Wikipedia:WikiProject Norse history and culture

 Welcome to WikiProject Norse history and culture. You can help by writing new articles, expanding articles, or by looking over recent edits. For general discussion, see the talk page.



The Norse history and culture WikiProject is a collaboration area and group of editors dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of the history, culture, language, and religion of the Norse people, both at home in Scandinavia and in their many overseas colonies through the ages, up to the time of the Kalmar Union in 1397. The best-known time period covered by this project is the Viking Age, but the focus will also be on the less-well known Nordic Bronze Age, Pre-Roman Iron Age, and the Norsemen during the High Middle Ages (c. 1000-1300).

Find articles to expand

 * Our most popular articles
 * Important short articles and important stub articles (see the assessment table below for more classes)

Article requests
You can add your requests to this list:
 * Þórarinn Ragabróðir Óleifsson

Look over recent edits
You can look over recent edits and make sure that all additions are quality additions.

Featured content

 * [[Image:Cscr-featured.svg|12px]] Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
 * [[Image:Cscr-featured.svg|12px]] Battle of Svolder
 * [[Image:Cscr-featured.svg|12px]] Caspian expeditions of the Rus
 * [[Image:Cscr-featured.svg|12px]] Constantine II of Scotland
 * [[Image:Cscr-featured.svg|12px]] Greece Runestones (featured article of the day 9 March 2009)
 * [[Image:Cscr-featured.svg|12px]] Henry (Bishop of Finland)
 * [[Image:Cscr-featured.svg|12px]] Kylfings
 * [[Image:Cscr-featured.svg|12px]] Sviatoslav I of Kiev

Featured lists

 * [[Image:Cscr-featured.svg|12px]] List of valkyrie names in Norse mythology

Former featured articles

 * Gunnhild, Mother of Kings
 * Hrafnkels saga

A-Class Articles

 * [[Image:Symbol a class.svg|14px]] Kenneth mac Alpin

Good Articles

 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Ask and Embla
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Barnstokkr
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Bolli Bollasson
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Brodir and Ospak of Man
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Dagr
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Dellingr
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Fenrir
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Fensalir
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Fólkvangr
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Haraldskær Woman
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Harald Maddadsson
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Hel (being)
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Hjúki and Bil
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Hlín
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Iðunn
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Jarlshof
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Njörðr
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Norse funeral
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Nótt
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Olaf the Peacock
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Oleg of Novgorod
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Ragnarök
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Ratatoskr
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Raven banner
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Rus'-Byzantine War (860)
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Sif
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Sigtrygg Silkbeard
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Sigyn
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Sleipnir
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Sól (Sun)
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Sumarr and Vetr
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Tafl games
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Thomas (Bishop of Finland)
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Þorgerðr Hölgabrúðr and Irpa
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Urðarbrunnr
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Valhalla
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Valkyrie
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Víðarr
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|12px]] Æsir-Vanir War

