Michael E. Wills's Blog, page 5
February 6, 2014
The Birth of a Nation
In the town of Jelling in Denmark, outside of the ancient church, there is a pair of massive 10th century runestones. The church itself stands between two impressive burial mounds.
The older of the two stones was raised by King Gorm the Old. Carved in runes, the memorial states ““King Gormr made this monument in memory of, his wife, Thyrvé Denmark’s adornment.”
The larger of the two stones was erected around 965 AD by King Gorm’s son, Harald Bluetooth. On this one the runes state: “King Haraldr...
January 14, 2014
How Christian were the Vikings?
Isolated religious communities were easy prey for the Vikings. The lure of gold and silver ornaments in monasteries, nunneries and churches was irresistible to the Norsemen. Yet many Vikings professed to be Christian. So why did they not respect other Christians?
The Norwegian Christian King Olof, was martyred at the Battle of Sticklestad in 1031. His monument shows him holding a cross aloft. He is the patron saint of Norway, and even in England many churches are dedicated to him
In the elevent...
December 29, 2013
Vikings and the Hereafter
Vikings had a reputation as fearless fighters. It was said that they did not fear death. Just what did they believe happened to them when they died?
The Viking warrior was a hero to his kinsfolk. Men were encouraged to do battle and a violent death brought honour. The Valkyries chose only the fallen warriors to be admitted in to Valhalla. There they were engaged in constant combat as they trained for Ragnarök, the final battle. It was no place for women, they preferred to go to Folkvang under...
December 11, 2013
‘History is Life’s rear view mirror’ Establishing the facts to write the fiction
Most historical novels relate to a real period in history and the challenge for a novelist is to get the facts right. For if they do not, it is amazing how many really competent historians, often with an encyclopaedic knowledge, will quickly and quite justifiably point this out.
In doing the research for my three historical novels I have had to read very extensively, visit museums, archaeological and battle sites and retrace the steps of my protagonists on land and sea. In the case of the nove...
April 30, 2013
May 2013 Blog tour
Tue 14 Guest Post on Of History and Kings (ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.co.uk)
Wed 15 Review and Giveaway with Sir Read-A-lot (sir-readalot.blogspot.co.uk)
Thu 16 Review by For Winter Nights (forwinternights.wordpress.com)
Fri 17 Review by Paula Peruses (paulaperuses.blogspot.co.u...
April 24, 2013
The tribulations of travel, Part 2
Continuing the narrative from an article published in 1810 about a journey down the St Lawrence Seaway:
“One of the crew caught hold of me, and kept me down under the water, but contrary to my expectation, let me go again. On rising to the surface, I got hold of a trunk, on which two men were holding. Just at this spot, where the Split Rock rapids terminate, the bank of the river is well inhabited; and we could see women on the shore running about much agitated. A canoe put off and picked up t...
April 1, 2013
The tribulations of travel : Part 1
Having published “Three Kings – One Throne”,the secondbookin my trilogy, “Finn’s Legacy”, I decided to take a shortbreak from the eleventh century and fast forward seven hundred years to the American War of Independence.
As always,when researching for a novel, source material tempts one to getside-tracked. My putative storyincludes a journey in 1776, down the St Lawrence. I could not resist following this account by an English woman who made the journey in 1810 on a barge heavilyladen with pot...
February 6, 2013
Rune Stone Story 1
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. The inscription on one side translates to: “Andvatt and Gulev and Gunnar and Horse and Rolev had this stone raised in memory of Tord, their father. Fot carved the stone.”
One winter day last year, someone visiting the church found an object in the snow outside of the church. It is an exact copy of the front of the rune stone delicately carved in wood. It has fine carvings all around the edge and is mounted on a sculpture of a mythical beast.
Who carved this fine piece and why, is a complete mystery.
Pictures of the rune stone at
http://finnsfate.com/2012/11/rune-sto...
January 4, 2013
Rune Stone Story 2
Every rune stone has a story. This one has been placed in the park in front of the old university building in Uppsala, Sweden. Usually rune stones were erected as memorials to dead warriors, seamen or traders. This thousand year-old stone is very unusual as it was carved for a Viking Sea captain, Vigmund, while he was still alive, and it seems that he had much bravado and little modesty!
Translated, the runes say:
“Vigmund had this stone carved for himself, the cleverest of men. God save Vigmun...
November 5, 2012
Rune Stone Story 1
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. The inscription on one side translates to: “Andvatt and Gulev and Gunnar and Horse and Rolev had this stone raised in memory of Tord, their father. Fot carved the stone.”
One winter...
