Is this History?
Eirik Glee lives in 9th century Norway, at a time when legend is giving way to recorded history. Harald Fairhair (whom Eirik calls Tanglehair) carried out a military campaign to unite Norway into a single kingdom, a campaign which led him to war against Hrani of the Goths of southern Sweden.
Thurstang is a fictional place but I imagine it to be near the Oslofjord. Oslo had not been founded yet in the 9th century.
Skalds are reported in Norse society. These poets served the Jarls and, as well as entertainers, they were political figures too, celebrating the achievements of their lords and reminding warriors of the oaths they had sworn. Nidhs were real and Norsemen took them seriously. Eventually, various law codes banned the most scandalous and provocative Nidhs because they led to such violent recriminations.
Berserkir and Wulfhedhnar (actually Ulfhedhnar, but I placed a ‘W’ for English readers to recognise the Wolfcoats more easily) are recorded in sagas. There are various theories about them. Some historians think these deranged warriors were mentally ill, perhaps suffering from forms of PTSD from their war experiences. Others argue that they may have belonged to some animal-cult and engaged in rituals, perhaps with hallucinogenic drugs, that made them believe they had the strength (and perhaps the form) of beasts.
Vǫlvur are also recorded in sagas. These seeresses seemed to be quite respected, despite being odd figures on the margins of society. Sometimes they are noble women with magical talents. At other times, they seem to be the traditional village wise woman. Their magic, seidhr, is strongly associated with the goddess Freyja whose cult seems to have had an orgiastic character. The Norse regarded male sorcerers – seidhmenn – as effeminate or sexually perverse. Another type of magic, the chanted galdhr, seems not to have had these negative associations.
The Varangians (from a Norse word meaning ‘mercenaries’) were a group of Norsemen who colonised European Russia and mingled with the Slavic tribes there. The word ‘Rus’ isn’t quite right for this period – the Norse called this region of trade cities along the Danube ‘Gardhariki’ and its capital was ‘Holmsgardh’ (Novgorod) – but I’ve used it so that readers can recognise the beginnings of Russia. Later, the Varangians would find fame as elite bodyguards to the Emperor of Byzantium.
The Goths, or Gautar, were a tribe inhabiting southern Sweden. They may have been culturally distinct from the Norse, but there’s no particular evidence linking them to wolf-cults. Hrani of the Goths is usually referred to as a Jarl in Swedish accounts, but the Goths seem to have been independent enough to think of themselves as having their own kings at this time.
About Norse religion, we know little except what poets like Eirik present in the sagas, all written down much later. There is evidence for human sacrifice, usually of prisoners of war or slaves. The sacrifice of a noble woman by her own family would not have been a normal event, but there are legends about such things, such as the legend of Old King Aun that Eirik relates.
And riddles, the Norse loved their riddles. And the god of riddles was Odhinn, that perverse, many-faced, rather frightening god who is sometimes the god of victory in battle, sometimes a graveyard-haunting ghoul, the bestower of poetry and dreams but also the source of magic and madness, the heroic enemy of giants and trolls but also the unreliable trickster whose prophecies are never quite what they seem. Eirik Glee will meet him again in the Riddle of the Silent Shield Maiden.
Thurstang is a fictional place but I imagine it to be near the Oslofjord. Oslo had not been founded yet in the 9th century.
Skalds are reported in Norse society. These poets served the Jarls and, as well as entertainers, they were political figures too, celebrating the achievements of their lords and reminding warriors of the oaths they had sworn. Nidhs were real and Norsemen took them seriously. Eventually, various law codes banned the most scandalous and provocative Nidhs because they led to such violent recriminations.
Berserkir and Wulfhedhnar (actually Ulfhedhnar, but I placed a ‘W’ for English readers to recognise the Wolfcoats more easily) are recorded in sagas. There are various theories about them. Some historians think these deranged warriors were mentally ill, perhaps suffering from forms of PTSD from their war experiences. Others argue that they may have belonged to some animal-cult and engaged in rituals, perhaps with hallucinogenic drugs, that made them believe they had the strength (and perhaps the form) of beasts.
Vǫlvur are also recorded in sagas. These seeresses seemed to be quite respected, despite being odd figures on the margins of society. Sometimes they are noble women with magical talents. At other times, they seem to be the traditional village wise woman. Their magic, seidhr, is strongly associated with the goddess Freyja whose cult seems to have had an orgiastic character. The Norse regarded male sorcerers – seidhmenn – as effeminate or sexually perverse. Another type of magic, the chanted galdhr, seems not to have had these negative associations.
The Varangians (from a Norse word meaning ‘mercenaries’) were a group of Norsemen who colonised European Russia and mingled with the Slavic tribes there. The word ‘Rus’ isn’t quite right for this period – the Norse called this region of trade cities along the Danube ‘Gardhariki’ and its capital was ‘Holmsgardh’ (Novgorod) – but I’ve used it so that readers can recognise the beginnings of Russia. Later, the Varangians would find fame as elite bodyguards to the Emperor of Byzantium.
The Goths, or Gautar, were a tribe inhabiting southern Sweden. They may have been culturally distinct from the Norse, but there’s no particular evidence linking them to wolf-cults. Hrani of the Goths is usually referred to as a Jarl in Swedish accounts, but the Goths seem to have been independent enough to think of themselves as having their own kings at this time.
About Norse religion, we know little except what poets like Eirik present in the sagas, all written down much later. There is evidence for human sacrifice, usually of prisoners of war or slaves. The sacrifice of a noble woman by her own family would not have been a normal event, but there are legends about such things, such as the legend of Old King Aun that Eirik relates.
And riddles, the Norse loved their riddles. And the god of riddles was Odhinn, that perverse, many-faced, rather frightening god who is sometimes the god of victory in battle, sometimes a graveyard-haunting ghoul, the bestower of poetry and dreams but also the source of magic and madness, the heroic enemy of giants and trolls but also the unreliable trickster whose prophecies are never quite what they seem. Eirik Glee will meet him again in the Riddle of the Silent Shield Maiden.