Ragnar's Bookmarks:
I built this collection before the advent of Google, when search engines were a lot
less useful. Now you can easily research any of these topics on your own. Recently I’ve been mostly removing dead links. and adding the occasional page I think is really neat and not likely to come up high on the Google results.
Index;
- General
- General Medieval
- Nordic Medieval
- Viking
- Runes
- Asatru
- SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism)
- Living History and Reenactment Groups
- Early American Resources
- Buckskining
- Knives
- Blacksmithing
- Early tools and Woodworking
- Sources, where to get stuff (New!)
- HTML references
- Misc. and not filed yet
- General:
- Project Gutenberg, thousands of books,
which can be downloaded for free.
- The Human-Languages Pages
- The Internet Classics Archive
- General Medieval Resources:
- Labyrinth Home Page
- Ravensgard Medieval Cultures Extensive and excellent!
- Medieval Academy of America Home Page
- Archaeology Magazine
- The English Heritage Archaeology Division Homepage
- The Camelot Project, primary texts, etc. from the University of Rochester
- The Internet Medieval Sourcebook, from Fordham University
- Megalithica, a wonderful site on early stone carvings, including Sheela-Na-Gigs
- Medieval and Renaissance Eating Utensils and "Feast Gear"
- Nordic Medieval Resources:
- Ravensgard Norse Homepage Excellent!
- Library of Scandinavian Texts (Project Runeberg)
- Germanis Myths, Legends, and Sagas
- The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, by Snorri Sturlson
- The Saga of Grettir the Strong
- Heimskringla (The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway)
- King's Table: Game of the Noble Scandinavians
- Kensington Runestone Home Page, A good, balanced discussion of this famous artifact. Webbug!
- The Kensington Runestone a new page on the topic, webbug
- Norse-related stuff from the Rialto files
- Homepage of Thorsteinn Vilhjalmsson, time and distance measurement in Viking times, from Iceland
- Ingrid and Urban's Viking age rune stone Worldwide Web documents, an in depth sturdy of selected Uppland stones, and several
futherks.
- An entry level
course in reading Swedish Runestones by Peter Pettersson. Excellent and in English!
- Norse Naming practices
- Scandinavian Daymarks, Telling Time without a Clock
- The Complete Sagas of the
Icelanders, edited by Viðar Hreinsson. This is the complete and definative body of Viking
Literature in new translations. It's not inexpensive, but if you like real books rather than downloaded
e-books you should at least consider it.
- The Northern Lights Route, the extreeme North.
- General Viking Stuff:
- ODIN, a short introduction to Vikings from the Norwegian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, written by Arne Emil Christensen, who also designed the "Viking Knife" once sold
from this web site and the national Scandiavian museums. The
original site seems to be down, so here's a cached version. Use your back
button to return.
- The Viking Answer Lady, just as it says, answers for today's vikings.
- Hurstwic, the home of a Viking
reenactment and reasearch group. 'Excellent in every way. While the group is gone, you shouldn't
miss the web page.
- The Viking Age, an introduction from Sweden
- Rosala Viking Centre, from Finland. This is an excellent site on the Eastern Vikings.
The Center has a reconstructed village and museum, with online discussion of viking life and culture.
- Viking Heritage page, from Sweden
- Vikingskip.com,
Viking Ships and Norse wooden boats, excellet!
- Viking Age Club, excellent articles
- Jorvik Viking Center
- Tacitus on Vikings
- The Norwegian king Harald Hardrade's Saga
- Viking Resources for the Re-enactor
- Viking Age Club
- Viking Ship Construction
- The Hjortspring Boat
- Sigred Storrada, with an interesting theory on early sails
- The Viking Navy
- Longship Company, Ltd. operates two Viking ships in Maryland
- Fröjel Gotlandica Viking Re-Enactment Society
- Fröjel Discovery Program, Extentive reports of the excavation of a Gotland trading center, with many
photos of artifacts and excellent reports. Don't miss this one!
