; Nidaros followed in 1152–53 and Uppsala in 1164.

The first permanent Norse settlement in Iceland is traditionally attributed to which settler?

The Book of Settlements (Landnámabók) says Ingólfur Arnarson made his homestead at Reykjavík in 874, giving the future capital its name.

Being light, a longship could be carried over portages or turned bottom-up to serve as what?

Turned bottom-up, the light hull served as shelter in camps, and the same lightness let crews haul ships over portages between the rivers of the Rus' on the way to Byzantium.

Which Norse trickster god, son of a giant, brings about the death of Baldur?

Loki, son of the jötunn Fárbauti and Laufey, tricked the blind god Höðr into killing Baldur with a mistletoe dart.

Which island's parliament, the Tynwald, descends from its centuries of Norse rule?

The Isle of Man's parliament, Tynwald, takes its name from Old Norse þingvöllr, 'assembly field'; Norse kings of Mann and the Isles ruled the island from the 9th century.

The English called some Norse warships 'dragonships' because of a dragon decoration where?

A carved dragon head atop the bowstem gave 'dragonships' their name; the largest class was itself called dreki, while smaller types were the karve, snekke and skeið.

Which Frankish king granted the Duchy of Normandy to the Viking leader Rollo?

Charles the Simple ceded Rouen and the lower Seine to Rollo by the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911, in return for Rollo's defence against other Viking bands.

The lowest social class in Viking society, consisting of enslaved individuals, was known by what term?

Thralls were the enslaved bottom tier; the English verb 'to enthrall' derives from the same word and took its metaphorical sense in the 1570s.

What did the Norse find growing wild in Vinland, alongside self-sown wheat?

Grapes growing wild gave Vinland ('Wine Land') its name; the Saga of the Greenlanders says Leif's crew sailed home to Greenland in spring with a cargo of grapes and timber.

What was the name of the eight-legged horse ridden by Odin in Norse mythology?

Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse, was foaled by Loki in mare form; the 8th-century Tjängvide and Ardre picture stones on Gotland show eight-legged horses taken to be Sleipnir.

The Épinal-Erfurt glossary of c. 700 translates the Old English word 'wicing' into Latin as what?

The glossary renders 'wicing' as Latin piraticum, 'pirate', around 700 — almost a century before the Lindisfarne raid of 793, so the word predates the Viking Age itself.

The big square sails of Viking longships were woven from which material?

Viking sails were woven wool; the Gokstad ship's sail was nearly square, possibly 11 metres across, made of rough vaðmál cloth and probably striped or checked.

Which Norse goddess of love, fertility, war and death claims half the fallen for her realm, Fólkvangr?

Freyja is a prominent Norse goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, war, and death. She claims half of the warriors slain in battle for her hall, Fólkvangr.

The only confirmed Norse site in North America was found in 1960 on the northern tip of which island?

L'Anse aux Meadows sits at the northern tip of Newfoundland; butternuts found there, from a tree that does not grow on the island, point to voyages as far as New Brunswick.

Which Norse deities are associated with fertility, peace and prosperity, in contrast to the warlike Æsir?

The Vanir are a group of Norse deities primarily associated with fertility, wisdom, and foresight, often in contrast to the more warlike Æsir.

Which runic alphabet is recorded in full on Gotland's Kylver Stone of around 400 CE?

The Elder Futhark, 24 runes used from about the 2nd to the 8th century, appears in full on the Kylver Stone; Viking Age Scandinavians later replaced it with a shorter rune-row.

In which modern country was the Viking Oseberg ship excavated from a burial mound?

The Oseberg ship, a remarkably well-preserved Viking longship, was excavated from a large burial mound in Vestfold, Norway, in 1904.

Which of the Nine Worlds is the realm of humans in Norse cosmology?

Midgard, 'middle enclosure', is the world of humans in Norse cosmology, ringed by the ocean in which the serpent Jörmungandr lies.

In what year did Viking bands begin plundering monasteries on the coast of Gaelic Ireland?

Raids on Ireland began in 795, when the Annals of Ulster record the burning of Rechru (Rathlin or Lambay) by heathens, with Skye also laid waste that year.