Did You Know? selection

 * ...that Ardre image stones were used as paving under the wooden floors of a local church in the Ardre parish of Gotland? --26 November 2004
 * ...that, according to Ahmed ibn Fadlan, the supreme ruler of the Rus' Khaganate "had no duties other than to make love to his slave girls, drink, and give himself up to pleasure"? --19 October 2006
 * ... that the Rus merchants travelling along the Volga trade route (pictured) brought goods from Northern Europe and Northwestern Russia as far as Baghdad? --27 October 2006
 * ...that the Siege of Constantinople by the Rus in 860 is known primarily from the writings of Patriarch Photius, who referred to the invaders as "a swarm of wasps" and compared their attack to "a thunderbolt from heaven"? --31 October 2006
 * ...that Öpir, the "shouter", was the most productive of the old Viking runemasters? --18 January 2007
 * ...that Bolli Bollasson, a character in the Medieval Icelandic Laxdœla saga, is credited as the first West Norse member of the Varangian Guard (pictured)? --29 January 2007
 * ...that the Piraeus Lion is an ancient Greek statue "embellished" with runic graffiti by Varangians? --2 February 2007
 * ...that Kveldulf Bjalfasson, a ninth-century Norwegian landowner and grandson of the Viking Egill Skallagrímsson, was reputed to be an ulfhéðinn or werewolf? --27 April 2007
 * ...that Gunnhild, "Mother-of-Kings", the wife and queen of Erik Bloodaxe of Norway, was rumored to be a witch? --12 July 2007
 * ...that the Simris Runestones (pictured) include one of the earliest Scandinavian sources that mention Sweden? --19 February 2008
 * ...that "quickfire", a form of arson employed in Scandinavian blood feuds, was punishable by death only if the perpetrator was caught in the act and killed at the scene of the crime? --19 February 2008
 * ... that the Uppland runestone U 328 (pictured) is an example of the Ringerike style?" --15 May 2008
 * ... that the Skaga stave church was built in the 1130s to Christianise the area, but was demolished in 1826 as a stronghold of remaining Norse paganism? --8 August 2008
 * ... that enemies of Viking chieftain Tryggve the Pretender claimed he was the bastard son of a priest? --15 August 2008
 * ... that the Hiberno-Norse King of Dublin, Sigtrygg Silkbeard, established Ireland's first mint (coin of Sigtrygg pictured) in the 990s at Dublin? --17 March 2009
 * ... that Brodir and Ospak of Man were two 11th-century Danish brothers who fought on opposite sides at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014? --17 March 2009
 * ... that in 1029, the ransom of the Hiberno-Norse prince Amlaíb mac Sitriuc included over 1,200 cows, 60 ounces of gold and of silver, "the sword of Carlus", and a large number of Irish hostages? --23 March 2009
 * ... that after the Battle of Glenmama in the Wicklow Mountains in 999, Brian Boru's Munster forces occupied the city of Dublin for over a week? --24 March 2009
 * ... that the Fyrby Runestone claims two brothers were the most skilled in runes in Middle Earth? --1 March 2010
 * ... that the Lund 1 Runestone depicts two wolves that have a sword and shield strapped to their bodies?" --5 May 2010
 * ... that an invocation to the Norse god Thor is hidden on the Sønder Kirkeby Runestone using bind runes located in the waves under a ship image? --31 July 2010
 * ... that on Swedish runestone Sö Fv1948;295, the  R  rune Runic letter algiz.svg is represented by the shape of the tongue of a serpent? --16 September 2010
 * ... that the Swedish runestone Östergötland Runic Inscription MÖLM1960;230 is one of four runestones that mention guilds that existed in Sweden during the Viking Age?

Adopting a page
The whole goal of this project is to try to get as many articles to the status of Good articles or A-Class status, and then eventually become a featured article. If you would like to adopt one of the following pages and work it to "Good article" or "A-Class article" status, then please notify us here. Here is the list:
 * Beowulf (hero)
 * Geat
 * Jomvikings --
 * Njál's saga
 * Nordic Bronze Age
 * Olaf I of Norway
 * Old Norse --
 * Quickfire -- for the time being
 * Runestone
 * Tollund Man

If you would like to adopt one of these pages, then please sign your name next to the article. Feel free to add additional articles you believe are close to GA status and would like to adopt.

Template:WikiProject Norse history and culture
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Barnstar
—an award placed at another users talk page for significantly improving articles related to Norse history and culture.

