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Tag Archives: sagas

A long time ago on an island far far away… Posted by on Nov 14, 2012

Jóði hét maðr, sonr Gormóar. Jóði var maðr lítill, en svá sterkr, at eigi váru hans jafningjar. En er hann var á unga aldri, lá hann í víkingu ok herjaði. “The man’s name was Yoda, he was Gormo’s son. Yoda was a small man but so strong that no one was his match. When he…

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The mystery of shieldmaidens. Posted by on Oct 3, 2012

“…no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” ~Éowyn, battle of Pelennor fields, J.R.R. Tolkien It’s perhaps hard to say…

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Ready, steady, recite! Posted by on Sep 5, 2012

Did you know that the world tungl (= moon)* has been said to be the hardest word of Icelandic to rhyme? According to a story by Jón Árnason there’s only ever been one man capable of finding a rhyme for it, a famous skáld (= poet) called Kolbeinn Jöklaskáld (= Kolbeinn glacier poet). One time…

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Homosexuality in the viking era. Posted by on Aug 16, 2012

Last weekend’s Gay Pride reminded me of another topic that I’ve been thinking of writing about for a while now: homosexuality in viking era Iceland. Despite of what some of the legends of the Norse gods such as Ása-Þór, Loki and Ódinn suggest, attitudes seemed to have been somewhat against it in everyday life and…

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