The Hall of Heorot

The Home of Heroes

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team-machine: Violent elegance by The Swedish History Museum, Stockholm on Flickr.“It has a touch of violence and elegance at the same time – a dangerous combination. The helmet is found in Vendel, Uppland. It is a crested helmet with a high bronze crest in the shape of a bird or a dragon. Once it belonged to a man from a powerful dynasty, dated to the 7th century. He was buried in a boat with his valuable possessions around him; weapons, tools, cooking utensils and provisions for banquets as well as three dogs and three horses. The buried man was one in a long succession line of rulers in the dynasty; they all were buried in the same way. Some believe they wanted to express a warrior ideal in death, related to the god of Odin. Others believe that they could be connected to kings mentioned in the Icelandic sagas. Names like Alrek, Erik, Agne, Ingjald, Egil, Östen, Yngvar and Anund occur in the written sources . No matter what the man who owned this helmet called himself he played surely a prominent part in political life in Uppland in the late 7th century.”

team-machine:

Violent elegance by The Swedish History Museum, Stockholm on Flickr.

“It has a touch of violence and elegance at the same time – a dangerous combination. The helmet is found in Vendel, Uppland. It is a crested helmet with a high bronze crest in the shape of a bird or a dragon. Once it belonged to a man from a powerful dynasty, dated to the 7th century. He was buried in a boat with his valuable possessions around him; weapons, tools, cooking utensils and provisions for banquets as well as three dogs and three horses.

The buried man was one in a long succession line of rulers in the dynasty; they all were buried in the same way. Some believe they wanted to express a warrior ideal in death, related to the god of Odin. Others believe that they could be connected to kings mentioned in the Icelandic sagas. Names like Alrek, Erik, Agne, Ingjald, Egil, Östen, Yngvar and Anund occur in the written sources . No matter what the man who owned this helmet called himself he played surely a prominent part in political life in Uppland in the late 7th century.”

261 notes

mediumaevum: Saint Olga (of Kiev) It is a strange historical twist that the first “Russian” woman to be canonized in the Orthodox Church was a Viking warrior princess who spent much of her life as a pagan. Olga earned her sainthood by becoming the first member of the house of Riurik, the dynasty that ruled European Russia and parts of Ukraine and Belorus for more than seven centuries (860s – 1598), to convert to Christianity. But the role of this battle maid in the spread of Christendom to the eastern Slavs is only part of her remarkable contribution to the history of Eastern Europe. You can read the rest of the story about her here. image: Baptism of Princess Olga by Sergei Kirillov. HQ

mediumaevum:

Saint Olga (of Kiev)

It is a strange historical twist that the first “Russian” woman to be canonized in the Orthodox Church was a Viking warrior princess who spent much of her life as a pagan.

Olga earned her sainthood by becoming the first member of the house of Riurik, the dynasty that ruled European Russia and parts of Ukraine and Belorus for more than seven centuries (860s – 1598), to convert to Christianity. But the role of this battle maid in the spread of Christendom to the eastern Slavs is only part of her remarkable contribution to the history of Eastern Europe.

You can read the rest of the story about her here.

image: Baptism of Princess Olga by Sergei Kirillov. HQ