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Dublin, Ireland

Dalkey Island

A tiny island off the coast of Dublin was once a pilgrimage site for the sick and the suffering.
Andover, England

Viking Longboat

This former floral display recalls Andover’s crucial role in Viking history in England.
Birka, Sweden

Birka Viking Burial Mounds

Sweden's first Viking city is also the site of thousands of burial mounds.
A glorious night sky seen through Owachomo Bridge in Utah's Natural Bridges National Monument, which was named the world's first International Dark Sky Park in 2007.
vikings

Archaeologists Explore Life After Dark in the Ancient Night

Studying our ancestors' nocturnal lives reveals the value of reclaiming darkness.
Nancy Gonlin and April Nowell October 7, 2024
This 1882 engraving of Ragnarok, the Viking doomsday, shows Odin mounted on a horse and fighting the wolf Fenrir.
vikings

7 Stories That Show Just How Metal the Nordics Are

From Viking werewolves to snacking on pickled ram's testicles, Europe's northernmost countries are badass.
Roxanne Hoorn September 27, 2024
York, England

Dragon Stones

A modern mini-Stonehenge is hidden in a public reserve, not far from a former Viking stronghold.
The snow-laden, misty entrance of Iceland's Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge resembles the entrance to Helheim, the realm of the dead who did not make it into Valhalla.
vikings

Viking Hell Is Just as Metal as You'd Expect

Judged unworthy of Valhalla? Welcome to Helheim.
Nicky Nielsen August 8, 2024
Copenhagen, Denmark

Viksø Helmets

Discovered in a peat bog, these horned helms come from a thousand years before the Viking Age.
skulls

The Viking Women With Intentionally Reshaped Skulls

Scientists posit how and why the ladies achieved the cone-head look.
Meg St-Esprit April 15, 2024
Hugin Longship
Cliffsend, England

Hugin Longship

This longship was a gift to commemorate the 1500th anniversary of the Anglo-Saxons arrival in England.
Gudrid the Far-Traveled even walked to Rome.
vikings

The First Viking Woman to Sail to America Was a Legendary Traveler

Back when the Icelanders called a part of Canada the “land of grapes.”
Frank Jacobs February 9, 2024
Maldon, England

Statue of Byrhtnoth

This statue commemorates one of medieval England’s most courageous heroes.
The Yule Cat (or Jólakötturinn) serves as a warning for children to not misbehave, much like the threat of coal for naughty children on Christmas.
vikings

Beware the Yule Cat, Iceland’s Child-Eating Christmas Monster

But if you’re wearing new clothes, you have nothing to fear from Jólakötturinn.
Suzie Dundas December 22, 2023
Isle of Skye, Scotland

Caisteal Maol

This ruined castle is said to be the legendary keep of a Viking princess.
Camp Century trench construction in 1960. Caption reads "Metal arch forms being emplaced over undercut trench."
science

Wonder Is Everywhere: Viking Hoaxes, a Secret Nuclear Ice Base, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.
April White November 22, 2023
In this 1873 watercolor, artist Frank Dicksee shows Viking raiders heading for land.
pirates

The Muddled Origins of the Word ‘Viking’

The now common term wasn't used to describe medieval Scandinavians until the 19th century.
Martyn Whittock November 16, 2023
More people are mounting horse heads on poles throughout Iceland.
vikings

Impaled Horse Heads Are Appearing More and More Around Iceland

The rise of paganism in the country is reigniting a macabre ritual from the Viking Age.
Olivia Young October 25, 2023
Two Viking-style sailing ships sit in a harbor.
Tønsberg, Norway

Vikingodden

This one-of-its-kind shipyard brings the 12th-century Viking Age back to life.