The semi-legendary Viking Rurik is said to have taken control of which city in 862?

The Primary Chronicle says Rurik settled at Novgorod in 862; his kinsman Oleg took Kiev in 882, and the Rurikid dynasty ruled Russia until 1598.

Which of the following gods is NOT typically considered part of the Æsir pantheon in Norse mythology?

Freyr belongs to the Vanir, the fertility gods, and came to Asgard as a hostage after the Æsir–Vanir war; his name simply means 'the Lord'.

What was the legislative assembly founded by Norse settlers in Iceland around 930 AD called?

The Althing (Alþingi), founded around 930 at Þingvellir, the 'assembly fields' about 45 km east of modern Reykjavík, is among the world's oldest parliaments.

Which agreement of 886–890 established the Danelaw's boundaries and allowed Danish self-rule there?

The Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum fixed the boundary along the Thames, the Lea and Watling Street, leaving the Danes to keep their own laws in the Danelaw.

What kind of animal is Sæhrímnir, eaten nightly by the Æsir and einherjar and revived each day?

Sæhrímnir is a boar in Snorri's Gylfaginning; the cook Andhrímnir boils it each night in the cauldron Eldhrímnir, and it is whole again by morning.

Broader, deeper Norse ships known as knarrs were built primarily for what?

A common knarr was around 16 metres long, could carry up to 30 tons and relied mostly on sail, using oars only when the wind failed.

What was Erik the Red's main estate, deep inside Eriksfjord in Norse Greenland, called?

Brattahlid (Brattahlíð), Erik the Red's farm at the head of Eriksfjord (now Tunulliarfik), was the chief estate of Greenland's Eastern Settlement; its ruins lie at modern Qassiarsuk.

According to the Icelandic sagas, Ragnar Lodbrok was the son of which Swedish king?

Sigurd Ring (Sigurðr Hringr), the saga king who beat Harald Wartooth at Brávellir, is named as Ragnar Lodbrok's father in Ragnars saga loðbrókar.

Ivar the Boneless is sometimes identified with Ímar, a Viking king of which city from 870 to 873?

Ímar ruled Dublin from about 870 until his death in 873 and is often identified with Ivar; sagas explain 'the Boneless' variously as a skeletal condition, impotence or a curse.

Björn Ironside co-led a large raid in 859–861 into which sea?

The Mediterranean raid of 859–861, co-led by Hastein, sacked Luna in Italy, which the raiders reportedly mistook for Rome; sagas make Björn the ancestor of Sweden's house of Munsö.

Which Frankish ruler ordered a fleet and coastal guards against Viking raids around 800?

Charlemagne, the Royal Frankish Annals record, toured the Channel coast in 800 and ordered a fleet built and guard posts set up against Northmen pirates.

Rollo led an ill-fated siege of which French city in 911?

Rollo's siege of Chartres failed on 20 July 911 when Robert of Neustria and Richard of Burgundy relieved the city; the defeat led within months to his settlement in Normandy.

Which king is traditionally regarded as the first King of Norway, reigning from about 872?

Harald Fairhair (Hárfagri) is credited with uniting Norway after the Battle of Hafrsfjord, dated to about 872; some modern historians question whether he existed at all.

Harald Bluetooth was the son of which Danish king?

Gorm the Old, who died around 958, was the father of Harald Bluetooth; Harald's mother was Thyra, remembered as 'Dannebod', Denmark's adornment.

How many pounds of silver bought off Sweyn Forkbeard and Olaf Tryggvason's raids in 994?

Sweyn Forkbeard and Olaf Tryggvason took 16,000 pounds in 994 after their failed assault on London; later payments rose to 24,000 in 1002 and 36,000 in 1007.

Olaf Tryggvason is said to have founded which Norwegian city in 997?

Trondheim, founded as Kaupangen at the mouth of the Nidelva in 997, served as Olaf Tryggvason's royal seat; as Nidaros it later became the seat of Norway's archbishop.

Olaf II of Norway was posthumously given what title?

Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae, 'eternal king of Norway', was the title later attached to Olaf II; Bishop Grimkell declared him a saint in 1031, a year after he fell at Stiklestad.

Eric Bloodaxe was twice king of which Anglo-Saxon kingdom?

Eric Bloodaxe ruled Northumbria from York in 947–948 and 952–954 and was driven out for good in 954; he was also nicknamed Brother-Slayer.

Which Viking Age board game pitted a king and his defenders against a larger attacking force?

Hnefatafl set the king (hnefi) and his defenders at the board's centre against twice as many attackers; boards and pieces turn up in Viking graves and the game is named in the sagas.

Which Somerset marsh refuge sheltered Alfred the Great in early 878 before he rallied Wessex?

Athelney, an island in the Somerset Levels, was Alfred's base in early 878 after the Danes' surprise attack on Chippenham; from it he gathered the army that won at Edington.

Which brother of Ivar the Boneless co-led the army that marched north to York in the 860s?

Halfdan Ragnarsson led the Great Heathen Army with Ivar into Northumbria, taking York in November 866 while the rival kings Osberht and Ælla were fighting a civil war.

Which river carried the Rus' south to the Black Sea on the route to Constantinople?

The Dnieper formed the 'route from the Varangians to the Greeks'; Emperor Constantine VII described the Rus' portaging their boats around its rapids in De Administrando Imperio.

The Varangians who founded Kievan Rus' came mostly from which modern country?

They also formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard.

The name Rus' is thought to derive ultimately from an Old Norse root meaning what?

Rus' most likely comes, via the Finnic name Ruotsi, from Old Norse rōþr, 'rowing' — a term for the crews who rowed along the Baltic coast and the Russian rivers.

Which Norseman gave Iceland its name after seeing drift ice in a fjord, according to Landnámabók?

Flóki Vilgerðarson, nicknamed Hrafna-Flóki for the ravens he released to find land, named the island Ísland after seeing a fjord full of drift ice from a mountain.

The Gokstad ship was found in 1880 in a burial mound in which Norwegian county?

Vestfold's Gokstad mound at Sandar, near Sandefjord, was opened in 1880 after the farmer's sons had dug into it; Nicolay Nicolaysen led the excavation.

How many original Viking ships were salvaged from Roskilde Fjord between 1957 and 1962?

Five ships, the Skuldelev ships, were raised in 1962 after being scuttled around 1070 to block the fjord; all date from the 11th century and are shown at Roskilde's Viking Ship Museum.

Which Frankish king's Edict of Pîtres in 864 banned selling arms or horses to the Northmen?

Charles the Bald's Edict of Pîtres (864) forbade selling arms or horses to the Northmen and ordered fortified bridges such as Pont-de-l'Arche on the Seine.

The word 'berserkr' most likely meant what?

Berserkr most likely means 'bear-shirt' (ber- 'bear' + serkr 'shirt'), paralleling the wolf-warriors called úlfheðnar, 'wolf-coats'; Snorri's derivation from 'bare' is now doubted.

What does the word 'valkyrie' mean?

Valkyrie, Old Norse valkyrja, means 'chooser of the slain' (valr 'the slain' + kjósa 'to choose'); valkyries carry fallen warriors to Valhalla.

What kind of tree is Yggdrasil?

Yggdrasil is an ash — Völuspá calls it askr Yggdrasils — whose three roots reach the wells Urðarbrunnr, Hvergelmir and Mímisbrunnr.

Which squirrel lives within Yggdrasil in Norse myth?

Ratatoskr the squirrel runs up and down Yggdrasil carrying insults between the eagle at its crown and the dragon Níðhöggr gnawing its roots; Veðrfölnir is a hawk.

After Ragnarök, which two humans repopulate the world?

Líf and Lífþrasir survive Ragnarök hidden in Hoddmímis holt, live on the morning dew, and repopulate the world, as the poem Vafþrúðnismál tells it.

Which son of Odin is foretold to kill Fenrir after the wolf devours Odin?

Víðarr, Odin's son, avenges his father by killing Fenrir — in Snorri's account by pinning the wolf's lower jaw with his thick shoe and tearing its mouth apart.

