Free Republic

<p>LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a Viking longhouse that many believe was the home of Snorri Thorfinnsson, thought to be the first European born in the New World.</p> <p>The 1,000-year-old ruins were found in a glacial valley in northern Iceland during a survey of Viking-era buildings led by archaeologists at the University of California, Los Angeles.</p>

Archaeologists find legendary Icelandic home By Times Wire Services A UCLA team has found the Iceland home of Snorri Thorfinnsson, the first person of European descent born in the New World. Icelandic sagas from the 13th century tell the story of how Snorri’s parents led the first Scandinavian group that attempted to settle in Vinland — on the Canadian coast — around A.D. 1000. The attempt failed, and the family moved to Iceland, but Snorri was born while they were there. The “Vinland Sagas,” which also tell the story of Leif Ericson, are the earliest recorded history of the Scandinavian...

The death of Ireland’s High King during the famous bloody battle of Clontarf almost exactly 1,000 years ago will be remembered with a special service in his burial county of Armagh next month. Brian Boru (Bóraime) may have been born in County Clare but, as the well-known theme song ‘The Boys from the County Armagh’ notes, his ashes lie in the city, at the Church of Ireland Cathedral. The legendary leader had requested to be buried in Armagh, possibly due to its religious links to St Patrick, and it is said he was brought to the city by the clergy...

Clear your calendars: Viking apocalypse scheduled for Saturday Thor, Odin, Loki all scheduled to attend epic battle hastening world's end Now's the time to cash out your life insurance policy and have a little fun, because, according to Norse mythology, the world is ending this Saturday. Sorry to be a bummer, but you should know we're about 100 days into an epic battle that will culminate with the earth falling into the sea, NPR explains. On the bright side, at least you'll have an excuse for not going to your nephew's Chuck E. Cheese's party on Sunday. For those whose...

On this stick from the 1200s found in Bergen, two men named Sigurd and Lavran have written their names both in code and with regular runes. This helped runologist Jonas Nordby to solve the Jötunvillur code. For the first time, the Jötunvillur runic code is cracked. It can help to solve the mystery of the Vikings’ secret codes. Why did the Vikings use codes when they wrote runes? Was it a secret message or other reasons that they encrypted runic texts? This, we still know little about. But runologist Jonas Nordby think he may be one step closer to the...

Hello. My name is Chris Kluwe, and for eight years I was the punter for the Minnesota Vikings. In May 2013, the Vikings released me from the team. At the time, quite a few people asked me if I thought it was because of my recent activism for same-sex marriage rights, and I was very careful in how I answered the question. My answer, verbatim, was always, "I honestly don't know, because I'm not in those meetings with the coaches and administrative people." This is a true answer. I honestly don't know if my activism was the reason I got...

Among the distressing things to come out of Chris Kluwe’s blistering attack on three of his former bosses is this: Somebody is a liar. Kluwe wrote a scathing piece Thursday for Deadspin.com in which he called Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and former head coach Leslie Frazier “cowards” and skewered special teams coordinator Mike Priefer, describing him as “a bigot.” Kluwe is convinced he lost his punting job with the Vikings because he was outspoken in his support of gay marriage, and his vitriol toward Spielman, Frazier and Priefer come from that. He really unloaded on Priefer, saying that “if...

On Christmas Day 1013, Danish ruler Sweyn Forkbeard was declared King of all England and the town of Gainsborough its capital. But why is so little known of the man who would be England's shortest-reigning king and the role he played in shaping the early history of the nation? For 20 years, Sweyn, a "murderous character" who deposed his father Harold Bluetooth, waged war on England. And exactly 1,000 years ago, with his son Canute by his side, a large-scale invasion finally proved decisive. It was a brutal time, which saw women burned alive, children impaled on lances and men...

As archaeologists dug in preparation for a new railway line, they found traces of two rows of wooden pillars in Old Uppsala... One stretched about 1,000 yards and the other was half as long... were likely from the 5th century...

