Sons of Vikings

06/16/2026

The Norwegian national team's epic Viking-themed World Cup send-off photoshoot, "The Vikings Are Coming," has SOME people clutching pearls ...calling it "hyper-masculine," "chauvinistic," and even "neo-Nazi" imagery.

This is peak manufactured outrage, usually pushed by people who strive for division.

First, facts on "Viking": It was not just a verb. Old Norse had the verb víking (for the expedition or activity) and the noun víkingr (for the person). A Viking Age runestone (Sm 10 from Växjö, Sweden) explicitly says "Tóki the Viking" (Tóki víkingr) raised it in memory of another man. Primary sources from the era itself used it as a noun for people.

Of course not every Scandinavian at that time went raiding. The term captures the broader seafaring, exploratory spirit of the era (roughly 793–1066 CE). However, historians, museums across Scandinavia, and scholars worldwide have applied "Viking Age" to the full culture for well over a century. For example, female jewelry and clothing found in Viking Age gravesites are routinely referred to as belonging to "Viking women," even though there is no proof those women personally participated in raiding activity.

Norway's team leaning into their heritage for a fun, dramatic photo (longships, shields, fjord setting) is not extremism. It is cultural pride. Norwegians (and Scandinavians in general) have every right to celebrate ancestors who were master shipbuilders, traders, settlers, poets, and yes, formidable warriors. Viking Age achievements helped shape Europe, from Dublin to Normandy to Russia. Modern Norway is one of the most peaceful, egalitarian societies on Earth. Celebrating the past does not erase that.

As someone who has vendored at dozens of Viking, Celtic, and medieval festivals (up and down the East coast), we have personally met and spoken with literally thousands of Viking enthusiasts. We honestly only recall meeting two separate individuals who came across as racist or neo-Nazi. The overwhelming majority (99.9%+) are normal, respectful people: families, history buffs, and reenactors who admire the craftsmanship, sagas, and resilience while respecting other cultures. They simply want to proudly honor their roots too. The tiny handful of actual extremists who misuse symbols and runes? Statistically irrelevant.

Painting an entire heritage celebration as toxic because of a fringe minority is the real divisiveness.

Critics like this are not preserving nuance. They are shaming European and Scandinavian identity while cheering similar pride from other groups. Yes, Vikings raided and settled (like the Romans, Mongols, Ottomans, and many other peoples throughout history), but reducing them solely to villainy ignores the full picture that museums celebrate every day. Norway's team and fans embracing this? It is wholesome national spirit ahead of the World Cup. Let people have fun with their history without the guilt trip.

06/15/2026

So one of our post went viral over the weekend. Over 800,000 views, over 17,000 likes, over 1,100 shares. Not a penny spent. And of course, it would be the one time I misspelled the sign. 😬
Sign has since been corrected and below is a link for those who are asking:
https://sonsofvikings.com/collections/viking-decor

06/11/2026

05/22/2026

05/20/2026

Lee River …in the house!
Premium leather products made in Ireland. Purses, wallets, handbags, belts, and bracelets.

05/18/2026

The story behind the Lewis Chessmen should fascinate any Viking enthusiast.

Besides the fact that they appeared in the first Harry Potter movie (and the opening scene of ‘In search of Bobby Fischer’), these famous pieces were carved from walrus ivory, likely sourced from Iceland or Greenland and brought back by Norse traders on their return voyages. The throne designs on the King and Queen feature patterns considered distinctly Norwegian in style, tying them even more closely to the Viking world.

Even more interesting, several of the “berserker” rooks are shown biting the tops of their shields — exactly as berserkers are described doing in the Icelandic sagas. The Lewis Chessmen aren’t just medieval game pieces… they’re a snapshot of Norse culture, trade, mythology, and warfare all in one.

