Billund, Denmark

The Norse Greenland civilization began in 986 C.E. and lasted until the early 1500s. It was founded by Erik the Red, who first explored it in 982 C.E. after getting kicked out of Norway and Iceland for manslaughter. He was the person that led to first settlers of Greenland there, where they established three settlements; the largest being the eastern settlement, the second greatest was the western settlement, and the smallest was the middle settlement. The eastern settlement was by far the…

As seen in Modern-day Vikings: A Practical Guide to Interacting with the Swedes, Modern Sweden keeps its Viking heritage alive by maintaining the same sense of solidarity within their community that the Vikings created. This started when the Swedes revolted against their Danish king, Christian II. After the king’s brutal rebuttal to the beginning of an uprising resulted in over eighty opposing noblemen murdered at a feast known as the “Stockholm Bloodbath,” the people of Sweden agreed to join…

"Life is full of tough choices innit." This statement made by Ursula, the sea witch in Disney's Little Mermaid, sums up the plot in both the original book by Hans Christian Andersen and Disney's animated version. Both revolve around the choices of a young girl seeking love. The stories are similar, but have striking differences. Desire, cost and sacrifice are at the heart of both accounts of a young mermaid becoming a woman, but while one story shows growth and responsibility, the other…

“The Little Mermaid” was originally a fairy tale written in 1837 by Hans Christian Andersen that portrayed a young mermaid that faces the tribulations that comes with growing up and showcased her struggle to obtain what she wants most in life. Since then, Andersen’s story has inspired several movie adaptations, once of which being “The Little Mermaid” produced by Disney in 1989. In both the movie and book, similar archetypes between characters can be examined, however the mermaid’s ultimate fate…

When most people think of the Viking’s, people often think of the image ingrained in popular culture whether through films, books or other stories. The image of an imposing long haired bearded savage warrior, who along with his band of mercenary’s raided and pillaged the land and dominated Europe. Although raiding did take place this was only one aspect of their way of life and various aspects of their culture actually influenced society such as their architecture. The time during which the…

The Viking Age occurred from late 8th century to mid-11th century. Within this time frame Viking populations across the globe experienced a number of significant changes that signalled the transformation of the Viking age. It should be made clear that this essay will argue for the transformation of the Viking age, as opposed to the end. The main factors behind this transformation are primarily religious in nature, a claim supported by Angus A. Somerville and R. Andrew McDonald, who cite, ‘the…

that while an individual may attempt to reorder his world, it ultimately leads to chaos for himself, and the rest of society. This is seen through Hamlet as he attempts to reorder his world by seeking revenge for Claudius, and restoring power in Denmark. Next, Claudius follows his ambitions by primarily killing king Hamlet amongst other characters to receive kingship; however, his power hungry ambitions ultimately lead to his death. Similarly,…

The existence of monsters was not a myth for the people, during the Viking Age of Scandinavia. The people at that time believed in grisly beasts and mighty heroes who faced them everyday. For this reason the beliefs of heroism and villainy remain distinctive as day and night. A hero is handsome, brave, and noble while a villain is cruel, horrid, and savage. It may be hard to believe that many of the Anglo-Saxon views that lived thousands of years ago, still continue to influence modern day…

Denmark is a 43,094 sq km (16,384 sq miles) country on the Jutland peninsula in northern Europe. Denmark shares a board with only one country; Germany. It lies south of Norway and southwest of Sweden. There are several islands that comprise Denmark, but the major islands are; Sjaelland, Fyn and Bornholm. Being on a peninsula and consisting of many islands create a coastline of 7,314 km (4.3 miles) long. The overall terrain is low and flat, to gently rolling plains. The lowest point,…

Scandinavia Cuisine Introduction The Scandinavian countries include Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. These countries are located north of the Baltic and North seas, except Denmark and Iceland, and they share common borders. The population of the Scandinavia is mostly concentrated in the warmer south regions. The harsher northern areas extend above the Arctic Circle. Sweden has different climate zones. It has the widest range of agriculture that is concentrated in the south. It…