by Lyonel Perabo | Mar 10, 2017 | BIVROST Stories
In Old Norse myths, one major recurring theme is the opposition between the Gods, together with their human progenies, against the Jötnar, Þursar, Rísar and Trolls, the giant-kind. Throughout the numerous Pagan poems of the Poetic Edda as well as in quite a few...
by Lyonel Perabo | Feb 8, 2017 | BIVROST Stories
While both Viking Age and 21st century Norwegians loved nothing more than a good drink, public and official attitudes towards the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages were not always so relaxed. Indeed, in the 19th and early 20th century the country was...
by Lyonel Perabo | Feb 8, 2017 | BIVROST Stories
Finally in 1919, following decades of political and cultural battles that bitterly split the country, the Norwegian people voted in majority to uphold a temporary parliament resolution passed in 1916 banning the production and sale of alcohol. The long process of...
by Lyonel Perabo | Apr 30, 2016 | BIVROST Stories
A little-known episode in the history of modern skiing took place in the Arctic city of Tromsø when, in 1843, the world’s first skiing competition took place… It is known that already in pre-Historic times the peoples of the Arctic used skis for...
by Lyonel Perabo | Mar 30, 2016 | BIVROST Stories
While she is little-known outside Scandinavia today, Queen Gunnhildr from Arctic Norway was, during her reign in the Viking Age, one of Europe’s most powerful woman, almost single-handedly exemplifying the image of the strong-willed Viking woman. According to...