j.f.r.

The Vikings were a seafaring people now infamous for manly warriors, with long braided hair, wielding massive axes, as they raided, raped & pillaged across the seas. The modern romanticized "Viking" warrior isn't an entirely accurate picture, but their influence on the history of northern Europe can't be denied. Their presence was so striking the entire era was named the Viking Age!

Loosely translated as 'bathhouse' or 'sauna' the traditional Latvian Pirts shares some similarities to other smoke saunas found in Estonia, Russia and Finland. It can technically be classified as a 'wet' sauna, meaning it utilizes steam and high humidity, but the practice of pirts, both in it's most ancient practical bathing sense, and it's more ritualized expression, is unique enough that pirts is truly it's own category.

No, not the ones on X - - the ancient, primordial Jötnar as old as the gods themselves... Variously Known As: Ogre, Jötunn, Eoten/ Ent, Þurs (Thurs), Risi Trolls & Giants are among the oldest cryptids of our collective imagination. But where do these stories come from and how do they vary across cultures?