Old Norse is still on the agenda as well, but I may go ahead and start chipping away at it now. I mostly just want a reading proficiency in it, since I don’t know of anyone who speaks Old Norse in southern Ohio.

On the other hand, I suppose learning to speak Old Norse would be a good way to hop into Icelandic. I gather that they’re pretty much identical besides some minor grammar points.

I didn’t know about the Vikings keeping skulls of their enemies to drink out of. While I enjoy the Viking time period, when recreating history, I doubt I’ll be doing that particular act.

Where in Vikingland do you live?

However, there might be something to add on the subject. Word has it that vikings used to hang on to the skulls of their deceased (usually mamed) foes, and to this day the word for “cheers” (as in making a toast when drinking), has derived from the world “skull”. Supposedly this is beacuse they used to drink beer out of these skulls and pass around the longtables. So in all the Scandinavian countries, the word for “cheers” is “skÃ¥l”, pronounced “scawl”.

And how might these phenomenon be related? Well, I was just thinking that this habit of drinking out of the skulls of your enemies could have impressed some imaginative persons with an inclination for mythmaking. I mean since the horned helmet has some similarities with a skull. Ok, with a dash of goodwill, I guess.

Could also just be me being a tad bit too creative.

In regards to your second question.. we use Norse names. Skapti is Norse, however, Grania isn’t. Her name is actually Old Irish, because her SCA persona is an Irish woman who ‘mingles with Vikings’.