Categories

 * Category:Norse people
 * Category:Scandinavian archaeology
 * Category:Archaeology of Sweden
 * Category:Norse mythology
 * Category:Germanic peoples
 * Category:Scandinavian history
 * Category:History of Norway
 * Category:History of Denmark
 * Category:History of Sweden
 * Category:History of Iceland
 * Category:Norse history and culture
 * Category:Pre-Viking Scandinavia
 * Category:Nordic Bronze Age
 * Category:Pre-Roman Iron Age
 * Category:Viking Age
 * Category:Anglo-Norse England
 * Category:Battles involving the Vikings
 * Category:Norse hundreds
 * Category:Picture stones
 * Category:Viking Age monarchs
 * Category:Viking exploration of North America
 * Category:Viking Age people
 * Category:Anglo-Norse people
 * Category:Viking Age clergy
 * Category:Heroes in Norse myths and legends
 * Category:Lawspeakers
 * Category:Viking Age monarchs
 * Category:Normans
 * Category:Norse-Gaels
 * Category:Clan Donald
 * Category:Clan MacDougall
 * Category:Norse-Gaelic monarchs
 * Category:Viking Age poets
 * Category:Viking Age women
 * Category:Viking Age populated places
 * Category:Viking practices
 * Category:Runology
 * Category:Runes
 * Category:Runic inscriptions
 * Category:Runic manuscripts
 * Category:Runestones
 * Category:Runestones in memory of Viking warriors
 * Category:Old Norse literature
 * Category:Old Norse prose
 * Category:Sagas
 * Category:Chivalric sagas
 * Category:Sagas of Icelanders
 * Category:Kings' sagas
 * Category:Legendary sagas
 * Category:Saga locations
 * Category:Sagas of saints
 * Category:Þættir
 * Category:Old Norse poetry
 * Category:Eddic poetry
 * Category:Skaldic poetry
 * Category:Vikings
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon people
 * Category:Angles
 * Category:Jutes
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon England
 * Category:8th century in England
 * Category:9th century in England
 * Category:10th century in England
 * Category:11th century in England
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon paganism
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon archaeology
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon architecture
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon art
 * Category:Battles involving the Anglo-Saxons
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon Christianity
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon documents
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon law
 * Category:Monarchs of Anglo-Saxon England
 * Category:Norman conquest of England
 * Category:Anglo-Norse England
 * Category:Anglo-Norse people
 * Category:House of Godwin
 * Category:Anglo-Norse monarchs
 * Category:Norse monarchs of East Anglia
 * Category:Monarchs of Jorvik
 * Category:Old English language
 * Category:Old English literature
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon people
 * Category:Petty kingdoms of England
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon society
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon treaties
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon royalty
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon slaves
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon thegns
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon women
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon writers
 * Category:Anglo-Saxon poets

Participants
Please feel free to add yourself here, and to indicate any areas of particular interest.