Bifröst, the burning bridge to Asgard, ends at which residence of Heimdall?

Himinbjörg, 'heaven's cliffs', is Heimdall's hall at the end of Bifröst, where Grímnismál says he sits drinking good mead; Breidablik is Baldr's hall.

Heimdall is said to be the son of how many mothers?

Golden-toothed Heimdall owns the horn Gjallarhorn and the horse Gulltoppr.

Which Roman god did Latin writers usually equate with Týr?

Mars was the Roman equivalent of Týr, which is why dies Martis became Tuesday, 'Tiw's day'; Týr lost his right hand to the wolf Fenrir.

In the Prose Edda, Hel's appearance is described as half flesh-coloured and half what?

Snorri's Gylfaginning says Hel is half blue (blá) and half flesh-coloured, with a grim, gloomy look; Odin cast Loki's daughter into Niflheim to rule the dead.

The name of the Norn Urðr means what?

With Verðandi and Skuld she weaves fate and tends Yggdrasil; the Old English cognate is 'wyrd'.

Baldr owned Hringhorni, described as what?

His hall Breidablik was said to be the most beautiful place; his wife was Nanna.

Iðunn, keeper of the apples of youth, is the wife of which god?

Bragi, the god of poetry, is Iðunn's husband in the Prose Edda; Loki once lured her out of Asgard so the jötunn Þjazi could carry her off in eagle form.

The larger Jelling stone is popularly nicknamed what?

'Denmark's baptismal certificate' (Danmarks dåbsattest) is the nickname of the large stone Harald Bluetooth raised, whose inscription says he 'made the Danes Christian'; the site joined UNESCO's list in 1994.

Viking ring fortresses of the Trelleborg type are dated to around which year?

Dendrochronology dates Trelleborg's timbers to 980–981, in Harald Bluetooth's reign; the five Danish ring forts joined the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2023.

Birka, regarded as the oldest Swedish town, sits on an island in which lake?

Birka lies on the island of Björkö in Lake Mälaren; founded around 750, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with Hovgården, since 1993.

Which is the oldest town in Denmark?

Ribe, in southwestern Jutland, has traces of a trading place from about 705–710, making it Denmark's oldest town; its early 8th-century sceatta coins are among Scandinavia's first.

Which 11th-century chronicler described the pagan Temple at Uppsala?

Adam of Bremen described the Uppsala temple, with its statues of Thor, Wodan and Fricco, in his Gesta Hammaburgensis of about 1075; Snorri's Heimskringla also mentions it.

The Danevirke fortifications were last used for military purposes in which year?

The Danevirke was last used militarily in 1864, when the Danish army abandoned it on the night of 5–6 February during the Second Schleswig War.

The Cuerdale Hoard was found in 1840 on the bank of which English river?

The Cuerdale Hoard was unearthed by workmen on the bank of the Ribble near Preston in May 1840; its more than 8,600 items make it one of the largest Viking silver hoards ever found.

The 67-kilogram Spillings Hoard of Viking silver was found in 1999 on which island?

Gotland's Spillings Hoard, found in 1999, weighed 67 kg and held 14,295 coins, most of them Islamic dirhams; Gotland's farms have yielded hundreds of Viking Age silver hoards.

During the 885–886 siege of Paris, which count led the city's defence?

Odo, Count of Paris, held the city through the 885–886 siege and was elected king of West Francia in 888; Charles the Fat eventually paid the Vikings 700 livres to leave.

The first English Danegeld payment of 10,000 Roman pounds of silver followed which 991 defeat in Essex?

The Battle of Maldon, fought in August 991 near the Blackwater estuary, ended in English defeat; on Archbishop Sigeric's advice the king bought the Vikings off with 10,000 pounds.

Which English king ordered the St. Brice's Day massacre of Danes in November 1002?

Æthelred the Unready ordered the killing of Danes in England on St Brice's Day, 13 November 1002; skeletons of some 37 young men found at St John's College, Oxford, in 2008 are presumed victims.

Which Norse-Irish king fought Brian Boru at Clontarf in 1014?

