Carved by glaciers during the Ice Age, Norway's more than 1100 fjords are spectacular. The sea enters narrow valleys with high cliffs laced with waterfalls. This rugged seacoast nurtured ancient Norway and its ruthless seafaring raiders: the Vikings.

The Vikings came out of the north like a thunderbolt to ravage the coastlines of Europe, but the people of medieval Scandinavia were so much more than just Vikings. 

In this episode, Lee Accomando of the Viking Age Podcast talks about Harald Fairhair, legendary first king of united Norway, and his sons Håkon the Good and the excellently named Erik Bloodaxe.  Lee has a soft spot for Erik's sorceress wife Gunnhild.

Listener and patron Kjartan Bærem talks about his homeland, and tells us which fjords are most worth visiting. We also discuss various lamb dishes before curing our own salmon: dill-scented gravlax.

Sources:

Alcuin. Letter to Ethelred, King of Northumbria

Alcuin. Letter to the Bishop of Lindisfarne

Ferguson, Robert. The Vikings: a History

Greshko, Michael. “Famous Viking Warrior Was a Woman, DNA Reveals” in National Geographic.  September 12, 2017.

Ham, Anthony. Lonely Planet Norway

Haywood, John. Northmen: the Viking saga, AD 793-1241

Konstam, Angus. Historical Atlas of the Viking World

Magnusson, Magnus. Vikings!

Nozari, Elaheh.  “My Biggest Accomplishment of 2018 Was Making My Own Gravlax” in Bon Appetit. December 13, 2018

Rick Steves Scandinavia

Sturluson, Snorri. Heimskringla

Music includes “Gjallar,” “Fólkvangr,” and “The Vikings” by Alexander Nakarada https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Photograph by TomasEE