THE ICE PICK

Viking Heritage, http://viking.hgo.se

Sponsored by Gotland University College in Sweden, this website has been set up "to encourage the preservation and enhanced understanding of the Viking period cultural heritage."

By searching their database, you can find information about Viking Age sites, reconstructions and excavations; museums, exhibitions, and events; re-enactment groups and academic projects; tours and travel routes; and even handicrafts for sale.
The website is frequently updated. L’Anse Aux Meadows had been updated 3/12/02, the very day I was searching. But this constant revision means that you may have to revisit the site to reach some things unavailable that day.

In searching, I found that the less detail I put in the better. For example, when I tried to find Peran’s Camp in Brittany, I failed until I tried simply "France," which brought up the Bayeux Tapestry and Peran’s Camp.

The Viking sites come up with a short description. For more detail, with photos and website links, click on the name.

Museums range from specialized on-site open air, ship, and archeological museums to national, city, or regional museums with significant Viking collections.

There is a "Chronology" of Viking history with links to people and places, and a "Who Is Who" with links to biographies of important Vikings and characters in Norse mythology and sagas.

The "Book Section on Vikings and the Viking Age" lists books with reviews of them and sometimes purchase information.

I found the "Academic Articles" section disappointing. Although they looked interesting, there were only two articles listed: "Political and Social Structures in Early Scandinavia" and "Yet Another Viking Archetype--the Medieval Urbanist."

The "Image Bank" was quite slow to download, as you would expect, but I found the pictures of reconstructions, sites, artifacts, and rune stones to be very interesting. The interior shots of reconstructed longhouses alone were fascinating and gave me some story ideas.

The English in the descriptions was a bit weird at times. "Harts" instead of "hearths" for example, but all in all I think the Swedes have done a fabulous job with this site.

They publish the Viking Heritage Magazine, but all prices were in Scandinavian currencies. It might be worth looking for if you have access to a large academic or public library.

My favorite parts of the website are the "Brief Introduction to the Viking Age," "Link of the Week," and "Topic of the Week."

The "Brief Introduction" had fascinating articles on the Viking homelands, expansion, trade, houses, death/burial/gods, runes, art, and defenses.

The "Link of the Week" has links to things like an article in Scientific American on Viking longships.

In the first ten weeks of this year, the "Topic of the Week" has had: farming, Thorrablot, seasons of the year, houses, hairstyles, mirrors, traveling by land, beds, thralls, and honor. Last year they covered: hawking; hemp; transportation; bronze casting; the Domesday Book; colors; Poland; berserk mead (including the recipe); Berserks; bread and baking; Ile de Groix, Brittany; conservation; the art of healing; ghosts; children; dogs; Bergen, Norway; the Rok Stone; the spread of Christianity; combs; Glima; coin inscriptions; Thor’s hammer amulets; Greek fire; skis and skiing; buttons; Wiskiauten, Poland; the Winchester Style; stirrups; beard styles; Gardar, Greenland; poles to the seat of honor; Thingvellir and Althing; Stargard, Germany; the Dnieper River; and fireplaces.

All these are accessible and printable and are full of information that is difficult to obtain elsewhere.
If you are working on a story set in the Viking Age, or a similar epoch or culture, this is an excellent site to explore for information and story ideas.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, May 2002.}