A Modern Rune Stone Mystery On the waterway from the ancient town of Uppsala to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, there is a fine sixteenth century castle called Skokloster. In the grounds of the castle, many years ago a Viking age rune stone was discovered. The stone has inscriptions on two sides in runic alphabet. […]
What a pity this was the last episode! Among other things the artefacts on Shetland were stunning. It is really unusual to see archaeological remains made of organic material such as wool and wood. The explanation of the effect of the spread of Christianity was very good. Less so was the way in which Neil […]
Since I have been travelling abroad for the last few weeks I have only seen the first programme in the BBC The Vikings series. It was a most impressive introduction to the Viking Age, so ably presented by Neil Oliver. If there was one thing I would like to have seen more of, it would […]
This episode illustrated graphically the odious trade in slaves which was centered on Dublin. Twelve ounces of silver for a man slave and 8 ounces for a woman! Neil Oliver explained the trade route to Istanbul very well. I would point out though that while he was absolutely correct that in saying that most of […]
It is an amazing spectacle to see the thousands of supporters from many countries at the Olympic sailing events around Weymouth and Portland Harbours. The race headquarters is on the site of the first Viking raid recorded in Britain. The Norse got more gold in 2012, but it was in the form of a gold […]
In 787 AD when the Vikings landed on Portland, the King’s representative, his Reeve, rode from Dorchester to meet them. He assumed that they were traders and asked them to pay a trading tax. Whereupon, the Vikings killed him and his companions. “And in the days of King Bertric came first three ships of the […]
In AD 787 three Viking ships from Horthaland in Norway landed on the site of the Olympic Sailing Centre on Portland. This was the first documented Viking raid on Britain. The beginning of a reign of Viking terror which was to last for three hundred years.