There was a man named Thórarin, who live in Sunnudalur; he was old and nearly blind. He had been a fierce viking in his youth, and in his old age he was […]
Shame and Masculinity in Medieval Iceland – The Tale of Thorstein Staff-Struck
Harbard the Ferryman & the Embarrassment of Thor – On the Presence of Odin or Loki in Hárbarðsljóð
Hárbarðsljóð is a flyting poem from the Poetic Edda, in which Thor is challenged to battle wits with a ferryman named Harbard (Hárbarðr) for passage across an inlet. Interestingly, Harbard gets the […]
The Battle of la Roche Derrien: Sir Thomas Dagworth and a Victory Against the Odds
The Hundred Years’ War highlighted significant changes to both the nature of warfare, and to status and standing within late medieval English society. Prior to the more than century long conflict between […]
Art, Allegory, and the Authorship of the Bayeux Tapestry
Depicting the Norman Conquest of England, its causes, justifications, and political context, the Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most immediately recognisable, and most complex sources of European history. Importantly, granted the […]
A Case of Clerical Fraud – King Æthelstan and Malmesbury Abbey
The Norman Conquest changed the character of the English church. Anglo-Saxon clergy were ousted, churches and cathedrals began to be built on a much larger scale, the king wielded direct influence over […]
Berserks, Revenants, and Ghost Seals – Surviving a Saga Christmas
Christmas in the Icelandic sagas is not always pleasant. Perhaps a shipload of berserks will arrive at your isolated farmstead intent on rape and slaughter. Or maybe the undead have become active, […]
A Traitor’s Banquet – The Blood Feast of Roskilde
In 1146 Denmark descended into chaos and civil war upon the abdication of King Erik III (r. 1137 – 1146). He was the first Danish King to abdicate and, with no legitimate […]
Creating a Saint – King Edmund the Martyr & the Great Viking Army
Riddled with spears, clinging to his faith, King Edmund of East Anglia was beheaded on 20 November 869 at the orders of Ivar Ragnarsson ‘the Boneless.’ Or at least that is what […]
The Battle of Winwæd and the Rise & Fall of Pagan Mercia
The Battle of [the] Winwæd in 655 is a little known and sparsely recorded battle, yet one of critical importance to the social, political and religious evolution of the various English and […]
Cnut the Great, the Conquest of England, and the Puzzle of London
In 1016, the young Danish prince who was to become Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway, laid siege to the city of London as part of the campaign that […]
Monsters and the Monstrous in the Sagas – The Saga of Grettir the Strong
Monsters and otherworldly powers are a real danger to the Icelandic saga-hero. Many an Icelander has to deal with ghosts, with trolls, with the undead, or contest with witch’s curses. There are […]
The Battle of Auberoche: French Tactical Ignorance and an Outnumbered Victory
The power and efficacy of the longbow as a significant weapon of medieval warfare is evidenced most aptly in the infamous battles of the Hundred Years’ War; Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt being […]
The King Lives! Scandinavian Legends of Hastings and Svolder
Tradition (and most chroniclers) tell us that on 14 October 1066, the Anglo-Saxon army saw their King, Harold Godwinson, killed on the field of battle. It was a moment upon which the […]
Blood Eagles, Fatal Walks, and Hung Meat – Assessing Viking Torture
An act of torture is rarely an act of finality in feud cultures – the family of the tortured man, whether he survives or not, will rarely allow such a deed to […]
When Justice Cost an Arm & a Leg – The Mutilated Body in Medieval Anglo-Scandinavian Law
The breaking of a body is a powerful act. In the medieval world, it was a matter of life or death. A mutilated body marked out its victim for social censure and, […]
The Postgrad Chronicles 