HedebyHedeby (ˈhe̝ːðəˌpyˀ, Old Norse Heiðabýr, German Haithabu) was an important Danish Viking Age (8th to the 11th centuries) trading settlement near the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, now in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the most important archaeological site in Schleswig-Holstein. Around 965, chronicler Abraham ben Jacob visited Hedeby and described it as, "a very large city at the very end of the world's ocean.
Viking AgeThe Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germanic Iron Age. The Viking Age applies not only to their homeland of Scandinavia but also to any place significantly settled by Scandinavians during the period. The Scandinavians of the Viking Age are often referred to as Vikings as well as Norsemen, although few of them were Vikings in the sense of being engaged in piracy.
PytheasPytheas of Massalia (ˈpɪθiəs; Ancient Greek: Πυθέας ὁ Μασσαλιώτης Pythéas ho Massaliōtēs; Latin: Pytheas Massiliensis; born 350 BC, 320–306 BC) was a Greek geographer, explorer and astronomer from the Greek colony of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, France). He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe in about 325 BC, but his account of it, known widely in antiquity, has not survived and is now known only through the writings of others. On this voyage, he circumnavigated and visited a considerable part of modern-day Great Britain and Ireland.
ReykjavíkReykjavík (ˈreɪkjəvɪk,_-viːk ; ˈreiːcaˌviːk) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. Reykjavík has a population of around 140,000 as of 2023 (up from 121,822 in 2015). The Capital Region has a population of around 248,000. Reykjavík is believed to be the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland, which, according to Landnámabók, was established by Ingólfr Arnarson in 874 CE.
CopenhagenCopenhagen (ˌkoʊpənˈheɪɡən,-ˈhɑː- or ˈkoʊpənheɪɡən,-hɑː- ; København khøpm̩ˈhɑwˀn) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of around 1.4 million in the urban area, and more than 2 million in the wider Copenhagen metropolitan area. The city is on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.
MalmöMalmö (ˈmælmoʊ,_ˈmɑːlmɜː, ˈmâlːmøː; Malmø ˈmælmˌøˀ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal population of 357,377 in 2022. The Malmö Metropolitan Region is home to over 700,000 people, and the Öresund Region, which includes Malmö and Copenhagen, is home to 4 million people. Malmö was one of the earliest-industrialised and most-industrialised towns in Scandinavia, and it struggled to adapt to post-industrialism.
BirkaBirka (Birca in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö (lit. "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of the European continent and the Orient. Björkö is located in Lake Mälaren, 30 kilometers west of contemporary Stockholm, in the municipality of Ekerö. Birka was founded around AD 750 and it flourished for more than 200 years. It was abandoned c. AD 975, around the same time Sigtuna was founded as a Christian town some 35 km to the northeast.
SkagerrakThe Skagerrak (ˈskɛːjɐˌʁɑk, ˈskɑ̀ːɡərɑk, ˈskɑ̌ːɡɛrak) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea. The Skagerrak contains some of the busiest shipping routes in the world, with vessels from every corner of the globe. It also supports an intensive fishing industry. The ecosystem is strained and negatively affected by direct human activities. Oslo and Gothenburg are the only large cities in the Skagerrak region.
East Germanic languagesThe East Germanic languages, also called the Oder-Vistula Germanic languages, are a group of extinct Germanic languages that were spoken by East Germanic peoples. East Germanic is one of the primary branches of Germanic languages, along with North Germanic and West Germanic. The only East Germanic language of which texts are known is Gothic, although a word list and some short sentences survive from its debated-relative Crimean Gothic.
HallandHalland (ˈhǎlːand) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (landskap), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömsebro, it was part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Its name means Land of Rocky Slabs (Swedish: hällar) referring to the coastal cliffs of the region. The provinces of Sweden serve no administrative function. Instead, that function is served by the Counties of Sweden.