- Viking Glassware and beads
- Gear Guide for ASK and Fighters at Moesgård, a one stop guide on how to look more less like a Viking warrior
- My Vikings.org, a selection of all things Viking
- HEIMSKRINGLA is an online collection of Old Norse source material: Primarily the Eddas, the Icelandic
sagas and scaldic poetry. In addition to this the collection consists of background material and other related texts. Unfortuaately, the translations are into modern
Scandinavian, not English.
- Whetstones from Viking Age Iceland
- The Tradition of Viking Ships and Rowers, a simplified introduction with some interesting links.
- Runes:
- The Runesmith A truly excellent, very readable page. Extensive bibliography and links, on line sales.
- Sunny's Rune Page, another excellent site with great links for further exploration.
- "Nytt om runer" News about runes, current scholarship
- Rune-Net, Rune-Study Networking Guild, an "International network for students of the Runes"
- The Rune Guild, "The Rune-Gild is a school of esoteric knowledge based on the Odian system of the Runes."
Modern work with runes after Edred Thorsson's work, online book sales.
- THE N.O.R.S.E PAGES, N on O dinist R une S eekers E verywhere. A cutsie name, but with some good interpetations, articles and links.
- The Rune Poems were used to memorize the runes and their meanings, in the original languages with translations
- Blekinge's Most Anchient Runic Inscruptons, an alternate theory of the origin of the runes by Kjell Aartun
- The Ring of Runes, a mostly New Age web ring, but with some neat stuff in with the funk.
- Runes, from Ða Engliscan Gesiþas, with an excellent (and brief!) article on the origins of the runes
- Kalle Runristare, (Kalle the Rune Carver) A modern, full-time rune stone carver from Sweden! Don't miss this one.
- Oswald the Runemaker, Anglo Saxon Runes and their development. A slick site with items for sale.
- Write your name in runes, instant on-line transliteration from the folks at Nova. .
- Asatru, the revived religion of the Norse:
- A recent Google search found 77,900 pages with "asatru" content, this is a less impressive sampler.
- The Ring of Troth: An Association of kindreds (groups) with a similar outlook. Excellent!
- Medoburg Kindred, a kindred associated with the Ring of Troth
- The Assembly of the Elder Troth Inc. Australia and New Zealand
- Asatru Archives at lysator, Sweden
- Asatru Folk Assembly
- Hrafnar Diana Paxson, if you don't know who she is, you should find out.
- The Irminsul Page Excellent
- Includes an extensive world wide list of groups.
- Foreningen Form Sed, from Norway, English Version.
- The Order of Lidskjalf, from Sweden, in English
- The Swedish Asatru Society, English version
- Thor's Homepage, by a young Swedish farmer
- Nornirs Aett, mostly in German.
- Asatruarfelagidh: Icelandic Asatru Page
- Bifrost, a Norwegian Asatru fellowship
- Forn Siðr, an asatru branch
officially recognised as a religion by the Danish government, partly translated into English.
- Jordsvin's Norse Heathen Pages, formerly the Hammerstead Kindred Web Page.
- Raven Kindred of the Asatru Alliance
- Her Stend Ek: an affirmation, this is included elsewhere, but deserves a link of it's own.
- Ravenswood Kindred, Indianana
- Kindred List of the Asatru Alliance
- Gunter Hrafngrim's Homepage Asatru, Vikings and Blacksmithing!
- Thorshof Germanic religions in the UK
- Asatru Tree of Life, From Australia
- AErnfolk Rafblad/ Eagles Reaches Web Page: different
- Auntie Audhumla's Guide to Norse Feasting
- #Asatru Homepage on dalnet (an irc chat group), great links
- "The Religion of the North" by Diana Paxon
- The Update Magazine (Heathen news)
- American Vinland Society
- The Squirrel Asatru Page, some really excellent links, including the best list of on-line period literature I've seen.
