SCAND 370 | The Vikings: Online reference sources

Dictionaries & Corpora

Explore the language and literature left behind by the Vikings through dictionaries, which collect and define terms, and corpora, large collections of written text transcribed from the original sources.

An Icelandic-English Dictionary
Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson, Oxford, 1874. The best Old Norse to English dictionary
ONP: Dictionary of Old Norse Prose
Part of the Arnamagnæan Collection at the University of Copenhagen, this resource allows you to search for every known use of any Old Norse word across the corpus of Old Norse prose.
The Skaldic Project
The project 'Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages' is editing the corpus of Old Norse-Icelandic skaldic poetry, as well as all poetry written down in runes. The website provides editions, translations, additional information of all kinds, and references.
Rundata.info
The Scandinavian Runic-Text Database has comprehensively catalogued runic inscriptions from across medieval Scandinavia and offers transliterations, translations, photographs, additional information, and references.

Antiquities & Artifacts

Resources cataloging archaeological artifacts bring the material culture of the Viking Age to life online.

The Viking World
Photos and information for all themes, displays, and objects part of the exhibition The Viking World at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, Sweden — the world's largest collection of Viking artefacts.
Portable Antiquities Scheme Website
Run by the British Museum and Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales), the PAS Database records a great number of metal-detector finds from different time periods in England and Wales. It currently contains about one and a half million items. Happy hunting!

Annotated Bibliographies

Scholarly bibliographies collect sources on a particular subject or topic. Annotated bibliographies include annotations contextualizing the resources, differentiating them from one another. Oxford University provides annotated bibliographies on a wide range of scholarly subjects, including the series Oxford Bibliographies in Medieval Studies, which includes a bibliography on the Vikings as well as many bibliographies on Old Norse literature.

Oxford Bibliographies in Medieval Studies | Vikings
Covering Denmark, Norway, and Sweden during the Viking Age, this bibliography highlights and contextualizes resources in key research areas including: Viking expansion — political unification of Scandinavian nations — Christianization of Scandinavia — material culture — historical sources from Western Europe — Eddic literature

Societies

Scholarly societies promote and support academic research, discussion, and public interest in a scientific or scholarly discipline or subject area. They provide platforms for scholars to share knowledge, publish research, host conferences, and offer funding opportunities and other support to further study in their field.

Viking Society for Northern Research
The Viking Society is the world's leading scholarly organization dedicated to the study of medieval Scandinavia and the wider Viking world. The website includes information on membership, events, news, and publications.