Viking Age Podcast

In this episode we explore the politics of Western Norway at the Dawn of The Viking Age.   Our aim is to discover the nature conflict, cooperation and competition between the chiefdoms and petty kingdoms of the area which would later become Norway. To do this we look at the nature of power as expressed by Western Norwegians themselves, in the form of Skaldic poetry.   Along the way we look at battles, ravens and lavish gifts. We will explore a Viking Age battle field as well as a chieftain's longhouse. By the end of it, we will have a good idea why aristocratic Norwegians decided to go a Viking around 800 CE.

In this episode we explore the history of landscape and peoples of Western Norway at the Dawn of the Viking Age. We will follow the coast of Norway on a  journey with a Norwegian Chieftain, and discuss slaves, tenant farmers and petty Kings. Along the way we will determine whether or not overpopulation and lack of arable land were the determining factors behind the initial Viking Raids in the early 800s CE.

That’s right! We have made it to the Dawn of the Viking Age! In this episode we will explore the first Viking Raids on Western Europe - the killing of the King’s Reeve in Portland in Dorset, and the Notorious Sacking of the Monastery of Lindisfarne. We will talk about the bloody events themselves, the reactions of Western Europeans to the attacks, and set the stage for a discussion of the causes of these Viking Raids. I hope you are as excited as I am. Let’s do it!

New timeline, new release schedules and new logos - Oh My! Three short minutes - then back to the Viking Age!

In this episode we are going to do a lightning-tour through the Scandinavian Iron Age - beginning around 500 BCE and ending around 800 CE with the first Viking Raids. This period, spanning over 1000 years, is chocked full of political, technological, economic and cultural change in the North. The goal of this episode is to provide a baseline understanding of the period which directly preceded the Viking Age, not for the test, but rather to give you a framework to work from when I start blabbering on about the Iron Age in later episodes.

In this episode we are going to explore the Game of Chiefdoms in the Nordic Bronze Age. Specifically look at the growing social and economic stratification which is defining of this age. We will look at how such inequality in wealth and power can develop, how such power can be maintained once achieved and the consequences of this growing inequality on society at large. 

In this episode we will becovering the period from about 3500 - 2800 BCE, when Agriculturereally took hold in Scandinavia. We will explore what settlementpatterns emerged, how agriculture was practiced and how thenewly-minted Scandinavian farmers formed a relationship with theland they cultivated.In the process we will learn about the impact of Polished FlintAxes and the Ard, take a tour of a Stone Age Farmhouse and becomeacquainted with the construction of Megalithic tombs which arestill visible today, almost 6000 years later.The farming life was hard duringthis period, and the goal of this episode is to both bring thatstark reality to life. While doing so we will also explore some ofthe ways in which early Farmers adapted to this life, and the waysin which created relationships with their own past as well as theland they worked.

In this episode we explore the transition from Hunting and Gathering to Agriculture in Scandinavia. Along the way we encounter conflicting hypotheses, meager evidence and a story about Status and Reputation. The Agricultural revolution has been called the most important invention in Human history, so it feels only fair that we spend an episode exploring the potential causes in Scandinavia.

This is the first episode in a series about the history of Scandinavia before the Viking Age. We are starting today with the arrival of the first Reindeer Hunters in Southern Scandinavia around 13,000 BCE and culminating in a few weeks with the Germanic Iron Age ending around 700CE. This week we will explore the story of the first Scandinavians, and take a look at what their lives were like in the post-glacial landscape of the north. We'll follow them as they colonize the entire Western Coast of Scandinavia and successfully exploit the lands and seas they inhabited as sources of plentiful, varied food stuffs. Life as a Hunter Gatherer in Stone Age Scandinavia was pretty good, and this week will explore why. In the process we will look at their settlement patterns, burial practices and heavy reliance upon the sea for both transport and sustinance. These themes will remain of the utmost importance to us well through the Viking Age, and we get to explore them at even this early date.

Thrilled to announce the first episode of the Viking Age Podcast! In this episode we do an extremely high-level survey of the themes of the Viking Age, including Raids, Settlement, Trading and Life in Scandinavia. We then trace where the podcast is going, and what the aim is. I hope you enjoy.