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The Swedish History And Viking Age Blog

5 must see places while in Stockholm

While visiting Stockholm city, or planing to visit, there is a lot of places around worth seeing. But what places are the 5 most iconic places to se inside the borders of the city of Stockholm. Places you can’t miss while being here. 1. Stockholm Old Town This is the heart of Stockholm city, the medieval town of Stockholm with an exterior from 1600ds and 1700ds often hiding medieval building and a place full of fascinating stories. There are a bunch of tours set in old town but all kind of operators and Sweden History Tours focus here are on “dark folklore ghost walks”, “Bloody Stockholm tour” or “Stockholm’s main attractions” whom are our “Stockholm must see tour”. 2. Vasa Museum The world’s only complete 17th C ship, a mega ship of it’s time so unique and big that the…

Ögonvittnet om Stockholms blodbad – 500 år idag

“den 8 november…lät han (Kristian) halshugga två biskopar, Vincent av Skara och Matthias av Strängnäs, riddare och adelsmän, borgmästare, rådmän och borgare – över 120 personer – och jag, Olaus Magnus, kanik från Linköping, beskådade allt detta med fasa.” Denna översättning till svenska från latin, nedskriven av Olaus Magnus i brodern Johannes Magnus bok, skildrar…

VIKING NORSE LOAN WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Most of us have probably heard about the Vikings plundering in England. The English people were not only affected by the warfare of the Vikings but also their the Viking impact on English language. The trading and raiding were not the main source of the loan words that came into the English language but the…

Warfare of the Vikings – A mix of myths and truths

The view of the Viking warfare The view of the Viking warfare is often the glorified romantic one. The mighty long-boats with big dragons in the front and the red and white sail. A real Viking man is a big and strong macho-man and he wears a horned-helmet in the battle, yielding his axe in…

The Rune Kingdom – a viking age tourist destination north of Stockholm.

Our guided Viking tours take place in an area called the Rune Kingdom. Situated just north of Stockholm, this is an ideal excursion for any tourist coming over to experience Swedish culture and history. It is called the Rune Kingdom because it has rune stones by the 9 sights in the area. Rune stones were commemoration monuments that the Vikings put up to honor a dead family member. But you can see much more than just rune stones. The rune kingdom contains a Viking parliament, Viking bridge, two medieval churches and much more. The idea of the Rune Kingdom. Stockholm county museum wanted an area to where people could learn about and experience Viking culture and history. The Täby-Vallentuna area was a great choice because it is one of the world’s most Viking dense areas. In the area we find…

4 Swedish cities and towns with stunning Viking history

Want to know some of the Viking History that Swedish towns and cities have to offer? If YES, then read below.   Uppsala Uppsala was a national center of the Svear (“swedes”) kingdom in the Viking age, especially before the Christianization of the country. In Uppsala there was pagan feasts that German church historian Adam…

Swedish Vikings and the Eastern World

Swedish Vikings and the Eastern World – Vikings in Russia There are evidence for that a East Slavic empire was created by Vikings in Russia. A Viking called Oleg in Russian. This information comes from the “The Russian Primary Chronicle” that tells about Oleg and the foundation of Kievan Rus. Oleg took control of Kiev in around 882 and the city/town became the capital of the empire. It should be said though before I continue this text that there are a lot of speculation regarding this matter and controversy.  Some view the Swedish Vikings as the origin of the Russian nation, and you can imagine the controversy in that. And also some more background on this story. VIKINGS/SWEDES IN THE EAST, EARLY SIGNS. It is known that even before the Viking age (650-800) Scandinavians established colonies at the shores of…

ANGUS – CO-FOUNDER OF TIME TRAVEL TOURS – VIKING HISTORY TOURS

ANGUS CARLSSON I’m a native of Stockholm County and dedicated to tell you about the history of my county. My trips are focused on the epochs of history and the people who lived back then. I will take you back in time! I am very interested in history and service. I have worked as a guide before I started the company and been praised by both Swedish and international visitors. I grew up in Orkesta, a parish with a lot of history. From an early age, I have been interested in the past and how it lives on in today’s society. I will guide you in Swedish or English. I became I guide because I’m passionate about history. I love to educate and entertain people about it. I have always been very interested in this subject and History was my…

Knattleikr – Viking ”Field Hockey”

The Icelandic Sagas are a big source to our knowledge about the Viking cultures of the Scandinavian-speaking Nordic countries (Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway). Many different researching fields are having a significant use of them. Examples are religious studies and cultural history, but these are only two of many fields. What about sports for example? Did the Vikings performed any sporting activities? The answer is yes, they had many sports. Ice skating, wrestling, board games, horse fights and knattleikr. This article is going to focus on knattleikr. But you can read more about other Viking sports on this link: http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/games_and_sports.htm THE SAGA SOURCES ABOUT KNATTLEIKR AND VIKING SPORTS In the Egill Skallagrimssons saga it is written about the game. It was played with a ball and a bat/stick but we do not know the rules of the game. The equipment they used…

INFOGRAPHIC: 5 PERHAPS SURPRISING VIKING FACTS – LEARN ABOUT THE SEAFARING CULTURE!

  VIKING FACTS INFOGRAPHIC IN NORMAL TEXT FORM, READ BELOW.  THE HORNED HELMETS ARE A MYTH. The first “surprise” is today not so suprising any longer to all. You have likely heard about the fierce Vikings with horn helmets. Vikings did plunder and was in that sense fierce. But there is not historical or archaeological…