Sigtrygg Silkbeard, Norse king of Dublin, was Brian Boru's chief opponent at Clontarf on Good Friday 1014, though he reportedly watched from the city while Sigurd of Orkney and Brodir of Mann led the fleets from abroad.

Which English earl led the doomed defence beside the River Blackwater in 991?

Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex, fell in the 991 battle by the Blackwater; the Old English poem about the fight embellishes his last stand, and Olaf Tryggvason may have led the Vikings.

Æthelstan defeated an alliance of Norse-Irish, Scots and Strathclyde Britons at which 937 battle?

Brunanburh (937) saw Æthelstan crush Olaf Guthfrithson of Dublin, Constantine II of Scotland and Owain of Strathclyde; some historians call it the birthplace of English national identity.

Before becoming king, Harald Hardrada spent about how many years in exile as a mercenary?

Harald Hardrada fled Norway after Stiklestad in 1030 and returned in 1045 — about 15 years, spent first with Yaroslav in Kievan Rus' and then as a Byzantine mercenary commander.

Ibn Fadlan's famous account of the Volga Vikings came from an embassy sent by which caliph?

Caliph al-Muqtadir sent the embassy that left Baghdad on 21 June 921 for the king of the Volga Bulgars; Ibn Fadlan, its secretary, described a Rus' ship cremation on the Volga.

Snorri Sturluson was twice elected to which office of the Icelandic Althing?

Snorri Sturluson served as lawspeaker (lögsögumaður) of the Althing in 1215–18 and 1222–31; he was killed at Reykholt in 1241 by men acting for King Hákon of Norway.

Which medieval Icelandic manuscript forms the basis of the Poetic Edda?

The Codex Regius, written around 1270, is the principal manuscript of the Poetic Edda, also called the Elder or Sæmundar Edda; Bishop Brynjólfur sent it to the Danish king in 1662.

The modern image of horned Viking helmets was popularised by whose operas?

Richard Wagner's Ring cycle, staged at Bayreuth in 1876 with costumes by Carl Emil Doepler, popularised horned helmets; Viking Age texts mention helmets often but not horned ones.

The TV drama Vikings, created by Michael Hirst, premiered in 2013 on which channel?

Vikings premiered on the History channel on 3 March 2013 and ran for six seasons; its sequel Vikings: Valhalla launched on Netflix in February 2022.

The Kensington Runestone, found in Minnesota in 1898, is internally dated to which year?

The Kensington Runestone's inscription claims a 1362 journey by Goths and Norwegians; Swedish immigrant Olof Ohman reported unearthing it in Douglas County, and scholars regard it as a 19th-century hoax.

Most of the Lewis chessmen are carved from what material?

Most Lewis chessmen are walrus ivory, with a few carved from whale teeth; found on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides in 1831, they are commonly thought to have been made in Trondheim.

Which university acquired the Vinland Map, later shown to be a 20th-century forgery?

Yale University received the Vinland Map in 1965 as a gift from Paul Mellon and published it as genuine; in 2021 Yale's own analysis declared it a 20th-century forgery.

Who proposed the name Bluetooth for the wireless standard in 1997?

Jim Kardach of Intel proposed 'Bluetooth' in 1997 after reading about Harald Bluetooth in Gwyn Jones's A History of the Vikings; Harald had united the Danes as the standard was to unite devices.

Which East Anglian king, killed by the Great Heathen Army in 869, became a saint?

Edmund, king of East Anglia, was killed by the Great Heathen Army in 869, traditionally shot with arrows and beheaded; his cult centred on Bury St Edmunds.

Around 900, which seafarer's ship drifted towards Greenland's coast on a voyage from Norway to Iceland?

Gunnbjörn Ulfsson, blown off course around 900 while sailing from Norway to Iceland, sighted islets later called Gunnbjarnarsker; Erik the Red followed his report westward in 982.

Which Danish bog find of about AD 300 is the earliest known overlapping-plank ship?

The Nydam boat, an oak vessel of about AD 310–320 found in a Jutland bog in 1863, is the earliest known ship of this overlapping-plank build; the technique later appears in the Sutton Hoo ship.

