Sturla Ellingvåg is the historian behind @VikingStories .
He is associated with the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and is convinced that history has to be studied in a broader context than current fashion allows.
He traces Viking culture back to the Bronze Age and sees Viking raids as a pre-emptive defense against the onslaught of the “sword Christendom” of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. Ellingvåg takes us through Norse mythology, its connection to Greek mythology and society and how it may reflect reality in unexpected ways.
Where the gods actually historical human beings and did the vikings become more resilient through these stories?
Joins us as we delve into the Norse sense of life and discuss the power of their stories.

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Chapter markers:
00:31 Introducing Ellingvåg
01:04 Thinking across time
04:57 The Pre-emptive warfare of the vikings
10:27 Vikings: Democracy and Individualism
16:06 Elite marriage and “blue blood”
19:01 English Law is Norman Law
22:06 Starkad and the viking mentality
27:57 Scandinavian-Mediterranean contact
36:25 Scandinavian virgins at the Oracle of Delphi
43:51 Height differences and the sun winning over darkness
47:37 Norse gods: actual historical peoples?
53:57 The blood brothers Odin and Loke
56:15 Catastrophes cemented in myths
59:47 Metamorphosis of gods over time
1:05:31 Odin’s search for knowledge
1:10:03 Shamanic journeys and living like animals
1:13:47 Genetic memory and canalization
1:19:53 Reconnecting through mythology
1:24:45 Ragnarok & Regeneration

This episode featured Sturla Ellingvåg & Jan-Ove Tuv and was filmed and edited by Bork Nerdrum.
The centerpiece was a reproduction of the painting “Tor’s fight with the Giants” (1872) by Mårten Eskil Winge.

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