Painting of Vikings in ships

Viking

An illustration showing a Viking wearing a silver helmet that comes down over his eyes, holding a circular shield and an axe. Behind him is a large yellow building with arches, tall purple trees and a few other Vikings running along a path

It was an "extravaganza of brutality": how the Vikings menaced the Mediterranean. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This 12th-century tapestry detail from Skog Church in Hälsingland, Sweden, depicts key figures from Norse mythology. Odin appears on the left, one-eyed and carrying an axe beside the sacred tree on which he sacrificed himself; Thor stands at the centre with his hammer, Mjölnir; and the fertility god Frey holds an ear of corn.

Thor was the Vikings’ “archetypal masculine god” – so why did he dress as a bride?

Inside the Viking battle of the genders. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Everything you think you know about Vikings is WRONG. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This illustration depicts Viking ships arriving in Britain. Though produced centuries after the earliest raids, it reflects how the impact of Norse invasions remained vivid in medieval memory and manuscript culture.

Forget the longships: this is the overlooked story of how the Vikings dominated eastern Europe

This 6th-century matrix from Torslunda, Sweden, was used to create helmet plaques depicting armed figures — likely berserkers — wearing horned helmets with bird motifs and animal masks. Such imagery evokes the warrior culture later embraced by Viking champions like Thorkell the Tall, a famed Jomsviking commander known for his fierce loyalty and shifting allegiances during the early 11th century.

Who was Thorkell the Tall? The pragmatic Viking warrior who fought for (and against) all sides

A painting depicting Rurik and his brothers arriving in Staraya Ladoga, a scene based on the legend of the Varangian invitation, in which Norse leaders were asked to bring order to the Slavic lands. Rurik’s arrival marked the legendary founding of the first ruling dynasty of Rus’, a key moment in the early history of Eastern Europe.

Why does Putin think Ukraine should be Russian? It’s all to do with the Vikings

How did the Vikings shape Russia and Ukraine?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This 1877 painting by Oscar Wergeland depicts Norwegian settlers arriving in Iceland in 872. Fleeing the unification of Norway under Harald Fairhair, these early migrants laid the foundations of a unique Norse society on the island’s volcanic shores.

Could you survive on the Vikings’ furthest frontier? Here’s the dark reality of Norse life on the edge

Juliet Stevenson as Emma of Normandy in BBC drama King and Conqueror (Photo via BBC)

Emma of Normandy: not just a two-time queen consort of England

This illustration from the Arnamagnæan Collection in Denmark depicts Eric the Red, the Norse explorer who founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland around AD 985.

A thousand years ago, the Vikings had a shock encounter with Native Americans that ended in disaster

Erik the Red: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In his mother’s womb, he was fated to avenge his father – how was pregnancy understood in the Viking age?

A depiction of King Æthelred II holding a sword

The St Brice’s Day Massacre: what really happened?

The coronation of Harold Godwinson as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry

Is this toilet the ultimate Anglo-Saxon status symbol? Inside Harold II’s ‘ensuite’

A fragment of a tapestry showing a Viking horseman adorned in armour

The real Viking Age: when did the era of Norse expansion start and end?

An illustration of Vikings sailing on a longship across the Atlantic

General History

Who owns Greenland? Why the island's history is more complicated than you think

Reading the runes: uncovering the everyday lives of the Vikings. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Rune stone. (Photo by Getty Images)

Reading the runes: what we can learn about everyday life in the Viking Age. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ordinary Vikings: hidden histories of the Nordic world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Week fourViking Kingdoms. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Week threeEveryday Life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Week twoTrading and exploring. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Week oneThe Viking Raids. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A warrior battling a dragon in Skyrim concept art.

Best Viking videogames for history enthusiasts in 2025

Frida Gustavsson as Freydís Eiríksdóttir in season 3 of Vikings: Valhalla

Was Freydís Eiríksdóttir a hero or a deranged murderess?

Leo Suter as Harald Sigurdsson in season 3 of Vikings: Valhalla

Vikings: Valhalla ending explained: here’s what would have happened in season 4, according to history

Painting of the Wild Hunt of Odin

Norse gods and goddesses: 14 of the most important deities venerated by the Vikings

Beowulf: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An amulet depicting Thor’s hammer, Mjollnir, which he wielded with devastating effect against his foes in Norse mythology (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Old Norse poetry: how the Vikings viewed the world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.