Carving runes into combs and stones is basically the same as spraying tags on subway cars and bicycle tunnels. Those who create runes or graffiti are called writers. More precisely, rune writers and graffiti writers. The word graffiti stems from the Italian word graffio, which means ‘scratch’ and invented in the context of the PompeiiContinue reading “Scratching Runes Was Not Much Different From Spraying Tags”
Tag Archives: runes
To the End Where It All Began: the Ribbon-Like Town of Ribe
Let’s go to the omega. To the end of the Frisia Coast Trail. To Ribe in southern Jutland, Denmark. The oldest town in Scandinavia. A town located on the banks of the Ribe Å. A modest river that flows out into the Wadden Sea stoically slow, opposite the islands of Fanø and Mandø. Ribe startedContinue reading “To the End Where It All Began: the Ribbon-Like Town of Ribe”
Well, the Thing Is…
The heart of Western democracies is the joint assembly of Parliament, Cabinet, and High Councils of State. Its Celtic-Germanic origin is the thing, also called ting, ding, or þing in other writings. Today, national assemblies in Scandinavian countries still refer to this ancient tradition. For example, the parliaments of the Faroes Løgting, of Greenland Landsting,Continue reading “Well, the Thing Is…”
Weladu the Flying Blacksmith. Tracing the Origin of Wayland
Master blacksmith Wayland is well known from Germanic mythology. According to legend, he was imprisoned on a small island at sea but escaped using wings of his own making. Saxons, Anglo-Saxons, Norwegians, Icelanders, Goths — in fact nearly all early Germanic peoples — preserved stories or artifacts relating to Wayland. Even the Franks did. AllContinue reading “Weladu the Flying Blacksmith. Tracing the Origin of Wayland”
Foreign Fighters Returning From Viking Warbands
From 2012 onward, about 5,000 foreign fighters from various European countries travelled to the Levant to join the fighting. Six years later, roughly fifteen percent had died in combat. Others remained in the Middle East — imprisoned or drifting toward new conflict zones as terrorist groups lost ground. But some returned home. This wave ofContinue reading “Foreign Fighters Returning From Viking Warbands”
Porcupines Bore U.S. Bucks. The Birth of Economic Liberalism
On May 5th, 2018, it was exactly two centuries since Karl Marx was born. When the good man published the first volume of Das Kapital in 1867, he was, in fact, about 1,300 years too late to turn the tide. The ship had already sailed — quite literally. Ships of selfish and ruthless Frisian merchantsContinue reading “Porcupines Bore U.S. Bucks. The Birth of Economic Liberalism”
Frisia Coast Trail 