 * : Norse and Icelandic sagas, Norse mythology (and compared mythology), Vikings, Normans, Rus' and Varangian peoples.
 * Norse sagas, Norse mythology...
 * (Norse sagas, settlements in the British Isles, early Iceland, the Rus'.)
 * (Norse and Icelandic sagas, the Rus' and Varangian peoples, and other medieval activity.)
 * Local and regional history, architectural manifestations of Norse history, ethnology, early Christian history in Norway.
 * The Rus' and Varangians, Norse mythology
 * Why not?
 * (just another user)
 * General Norse people and historical events.
 * Literature and history
 * Mythology and literature
 * Anything, though I am especially interested in the futhark and Norse Mythology
 * Literature/Poetry/Mythology
 * Literature/poetry/mythology/contemporary scholarship
 * Tom.mevlie (talk) 00:23, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
 * TeamZissou
 * bloodofox: (talk) 10:35, 16 May 2008 (UTC) (Norse paganism and mythology.)
 * (Norse mythology, runic studies.)
 * IGuNny (talk) Viking settlements and southern Norway.
 * Kivar2 (talk) 16:49, 11 June 2008 (UTC) - Mostly mythology
 * WikieWikieWikie My interest is in Norse involvement in the British Isles mainly, with especial interest in Cnut the Great.
 * (Norse mythology, just about anything.)) Currently attempting to assess all article tagged in the project.
 * Robert Greer (talk) 15:51, 14 November 2008 (UTC) My interest piqued last summer reading Moberg's Min svenska historia while on vacation in Sweden.
 * H2ostra originally became interested through Viking metal, now genuinely interested in Norse mythology and ancient culture
 * JanderVK Germanic history and Asatru
 * 10th and 11th century Insular Scandinavians
 * language, mythology/religion, legend, literature, history
 * BodvarBjarki (talk) Norse and Anglo-Saxon philology, history, archaeology, etc.
 * Loki Clock: Language, Mythology, general
 * Anything, notably Norse military history
 * Mythology, literature, specific people and events, archaeological evidence.
 * , Norse-Gaels, history of the Norse in Ireland, whose history is lost
 * , Norse, anything Norse but technology and war tactics is what I like most and all runic alphabet.
 * . Interested in Viking history in general, and love reading sagas and the eddas, amongst others. Particularly mythological themes in the sagas (refer to Hilda Ellis Davidson's works!) and the survival of paganism interests me, but not Asatru.
 * - My interest is in Norse settlements on the British Isles, the Danelaw (as the area I grew up was right in the heart of the Danelaw, genealogy as I find it is interesting to see how many people in Britain (especially on the East coast and East Midlands of England) are of Norse ancestry.
 * Germanic philology, history - especially relating to military history - literature - especially the fornaldarsögur - and mythology.
 * . Norse influence on Normandy.
 * Nora lives
 * Norvegia suecica - Scandinavian history in general, with a focus on Bahusian.
 * JG 28 (talk). Icelandic Sagas and the Eddas.
 * - Interested in Norse mythology in general
 * Literature and Mythology
 * Norse mythology and legends, other folklore, Icelandic sagas and other medieval Icelandic literature, medieval and later Icelandic and general Norse history and culture
 * Norse influence on the British Isles: Dublin, Danelaw etc.
 * - Norse history in general, particularly events which took place in the British Isles and Ireland.
 * - The language, Mythology, Eddas, and the change from Old Norse down to the modern languages.
 * - More of an expert of medieval German, but interested in the intersections between the two in heroic poems.
 * -Interested in Germanic mythology, comaprison with other Indo-European myths, and the Anglo-Saxon settlement of England.
 * - General Scandinavian history, with a slight focus on the early-modern period.
 * - Ancient Europe, runes, ogham and any ancient writing form
 * Skullovitch- General history
 * Norse influence on the British Isles: Dublin, Danelaw etc.
 * - Norse history in general, particularly events which took place in the British Isles and Ireland.
 * - The language, Mythology, Eddas, and the change from Old Norse down to the modern languages.
 * - More of an expert of medieval German, but interested in the intersections between the two in heroic poems.
 * -Interested in Germanic mythology, comaprison with other Indo-European myths, and the Anglo-Saxon settlement of England.
 * - General Scandinavian history, with a slight focus on the early-modern period.
 * - Ancient Europe, runes, ogham and any ancient writing form
 * Skullovitch- General history
 * - Ancient Europe, runes, ogham and any ancient writing form
 * Skullovitch- General history

Resources
For spelling of Old Norse names, see Naming conventions (Norse mythology).
 * Heimskringla, an online collection of Old Norse source material
 * Icelandic Saga Database, the Icelandic sagas available in many languages
 * MeNoTA public texts - Facsimile, diplomatic, and normalized transcriptions of Old Norse manuscripts, for instances where primary sources are appropriate.
 * Northvegr.org
 * Viking Answer Lady
 * Viking Society for Northern Research web publications (some papers and their journal Saga-Book from 1992 to 2005)
 * Hurstwic

Work group (task force)

 * Runic studies, also a subgroup of the Ancient Germanic studies WikiProject

Related WikiProjects
Ancient Germanic studies • Denmark • England • European history • Finland • Greenland • Ireland • Iceland • Medieval Scotland • Military history/Nordic military history task force • Normandy • North East England • Norway • Russian History • Sweden