The pieces were discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Northern Outer Hebrides, buried in a sandbank near the shore. Today, most of the collection is housed in the British Museum in London, while others remain in Scotland at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Nearly 900 years after they were carved, they still stand as one of the most iconic surviving links to the Viking Age.

05/18/2026

A controversial topic for sure, tell us what you think:

Having a Scandinavian heritage does NOT make you a "Viking".

This debate often becomes more emotional than historical, because people are really arguing about identity, modern culture, ancestry, and semantics all at once.

First, the strict argument:

The Viking Age is generally dated (and limited to) 793–1066 CE.
“Viking” was not an ethnic group in the modern sense.
Not every Scandinavian was a Viking.
The Old Norse word víkingr referred to a person associated with raiding, seafaring expeditions, or overseas ventures.
The phrase fara í víking literally meant something like “to go on a Viking expedition.”
So yes, historically speaking, having Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish ancestry does not automatically make someone “a Viking” any more than someone who has Japanese heritage makes tham “a samurai.”

That argument is reasonable.

However, where the argument becomes weak is when people try to claim:

Nobody was EVER called Vikings (believe it or not, that is a growing false narrative on the Internet right now), or that the term can ONLY refer to active raiders.

Neither of these ideas are supported by the evidence.

We absolutely have historical usage of víkingr (properly translated today as Viking) as a noun referring to people. Not just an activity.

Runestones, sagas, and skaldic poetry all use the term for individuals. The phrase “Toki the Viking” (literally found carved into a runestone) is a perfect example of this noun usage. So the internet claim that “Viking was ONLY a verb” is simply false.

As well, modern historians and museums have long used “Viking” in a broader cultural and archaeological sense.

When archaeologists excavate the following:

Oval shaped “tortoise” brooches,
Norse graves (belonging to women or children),
textile remnants (believed to belong to women or children),
Are all routinely classified as “Viking artifacts,” “Viking women,” "Viking children," “Viking burials,” or “Viking Age Scandinavian culture.”

Why? Because archaeology often labels cultures by time period and material culture, not merely by occupation.

Thus, when a woman buried in 900 CE Norway is wearing tortoise brooches, keys, beads, textile tools, and other pagan grave goods, archaeologists commonly refer to her as a “Viking woman,” even though there may be no evidence that she personally participated in Viking expeditions or raids.

Read that again. That’s an important statement coming from historians and Viking exhibit museum curators for hundreds of years.

That does not mean historians are ignorant of the distinction. It means the word evolved into both:

a narrow historical term for Viking activity, AND
a broader shorthand for Norse Scandinavian culture during the Viking Age.
Both usages exist simultaneously.

Modern scholars themselves use both meanings depending on context.

So the strongest historically grounded position is probably this:

“Viking” originally referred most specifically to people involved in Viking expeditions or activities.
Not all Scandinavians were Vikings in that narrow sense.
However, the term has also long been used legitimately in archaeology and history as a broader cultural label for Norse Scandinavian society during the Viking Age.

Therefore, describing Viking Age Scandinavian clothing, jewelry, graves, or even women as “Viking” is not inherently wrong or “fake history.” The internet often tries to force a binary where none existed historically.

The reality is more nuanced.

“Viking” was both a specific activity-associated identity and, over time, AND a broader cultural shorthand for the Norse world of that era.

While many of us today proudly celebrate our Scandinavian heritage or feel connected to the Viking spirit, historians generally reserve the term “Viking” for the people who participated in those activities during the Viking Age itself.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with:

- Being part of a Viking reenactment group (both for fun and to educate the public on who the Vikings really were and how they lived).

- Attending a Viking festival, with yourself and your family dressed as Vikings (again, both for fun and to learn more about history).

- Or to even say, "If I was living in the Viking Age, I would have absolutely been apart of the group that did Viking activities." Completely fair (and very relatable) mindset.

05/16/2026

Tidewater Comicon, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

05/16/2026

This weekend. Tidewater Comicon,at the Virginia Beach convention center.