Professor Jackson Crawford

In Norse mythology, while those dying in battle went to Valhalla, others went to Hel. However, many of the dead could return to the world of the living to interact with their living relations. […]

Hel, in Norse mythology, was a cool and damp place which was present in both north and south. And, Hel the being presided over the place, looking after those who went there. […]

In Old Norse, runic inscriptions were used as magical tools to make one’s incarnation permanent. Yet, runes aren’t considered magical by themselves, as there are simply an alphabet. […]

Among the types of magic in Old Norse, seith is more powerful and it brings shame to the man who practices it. The major character in this regard is a woman called volva. […]

Of the one thousand words we use most often each day in English, about one-tenth are borrowings from Old Norse. But, Old Norse language has an archaic grammar, which makes it a little challenging to translate it to contemporary English. […]

The museums, sites and the very landscape of continental Scandinavia and Iceland offer a chance to explore the Norse myths and sagas first hand. The museums there display a collection of fascinating Viking Age artifacts. […]

For years, Norse stories have influenced writers of science fiction and fantasy. One of them was J. R. R. Tolkien, who was borrowed names from Norse myths for his book, ‘The Hobbit’. […]

Archaeology is the surest guide to what might remain of pre-Christian religion in Scandinavia. Many place-names with the -lund element contain gods’ names and suggest that prominent groves of trees might have been important worship sites. […]

The famous Icelandic Book of Settlements, surprisingly, does not feature the famous Norse gods such as Odin. What it does mention is Norse practices and “the old heathen laws”. […]