There were no princesses among the Vikings!
“Cordelia, what are you talking about?”
“Well, honestly, I just wanted a catchy and positive name for my weblog!”

Being Scandinavian, I am proud of my Viking heritage. And what woman hasn’t dreamt of being a Princess?

So, ‘Viking’ + ‘Princess’ = Positive Associations and memorable URL!
That’s how I came up with the name for the blog!
Viking Woman
Viking women and girls did not participate in the infamous raids (or trading journeys) with the Viking men. Instead they were in charge at home; an equally important job.

Wearing their large and impressive household keys tied to their apron was a status symbol for the Viking women, showing their position of power and responsibility in the household. These women also wore Viking style jewellery (as well as other jewellery that they recieved from their men when they returned from the journeys!)

As you may have heard, the Vikings were actually the first Europeans to reach the American continent. They called it Vinland (Wine Land) and apparently created a settlement in Eastern Canada.
Viking Jewellery (Replicas of Finds)
The reason their ‘discovery’ was not known in the days of Columbus was that quite a lot of time had already passed since the days of the Vikings. In addition, Portugal and Scandinavia had no direct contact at that point in time, and at any rate; it appears that the Vikings did not feel they had discovered anything more revolutionary than a piece of land that was suitable for farming…

In addition to Canada, the Vikings also built settlements on Greenland and Iceland, two very cool places (in both senses of the word). Modern day Icelanders are decendants of these settlers. The modern Icelandic language is closer to the way that the Vikings spoke than any of the Nordic languages today. It is not clear why the Vikings abandoned the settlement in Canada. Rune stone at Furingstad ChurchGrowing up, my grandparents had a summer cottage on an island outside Stockholm called Helgö. There had been a significant Viking settlement on that island and grandfather found some artifacts on his land.

I went to boarding school in a town called Sigtuna which was also a centre for the Vikings. There were rune-stones and other Viking remnants all over the area. Sigtuna is also scattered with church ruins which hail from the 12th century. The sites of these church ruins, as well as some churches that are still in use in Sigtuna were also sites of importance to the Vikings.

In the early days of Christianity in Sweden, the rune-stones were often treated with hostility or indifference. They were sometimes built into the walls or floors of the church were they were later re-discovered in a state of disrepair. But in some cases the stones remained standing. All over the country there are places where a rune-stone is standing right outside a church! I never gave it much thought previously, but when you think about it, it is quite nice!

All and all I am proud of my Viking heritage and find this era in time interesting. Hence the name of the blog!
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