- Karl Donaldsson's Hearth, An excellent, individualistic perspective
- Swain Wodening's Web Page Angelseaxisce Ealdriht (Anglo-Saxon version)
- New York Metro Asatru Society
- Valknut, lots of links, on line chat
- Thor's homepage, includes some good images of original Thor's Hammers
- RagnarökR, dedicated to Loki, but excellent never the less.
- The Song Of The Sybil
- Woden's Harrow, just as it says
- Ingemarsson's Asatru page, is mostly in Swedish,
but has some excellent runic and language resources.
- Gods & Goddesses of the Norse, an excellent who's who.
- Asatru-U, online courses in Germanic Heathenry
- Northvegr Felag, over 5500 pages, including entire downloadable books
- Raven Kindred North, a nicely designed kindred site, including a newsgroup style forum, and some interesting links.
- Huginn and Muninn, "The Heathen Search Engine"
-
The Directory.net Asatru pages, if these aren't enough, here's a few hundred more.
- SCA, The Society for Creative Anacronism:
- Society for Creative Anacronism The National Homepage
- Pennsic War Page
- Cariadoc's Miscellany
- Buðgarðr An SCA page with documentation resources
- Historical Costumes and Clothing
- Anglo-Saxon Clothing
- The Known World Architectural Guild Newsletters have plans for furniture, tents, etc.
- Living history and reenactment groups:
- The Brigade of the American Revolution The grandfather of Colonial reenacting groups
- Le Poulet Gauche, 16th C. France
- The Historical Armed Combat Association fights with period weapons.
- Regia Anglorum, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Norman and British Living History
- Dagorhir, "more violent and less organized than the SCA".
- Anglo-Saxon living history from Angelcyn
- Dahrg De Belne, 10th Cen. Saxons and Vikings.
- The NorthWest Territory Alliance
- Early American
- Eighteenth-Century Resources
- American History Resources, excellent primary souces, from Holland!
- American Memory, from the Library of Congress, photocopies of American documents, letters etc. Excellent!
- The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress
- The British Brigade, Loyalist in New York, includes several manuals of arms.
- The Early America Review
- RevWeb
- Archiving Early America
- National Museum of Anerican History, Smithsonian Instution
- Old Sturbridge Village
- Old Fort Niagara
- COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG
- FORT LIGONIER
- The Fortress of Louisbourg
- Fort Necessity
- Fort Stanwix
- American Longrifles
- Hudson's Bay Company digital collection
- TRADE AXE & TOMAHAWK COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION,
has many images of original axes and 'hawks, as well as what to watch out for in "artifakes".
- Trade goods of New France, excellent photos of original pieces with a focus on touchmarks. Good
information on early folders as well as trade knives and axes.
- Buckskinner (Rendezvous) pages:
- National Muzzle Loader Rifle Association (NMLRA)
- Muzzle Blasts Online Magazine, the publication of the NMLRA
- Muzzleloader Magazine, excellent!
- White Oak Home Page
- The Coon 'n Crockett Pages
- www.dixiegun.com, one of the oldest sources for supplies.
- Tentsmiths, Very high quality tents from almost any era
- Mountain Men and the Fur Trade
- Dutch Muzzleloaders
- The Knapper's Corner, Flintknapping supplies and information
- NativeTech, Native American Technology, focuses on Eastern Woodland. Excellent!
- Blackfoot Fort Mountain Man Rendezvous,
is sponsored by the San Diego Council of the Boy Scouts. It’s one of the most hopeful things I’ve seen in buckskinning in years!
- Knives:
- The making of a Kauhava puukko from start to finish in the traditional manner.
An excellent YouTube video.
- Knivprat Fra Per Thoresen, a wonderful resource on Scandinavian knives. It's mostly in Norwegian
but you can use the Google translater for a rough translation.
-
The Google transation of Per Thoresen's Knife Talk, don't miss it!
- A knife data base with over 3000 older Nordic knives
- Issues of the Swedish knife magazine KNIVMAKAREN to read online. also other knife related publications, catalogs, etc.
