Making a Warrior

Some Friday wisdom from our Great Viking Survey dataset:

Today's vikingism: the former Viking Cinema in Largs, Scotland, which first opened in 1939. Awash in art-deco viking decor, complete with viking ship out front, it could host up to 1,300 viewers. The cinema closed in 1973, with the building demolished a decade later.

Today's vikingism: the 2024 seinen manga 弱虫ロロ (Yowamushi Rollo aka 'Weakling Rollo'), reimaging the foundational Scandinavian ruler of the Duchy of Normandy as a soft-natured, cowardly figure.

Today's vikingism: the various team badges for NASA's 1976 Viking Mars lander missions. 🚀🌕

Today's vikingism: illustrations from Edmond Neukomm's 'Les dompteurs de la mer' (1897, published in English as 'Tamers of the Sea'), offering a heavily romanticised imagining of the viking presence in North America.

Today's vikingism: this colourful sculpture of an especially jolly cartoon viking, outside a bar in Santiago's Bellavista neighbourhood, Chile

This Thor's day, as we're working our way through the vast ocean of data produced by the Great Viking Survey, we can already share that the number of variant spellings so far encountered for the word 'Mjölnir' is 58.

Today's vikingism: the statue Landnemar ('Settlers'), overlooking the city of Akureyri, Iceland. Sculpted by Jónas Jakobsson in 1956, it represents Thorunn hyrna and her husband Helgi magri, who, according to Landnámabók, were the first to settle the area during the late ninth century.

Today's vikingism: the replica of the Jelling runestone of Harald Bluetooth that was gifted to Utrecht University (Netherlands) in honour of its 300-year anniversary in 1936.

Today's vikingism: the widely popular 'Immigrant Song', from Led Zeppelin's third studio album (III), released in late 1970. Its lyrics famously reference themes from Norse mythology and describe viking groups journeying overseas ('from the land of the ice and snow').

Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song (Official Audio) Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song (Official Audio) Album: Led Zeppelin III ► Listen to Mothership https://lnk.to/StreamMothership ♪ Watch all episodes of Led Zep...

Today's vikingism: the life-sized, voice-controlled Isle of Lewis chess game that served as the set piece for a confrontation between Richard Johnson and Nigel Green in the Bond-inspired UK spy thriller 'Deadlier than the Male' (1967).

This week, our project member Christian Cooijmans will be revealing some initial results from the Great Viking Survey as part of the Midgard Talks series in Borre. Do come along if you find yourself in the area, especially if you're already at Midgardsblot next door!

https://vestfoldmuseene.no/midgard-vikingsenter/midgardsblot