Viking life and culture

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

Rune stone. (Photo by Getty Images)

Reading the runes: what we can learn about everyday life in the Viking Age

Ordinary Vikings: hidden histories of the Nordic world

Painting of the Wild Hunt of Odin

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

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

Viking ships arriving in Britain, c1130.

"A Viking wedding involved a bed and eight people", plus four other facts about the Vikings you might not know...

Vikings podcast episodes

Daily life, with Professor Ryan Lavelle

Vikings quiz - week two

Bradley James as Jomsvikings leader Harekr in season 2 of Vikings: Valhalla

JomsvikingsLegendary Viking mercenaries or men of myth?

This statue of Alfred the Great stands in Winchester, the former 'capital' of his kingdom (Photo by TonyBaggett via Getty Images)

What if...Alfred the Great lost to the Vikings at the battle of Edington?

Stone engraved with the representation of the gods Odin, Thor and Frey, with a sacrifice to Odin

Christians and pagans in Norse society: the real religious rifts between Vikings

A Viking ship is burned in a reproduction of a funeral

What do we know about Viking funerals?

A 12th century tapestry showing, on the left, one eyed Odin carrying an axe, with a representation of the tree from which he hung; in the centre, Thor, carrying his symbolic hammer in his right hand; and on the right the fertility god Frey holding an ear of corn

10 incredible Viking stories from Norse mythology

A carving of the Viking gods Odin, Thor and Freyr with a sacrifice above them. It was found on the Swedish island of Gotland (Photo by: PHAS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Gods, myths and rituals: what we know about Viking religious beliefs

A French manuscript from c1100 shows Viking warriors sailing to Brittany. The Viking Age touched all areas of life and can still be felt today

What if...The Vikings had never left their homelands?

Viking sailors make the long voyage across the Atlantic between Europe and America, in order to bring back timber, circa 1350. The Vikings are thought to have discovered America in around 1000 AD, but never attempted full colonization of the new land, due to the hostile natives. Painting by NC Wyeth. (Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

"Vikings didn't wear horned helmets," plus 7 more Viking myths busted

A reconstruction of a Viking church

Vikings in America: the Europeans who arrived 500 years before Columbus

c900 AD, Viking ships invading England. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

5 key Viking discoveries in Britain – and what they reveal about how the Vikings really lived

In partnership with Jorvik Viking Centre

Cat JarmanHistory of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Road

Viking women gathered outside a home - illustration

What was life like for Viking women?

Science is helping to reveal new information about life in the Viking Age

Vikings under the microscope: what can science tell us about Viking life?

Vikings in North America

The Vikings’ global connections

A guide to the Norse gods

Statue of Leif Erikson (Leifur Erikssonn) in front of Eric the Red's home. (Photo by Draper White, Getty Images)

Leif Erikson’s voyage to Vinland

Alexander Ludwig as Bjorn Ironside, son Ragnar Lothbrok and king of Kattegat

Vikings Season 6: plot recap, plus 8 historical questions answered

Alex Hogh Andersen as Ivar the Boneless

The real Vikings: the early medieval world behind the hit drama

Vahalla is depicted as a round-topped building in this funerary stone from 8th-century Sweden

Valhalla: fighting and feasting in the Viking warrior afterlife

A helmet from a chieftain's grave in 10th-century Norway. (Images by Getty)

Inside the Viking mind: the view of the Vikings' world from 5 perspectives