Gotland’s picture stones have long evoked people’s fascination, whether this has been prompted by an interest in life in Scandinavia in the first millennium or an appreciation of the beauty of the stones. The Gotlandic picture stones offer glimpses into an enigmatic world, plentifully endowed with imagery, but they also arouse our curiosity. What was the purpose and significance of the picture stones in the world of their creators, and what underlying messages nestle beneath their ima-gery and broader context? As a step towards elucidating some of the points at issue and gaining an insight into current research, the Runic Research Group at the Swe-dish National Heritage Board, in cooperation with Gotland Museum, arranged an inter national interdisciplinary symposium in 2011, the first symposium ever to focus exclu sively on Gotland’s picture stones. The articles presented in this publication are based on the lectures delivered at that symposium.
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1994, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences in English
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.),
This book offers a new approach to the problem of Slavic ethnicity in southeastern Europe between c. 500 and c. 700. The author shows how Byzantine authors "invented" the Slavs, in order to make sense of political and military developments taking place in the Balkans.
The Livs are among the indigenous inhabitantsThe Livs are among the indigenous inhabitantsof Latvia, with an ancient and unusual culture anda complicated history. They belong to the Finnicgroup of peoples and Liv is included in the southerngroup of Finnic languages. The ethnic origin of theLivs has not yet been established with certainty,and there is still no consensus among researcherson the origins of the Livs and their descendants,the available evidence being contradictory.
Skandinavische Kultplätze des 1. Jahrtausends nach Christus und das Frankenreich
Compilation by Garry Green
Page, R. I. (Raymond Ian)
"Sorcery and Religion in Ancient Scandinavia" is the latest book from Varg Vikernes, one of the most controversial musicians of all time and the mastermind behind one of the most acclaimed Black Metal bands in the world – Burzum. Convicted in 1994 of the murder of band-mate Euronymous, Vikernes has since spent 15yrs studying the traditions and beliefs of the Ancient Scandinavians and their influence on modern Europeans. That research has culminated in a book in which the outspoken and often divisive author challenges many of the widely held views of contemporary culture and its history. The passionate and in-depth text provides an absorbing insight into the thoughts of this most notorious of musicians. "Sorcery and Religion in Ancient Scandinavia" makes fascinating reading and will be of interest not only to Black Metal and Burzum fans, but also to those with an interest in Norse mythology or European history and social commentators.
The runic alphabet, in use for well over a thousand years, was employed by various Germanic groups in a variety of ways, including, inevitably, for superstitious and magical rites. Formulaic runic words were inscribed onto small items that could be carried for good luck; runic charms were carved on metal or wooden amulets to ensure peace or prosperity. There are invocations and allusions to pagan and Christian gods and heroes, to spirits of disease, and even to potential lovers. Few such texts are completely unique to Germanic society, and in fact, most of the runic amulets considered in this book show wide-ranging parallels from a variety of European cultures.
A review of modern historiography and major sources on Varangian controversy and other Scandinavian concepts of the origins of Rus’