- norskkniv.no/knivmakere_og_smeder.doc, a reference listing of Norwegian
knifemakers and blade smiths
- Knives from the Viking Age, from Warham Forge, an excellent discussion.
- BladeForums.com, a comprehensive site with great links!
- Knifeforums.com, similar, another great place to discuss knives.
- Knife Making, an excellent Utube video on making the Scandinavian knife
- American Bladesmith Society, Bladesmiths
- VIA CLAUDIA, Mitteleuropas größte Auswahl an klassischen nordischen Messern!,
(Central Europe´s largest variety of classical nordic knives), in German.
- Sami art and handicraft.
- Care & maintainance of Japanese Swords
- Medieval Sword Resource Site Excellent!
- Oregon Knife Collectors Association "Knewsletter", some good articles on the Dirk and Sgian Dubh.
- Steve's Knife Sharpening Site, excellent instructions for non-Scandinavian knives.
- The European Knife Directory
, A work in progress by an English enthusiast, with a nation-by-nation discussion of the
history, traditional styles, major companies etc., in each country. There's some excellent
information here! If your browser doesn't do Java, use this link instead.
- The Shade Tree Knife Mechanic, by Dick Baugh. How to make a good knife with
simple tools. Excellent!
- El Cuchillo Canario, The Canary Island knife, a distinctive and interesting style still being forged in the old style.
- Ethnographic Edged Weapons Resource Site, "traditional handmade edged weapons of many diverse cultures worldwide", has mostly swords, but includes some smaller traditional blades as well.
- Steels used by knifemakers, by Bob Engnth, a primer on the basic steels.
- European Whetstones, to be useful, a knife must be kept sharp, and
that has traditionally required a whetstone. This is an excellent site by a Dutch enthusiast. .
- Whetstones from Viking Age Iceland ,
the trade in whetstones during the Viking Age.
- Dan's Whetstone Arkansas Stone Grade Table
-
The Triangle Calculator is a way to precisely measure the true angle of the edge of Scandi ground blades. It's easier to accurately measure the
blade thickness and width of the bevel, then it is to measure the angle directly with an angle gage. I worked out a Excel spread sheet function to do this, but
this on-line calculator will save you the trouble.
- Blacksmithing
- The Safety Page, start here!
- iForge, The nearly definitive site, great links page.
- Ulfie's Forge, If you are interested in blacksmithing, and interested in Vikings, you have to see this one!
- Anvil, the online version of the magazine.
- BLACKSMITHING in the VIKING AGE
- The Rockbridge Bloomery, experiments in iron and steel production, the old way.
- Secrets of the Viking Sword, special by NOVA. A recreation of the Ulfbert sword,
a superior alternative to the pattern welded sword. Excellent!.
- What are Martensites?
- Blacksmith's Gazette
- The blacksmith shop at Sherbrooke Village
- The Rialto Archive
- Appalachian Blacksmiths Association, a nice page with some good current
sources for smithing coal.
- Ron Reil's Forge Page, almost everything you ever needed to know about building
and running a gas forge. Excellent!
- How to pick an anvil, by Darrell Markewitz of the Wareham Forge
- History and
Development of the Anvil
- The Old Village Blacksmith Shop, and finally, a nostalgic look
at the old time blacksmith.
-
Making nails, by Dave Smucker
- Old World Anvils, A selection of new anvils in double and single horn styles.
- Blacksmith Depot, (formerly
Kayne &Son) another good source for anvils and other tools.
- Spark Testing, how to roughly determine steel content by how it sparks on a
grinding wheel.
- Traditional Tools and Woodworking:
- The Finnish Axe by Marcus Lepola An excellent discussion of
traditional Finnish axes.
- The Electronic Neanderthal
- Early American Industries Association
- Museum of Woodworking Tools, don't miss this one!
- Woodwright WebSite
- Woodsmith
- The New Apprentice Neanderthal, good stuff!