In 844 a Viking fleet sailed up which river to take Seville?

The Guadalquivir carried the fleet up to Seville, sacked in 844; Emir Abd al-Rahman II's forces then destroyed many of the raiders and their ships, and new defences discouraged further attacks.

How many ships sailed from the Loire on Hastein and Björn Ironside's 859–862 expedition?

Sixty-two ships left the Loire in 859 under Hastein and Björn Ironside; the fleet raided Iberia, North Africa and Italy before a much-reduced force returned in 862.

The Younger Futhark used by Viking Age Scandinavians has how many characters?

The Younger Futhark has 16 runes, down from the 24 of the older row, and came in long-branch (Danish) and short-twig (Swedish-Norwegian) styles.

Freyr's ship Skíðblaðnir can be folded up and carried in what?

Skíðblaðnir, built by dwarves, can be folded like a cloth and carried in a pouch, says Gylfaginning; Freyr also rides the boar Gullinbursti and gave away his sword to win Gerðr.

Which two wolves accompany Odin, alongside the ravens Huginn and Muninn?

Geri and Freki, 'the ravenous' and 'the greedy', are Odin's wolves, whom Grímnismál says he feeds at his own table; Vili and Vé are his brothers.

Thor's chariot is pulled by two goats named Tanngrisnir and what?

Tanngnjóstr ('teeth-grinder') and Tanngrisnir ('teeth-barer') pull Thor's chariot; he eats and resurrects them, and Þjálfi and Röskva became his servants after Þjálfi cracked a goat's bone.

Loki's wife, who collects the venom dripping onto him in a bowl, is called what?

Sigyn, Loki's wife, holds a bowl over his face to catch the serpent's venom while he lies bound; when she empties it, the drops make him writhe, causing earthquakes.

Which stave church, built around 1130, is believed the oldest of its kind and a UNESCO site since 1979?

Urnes stave church, on the Lustrafjord in Sogn, was built around 1130 reusing carved portal timbers from an 11th-century predecessor, and joined UNESCO's list in 1979.

Which Swedish king joined Sweyn Forkbeard against Olaf Tryggvason at Svolder in 1000?

Olof Skötkonung, later Sweden's first Christian king, joined Sweyn Forkbeard and Jarl Eirik Hákonarson at Svolder; the sagas blame Olaf's failed proposal to Sigrid the Haughty for the alliance.

Which missionary, the 'Apostle of the North', preached at Birka around 830 and later at Hedeby?

Ansgar, a Frankish monk from Corbie and later archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, preached at Birka around 830 and won leave to build a church at Hedeby around 850; Rimbert wrote his Life.

What did the Norse call the indigenous peoples they encountered in Vinland?

Skrælings (Skrælingjar) was the Norse name for the peoples met in Vinland and later in Greenland; the Vinland sagas describe both trading and fighting with them.

In what year were Hedeby and the Danevirke earthworks inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List?

Hedeby and the Danevirke were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018; excavations began in 1900, and the Hedeby Viking Museum opened beside the site in 1985.

Which 10th-century traveller described Hedeby as 'a very large city at the very end of the world's ocean'?

Ibrahim ibn Yaqub (al-Tartushi), a traveller from al-Andalus, visited Hedeby around 965 and left a vivid account of its people, their singing and their worship.

Who was the first Christian Viking king of York, taking the throne in 883?

Guthred (Guthfrith), by tradition a former slave, was made king of York around 883 with the backing of the community of St Cuthbert; he was buried in York Minster in 895.

The Oseberg ship, excavated near Tønsberg in 1904–05, was the grave of how many women, buried with a hoard of goods?

Two female skeletons and a considerable number of grave goods were found by Swedish archaeologist Gabriel Gustafson and Norway's Haakon Shetelig.

Besides twelve horses and six dogs, which exotic bird's bones were laid around the man buried in the Gokstad ship?

A peacock's bones lay among the grave goods of the Gokstad ship; the man buried there around 900 was of powerful build, roughly six feet tall and aged forty to fifty.