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Haakon the Good Battles the Sons of His Brother, Eric Bloodaxe, 953-961

July 13, 2023
Avaldsnes
Eric Bloodaxe
Fitjar
Haakon the Good
Harald Fairhair
heimskringla
history
medieval
Rastarkalv
the history avenue
vikings

Around the year 934, shortly after the death of the Norway’s legendary King Harald Fairhair, his youngest son Haakon – raised in Northumbria by King Athelstan (Æthelstan) – returned to usurp the throne bequeathed to Harald’s beloved but unpopular son Eric Bloodaxe.

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The Thousand-Year Saga of the Northwest Passage

November 6, 2021
captain franklin
Gjøa
history
naval history
northwest passage
roald amundsen
the history avenue
vikings

For hundreds of years European explorers braved the Arctic Sea’s treacherous waters in search of an elusive “Northwest Passage” – a route to Asia and Cathay circumventing the Indian Ocean and treacherous horn of South America. The Vikings of Iceland and Greenland were the first to ply the frigid American waters beginning in the late 10th century but colonized and exploited regional resources rather than look for a route to the Far East.