- The Old Tools FAQ list
- Links to Other Woodworking Sites
-
How to hang (rehandle) an axe
-
How to sharpen an axe, traditional methods
-
How to sharpen an axe, more modern methods
-
How to sharpen a saw
- The Scythe
- Sources, where to get stuff:
- The Smoke & Fire Company, 18th Century necessities. They have a free catalog with good prices and quality.
- Jas. Townsend & Son, Inc. A complete online catalog for the reenactor.
- Panther Primatives, reasonably priced period tentage of good quality, well as other products.
- The Scarlet Scarab, A nicely chosen selection of 18th century items, including hand forged fish hooks.
- Tentsmiths, Very high quality tents from almost any era,
solidly reasearched.
- M. Steffan's Sons, Inc. is the oldest
leather goods store in the nation under the same name and family. Now operated by the fifth
generation, it's a great source for leather and leather working supplies. This is where I get the
leather I sell for knife sheaths. If you are going to make more than a few sheaths, you would
be better off getting large peices from Linda. Then you can fit the patterns to the leather and
reduce waste.
- Samson Family Cordwaining, third generation leather workers
making spot-on accurate leather tankards, bottles and belt pouches. 'Nice poeple!
- Will Shaw & Son, Tim Shaw (the "Son")
makes some awesome period leather canteens and other artifacts.
- Livonia Smithery, Hand crafted lanterns, cookware and other sheet metal work in authentic 18th Century style.
- Jim Chambers Flintlocks, Ltd., kits and bits for authentic flintlocks. The best!
- Wetterlings AB, traditional Swedish axes. Over 100 years of continous production.
- Gransfors Bruks AB, traditional Swedish axes
- Brisa, Scandinavian knife blades and materials from Finland, a competitor. I have better prices for the most
part, but Dennis has a better selection of hardware and high end blades.
- Moscow Hide and Fur,
(that's Moscow, Idaho) a great source for bones, antler, hides, etc.
- The Sutler of Mount Misery, G. Gedney Godwin, the original 18th century sutler.
- Norse Trade Goods from Wareham Forge
- Swords, by Steven R. Marsh, while he does not sell swords directly, this
is probably the definitive information source for buying a sword.
- Touch the Earth, Old beads, Carpets, wood carvings, and all types of ethnic goods
- Shrewwood, individually crafted Norse drinking horns and jewelry,
including one-of-a-kind amber items.
Yes, they're sort of competetors, but they are great folks, and the work is fantastic!
- The Complete Sagas of the
Icelanders, edited by Viðar Hreinsson. This is the complete and definative body of Viking
Literature in new translations. It's not inexpensive, but if you like real books rather than downloaded
zip files you should at least consider it.
- On/Scene Tactical, Custom sheathing systems
in kydex by Erik Noeldechen. For those who find the standard sheaths a bit whimpy, Erik will make a
kydex version.
- Match Cases by K & M Match Cases, The very best match safes, made here in the US by Keith and Marge. Nice folks.
- Living Skies Knives, Handmade Scandinavian style knives and axes, made in Canada.
- HTML:
- HTML Code Tutorial
- Accessable Site Design Guide, "Viewable with any Browser"
- Browser Safe Color, codes for colors
- Hexadecimal Color Codes , another take with links to safe (nondithering)
and soft palates
- Graphics from www.gandolf.com -excellent Celtic patterns!
- Back to home page
- Misc. & sites not filed yet
- The Internet Archive is building a digital library of Internet sites and other
cultural artifacts in digital form. A really neat site that archives old versions of web pages.
- Period Sidesaddles and a modern reconstruction, just a neat page.
- USE-WEAR ANALYSIS OF DRILL BITS, early stone working with bow drills
- Paradoxes of Defence (1599)
- Sammarei: Table of Contents
- pantheon.org mythology and gods
- Sir Henry Bessemer, F.R.S., An Autobiography
- Gargoyles and Grotesques
- The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho)
- Beads
- Fire Pistons
- Bearclaw Bushcraft