A significant archaeological discovery was made in the village of Ralswiek on the legendary island of Rügen in 1967. During roadworks an excavator dug out several oak planks from the ground. The road workers took their finding to a team of archaeologists working nearby and those soon began archaeological excavations during which four ancient Slavic ships and a trading settlement was uncovered. The settlement was one of the most important ports on the Baltic coast existed the 8th century. It was proposed that Rujani (an early Slavic tribe) harboured their fleet in the place of archealogical discovery because it is...

<p>Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson met his 2-year-old son for the first time while he was on life support, TMZ reports.</p> <p>The football star — whose son died on Friday after his mother’s boyfriend allegedly badly beat him — learned three months ago that he had a child with a woman living in South Dakota, the site reports.</p>

The 2-year-old son of NFL star Adrian Peterson died Friday in a South Dakota hospital after he was allegedly beaten by a man dating the boy's mother, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported. A release from the Sioux City police department said the toddler died "from injuries sustained during the aggravated assault Wednesday." It said it was witholding the child's name.

Adrian Peterson's 2-year-old son—not Adrian Peterson Jr., but a formerly "secret" child—is "not expected to survive his injuries," and could be taken off life support tonight, City Pages reports. On Wednesday, the Sioux Falls boy was allegedly beaten by his mother's boyfriend, Joseph Robert Patterson, 27, who has been charged with aggravated assault and aggravated assault on an infant. According to a reporter covering the story, the initial confusion surrounding the boy's identity was due to the fact that not even Adrian Peterson is sure the child is his, though Peterson's father later would later describe the boy as a...

A Minnesota legislator wants a provision stripped from the Vikings new stadium lease that would prevent the building from being used by businesses that sell guns and other weapons. Republican Rep. Pat Garofalo of Farmington said in a letter Thursday that the restriction could discourage hunting and outdoors groups from holding offseason events at the planned $975 million stadium, which is being built with a partial public subsidy. The Associated Press reported on the clause this week that is contained in a 30-year stadium lease.

1. kafli Óleifur hét herkonungur er kallaður var Óleifur hvíti. Hann var son Ingjalds konungs Helgasonar, Ólafssonar, Guðröðarsonar, Hálfdanarsonar hvítbeins Upplendingakonungs.

Academics at Coventry University have uncovered complex social networks within age-old Icelandic sagas, which challenge the stereotypical image of Vikings as unworldly, violent savages. Pádraig Mac Carron and Ralph Kenna from the University's Applied Mathematics Research Centre have carried out a detailed analysis of the relationships described in ancient Icelandic manuscripts to shed new light on Viking society. In a study published in the European Physical Journal, Mac Carron and Kenna have asked whether remnants of reality could lurk within the pages of the documents in which Viking sagas were preserved. They applied methods from statistical physics to social networks...

Now that the heirs of Carl Pohlad’s estate are caught up in the very confiscatory tax regime their favorite politicians helped create, it is tempting to root for the taxman just to make a point. Seems the IRS believes the Pohlad boys undervalued their prized possession, the Minnesota Twins, to the tune of $269 million as part of their late father’s estate. Now the greedy hand wants at least $121 million from the franchise the taxpayers built.

DNA shows Celtic hero Somerled's Viking roots IAN JOHNSTON SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT A HISTORIC Celtic hero credited with driving the Vikings out of western Scotland was actually descended from a Norseman, according to research by a leading DNA expert. According to traditional genealogies, Somerled, who is said to have died in 1164 after ousting the Vikings from Argyll, Kintyre and the Western Isles, was descended from an ancient royal line going back to when the Scots were living in Ireland. But Bryan Sykes, an Oxford University professor of human genetics who set up a company called Oxford Ancestors to research people’s...

Retired six-time Pro Bowl center and former Viking Matt Birk skipped the Baltimore Ravens' visit to the White House on Wednesday for political reasons. Specifically, the St. Paul native took issue with President Barack Obama's support of Planned Parenthood. Birk is a staunch Catholic father of six children who's against abortion and has taken a strong pro-life stance. Birk has also spoken out in the past in favor of traditional marriage prior to same-sex marriage becoming legal last year in Maryland. "I wasn't there," Birk said in an interview on KFAN-FM. "I would say that I have great respect for...