Want to learn more about Norse Vikings? We provide information and insight for people interested in Viking Age Scandinavia. The present web site is a dynamic resource that treats on current and past issues related to Norse cultural heritage. The Viking Rune offers unique online features: free Rune Converter and Motto Generator. We are committed to greater access to knowledge about the Vikings, which is the only way to dispel the myth about Norse warriors as cruel and bloodthirsty raiders who did nothing but kill, pillage and rape. The Viking Rune is always up-to-date with the latest developments in North Germanic studies, including hot archeological finds in Scandinavia and elsewhere.


From the category archives:

Norse Mythology

Odin from Lejre

November 16, 2009 Norse Mythology
Odin from Lejre

Last Saturday, November 14, Roskilde Museum site published an article (in Danish), entitled “Odin fra Lejre” (“Odin from Lejre”). It tells about an exciting archaeological find, a small silver figurine discovered early in September at Lejre (municipality on the island of Zealand, Denmark). Amateur archaeologist Tommy Olesen was metal detecting near the site where archaeologists [...]

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Odin as Weapon Dancer

October 4, 2009 Norse Mythology
Valsgarde helmet image

To the left is the mirrored image of one of the four cast-bronze dies from Torslunda, which were used for striking helmet-plates. It is mirrored advisedly, in order to get the actual image that appeared on the helmets when the matrice was applied to them. This die (dated to c. 600) was found at Björnhovda [...]

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Thor’s Hammer – A Norse Viking Symbol

August 21, 2009 Germanic Symbols
Thor's hammer

Mjöllnir or Thor’s hammer is the weapon of the Norse god of thunder. Initially, Thor’s hammer was thought of as made of stone, but in the Eddaic tradition it is an iron weapon forged by Svartálfar (black elves, correlated with the dvergar, dwarves) named Sindri and Brokkr. In the Norse myths Thor’s hammer is often [...]

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More on Max Payne Tattoos

August 12, 2009 Norse Mythology
Natasha wing tattoo

For quite a long time I have been wondering what kind of a book the tattoo artist (Stephen R. Hart) shows to Max (Mark Wahlberg) and Mona (Mila Kunis) in Max Payne movie. Now I have the answer: no such book ever existed. The page to the left is numbered 290, and the page to [...]

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Alyssa Milano Tattoo – Ouroboros

March 5, 2009 Norse Mythology
Ouroboros

The seventh tattoo of Alyssa Milano (“Charmed”) is an ouroboros. It’s on her right wrist. In an interview Alyssa commented that she got it after her divorce and that for her it’s a symbol of rebirth. Translated from Greek, ouroboros means ‘tail-devouring’. It is a very ancient symbol depicting a serpent swallowing its tail and [...]

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Max Payne Tattoo and Norse Viking Mythology

February 25, 2009 Norse Mythology
Valkyrie wings tattoo

Max Payne, a 2001 Remedy Entertainment video game and 2008 noir action film with Mark Wahlberg and Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace Bond girl), features several meaningful allusions to Norse mythology. Valkyr, a drug invented to improve morale of the U. S. soldiers but halted due to unwanted side effect, is reminiscent of valkyrie (Old [...]

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Tolkien’s Sigurd and Gudrun Coming in May

February 19, 2009 Norse Mythology
Tolkien

Last January HarperCollins announced that they are going to publish in hardback a rare volume of epic poetry by J. R. R. Tolkien in May. The previously unpublished work entitled “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun” was written by “Lord of the Rings” author while professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University during the 1920s and [...]

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Norse Viking Symbol – Horn Triskelion

January 27, 2009 Germanic Symbols
Triskelion

Three interlocked drinking horns is an important Norse Viking symbol. It seems to be closely related the Valknut and Triquetra and is often referred to as the Horn Triskelion. A triskelion (or triskele) is a symbol with threefold rotational symmetry (such symmetry means that a figure, which has it, looks the same after a certain [...]

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