Völva, Iron Age seeress and her magic wand

posted in: archaeology 0

(Original article 5/10/2017) As Samhain, Halloween and their Finnish counterpart Kekri are near it is a good moment to get inspired by seeresses, witches and shamans. The seers who could connect to the other worlds and see the future and the past. The North has been full of these sorcerers and seers before Christianity arrived and even after it but with a lower profile. The Stone Age rock paintings in Finland depict shamans and their assisting animals. The Sámi “noaid”, … Read More

Runic Inscriptions II – Love

posted in: archaeology, runes 0

(Original article 1/2018) Valentine’s day is soon so I thought that I should share some love related runic inscriptions here. Some of them I have already mentioned before here on my blog. The oldest love related runic inscriptions not necessarily deal with romantic love as we understand it today. The idea of romantic love is thought to have developed later in the Middle Ages, in the 12th century, with the troubadour culture. The purpose of the oldest, short inscriptions was … Read More

Visit to Vikingaliv museum in Stockholm

posted in: archaeology, vikings 0

(Original article 25/4/2019) Last December we made a trip to Stockholm and the Viking Museum, Vikingaliv. Vikingaliv is a nice little museum/experience in Djurgården. Upstairs is the actual museum room and downstairs there is a cart ride into a Viking saga. The upstairs museum is very child-friendly. There is a lot to try out and also some original items are exhibited. You can climb on board of a Viking boat and write your name on a board with runes. For … Read More