The Shieldmaiden is Headed to Viking Country. Again.
Denmark here I come. Follow along for the ride!
In my years of studying and teaching about the Viking Age, I have traveled to Norway once and I spend some time living in Iceland every year. But I’ve never had the fortune of visiting Denmark — until now.
Next week I’m excited to embark on a trip to spend most of August in this southern-most part of Scandinavia, which was big Viking territory for lots of reasons. I’m going to be all over the place checking out Viking stuff, from Copenhagen to Aarhus to Odense and spots in between. I have longed to get there to see Harald Bluetooth’s Jelling Rune Stone and the stone ship settings of Lindholme Høje. I’ll also be hitting the Viking ships in Roskilde, among other sites and museums.
It is always my goal to spend time in locales I teach about in order to give my students a sense of place, especially for those who may never have the opportunity to travel abroad. Geography is so so critical for what happens where and why. And thanks to video technology and the internet, I can easily make places personalized and available to more people than ever before so everyone can understand the importance of historical and physical context.
Because wherever a History teacher goes, there she is….
I’ll be sharing what I learn in Denmark here and on our podcast site, Vikingology because, well, teaching is just what I do. I’ll also be incorporating it into my Viking History classes. There will be lots of cool stuff, so I hope you can join me on the journey!
And speaking of joining me in learning — Heads up! I’ll be teaching my online Viking History course through Medievalists.net starting on September 6. It’s a six-week course that includes curated readings and a live session with me from 2:00-4:00pm Eastern U.S. time. If you’re interested in some basic historical background about the Viking Age, I encourage you to consider enrolling. We always have a good time. It’s an introductory course, so no prior knowledge is necessary. Click the image for more info or to sign up.
In the meantime, if you’ve been to Denmark and think there’s something in particular I must see, please do let me know in the comments. Otherwise, I’ll see ya on the road!
Skál!