Navigating our Viking ship in troubled waters: Reflecting on The Viking Herald's journey

I think back to 2022. That was a life-changing year for me. My gorgeous daughter was born in January of that year and changed everything for me and my wife. Certainly, I have since learned to operate on less sleep and more caffeine than I ever thought humanly possible.

It was also life-changing, for in April of that year, I started writing for The Viking Herald. I was humbled that the co-founder of this operation, Robin, invited me to join this small but visionary outfit. It was his passion project.

Since then, we have been joined by our eagle-eyed editor, Igor, and a world-class wordsmith, Jonathan (another man with a great name!), both of whose passion for Viking history is matched only by their incredible work ethic, knowledge, and skill.

Robin told me on Day 1 that the vision of The Viking Herald, which still rings true today, was to make Viking history and Nordic culture accessible, engaging, and relevant to people the world over, from Namibia to New Zealand to Norway and everywhere in between.

For so long, Viking history has been largely out of touch for everyday people like you. Thankfully, modern technology has allowed us to share the past with loyal fans all over the world.

We have been doing our best to bring to life all the color and complexity of the Viking Age, an era of history truly like no other, and helping to bring that culture and history out of dust-filled books and into the modern world. 

• READ MORE: 5 myths about Vikings everyone got wrong

What began as a side project has grown into something bigger thanks to your support. Photo: Smudge 9000 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

What began as a passion project is now reaching a global audience

What began very much as a passion project has been, thanks to you, dear reader, transformed into a global platform rooted in independent and human-centered journalism and writing.

We’ve published hundreds (to be accurate, more than 1,000, but who’s counting?) articles, deep dives, interviews, and stories that we hope have helped shed light on all aspects of people from Viking societies, including their feared warriors.

Some of my favorites have been digging out the less studied aspects of Viking history, including some of the far-flung places they journeyed, a deep dive into the women buried in the Oseberg ship, or the centuries-long and bloody process of the Christianization of Scandinavia.

We have also been quick to spread the word about the latest archeological finds and how they help to shape our understanding of the Viking Age.

These include a bracteate in the Vindelev hoard that proves Odin may have been worshipped for centuries longer than previously thought, the eastern origins of a vessel found in the Galloway hoard, and two Viking longhouses uncovered well above the Arctic Circle.

Adding to these articles, we have been lucky enough to interview a whole host (or should that be horde) of professionals working with Viking history.

Among them are the world-famous (and sorely missed) former director of the L’Anse aux Meadows site, Birgitta Wallace, and archeologist—and very much a 21st-century Viking—Greer Jarret, who spoke with us about his experimental voyages.

All of these professionals working within Viking history have been generous enough to share their vast experience and knowledge with us to pass on to you, dear reader.

Pointless without you

All these articles, interviews, and insights would be pointless without you, dear reader. Our readers, our subscribers, and our community—you are the reason we spend so much time and effort digging into the lesser-studied areas of Viking history.

You are the reason we spend countless hours plugging away at a screen, rewriting and perfecting every word, every sentence, every article to make it more accessible and entertaining.

Along the way, we have been touched by the feedback and interaction we have had with all our readers and subscribers, from lifelong Viking aficionados to academics and curious newcomers.

Your encouragement and your willingness to share and subscribe are what keep our (Viking) ship afloat, so to speak. However, we travel in uncertain waters. It is not easy, dear reader, to do what we have done and be a niche media platform in today’s noisy digital world.

We have faced the same strong headwinds that many journalists and media companies around the world have had to navigate: the dominance of big tech companies and the devastating impact of AI on the media industry.

The former means that the stories people see are no longer determined by their quality or depth but by opaque algorithms that monetize every click. To make matters worse, the latter has meant a tidal wave’s worth of low-cost, low-context content flooding the internet.

This so-called "AI slop" has devastated huge digital players, so think what it is doing to us, a small and passionate niche community. 

• READ MORE: 6 Viking Age sites granted World Heritage status

We are aiming to grow, write more, and stay independent with a little help from our community. Photo: Alex_Maryna / Shutterstock

With your support, there is hope ahead 

Independent media must fight back hard now more than ever; thus, we will continue to sail our ship through these troubled waters.

We do this because we choose to put people first. This means that with your ongoing support, we envision a bold future for The Viking Herald that should see our operation publish countless more articles, deep dives, stories, interviews, and insights into Viking history and Nordic culture.

We want our operations to be more sustainable, thus allowing us to expand coverage, deepen storytelling, and produce more of the articles, deep dives, features, interviews, and tales that you want us to.

If you value our work, want us to boldly follow that vision that Robin drew up for this passion project—now with a global reach—and want to help secure the future of The Viking Herald, please consider joining us on Patreon.

For the price of a coffee each month, you can support independent journalism, research, and writing that help bring Viking history and Nordic culture to life. This will help us remain fiercely independent and grow with integrity.

To continue our Viking ship metaphor, your support on Patreon will be akin to grabbing an oar and helping us pull together and sail in these troubled waters.

We believe that curiosity and context cannot simply be automated. We believe that AI is no match for the human touch when it comes to analyzing, explaining, and trying to understand the whole scope of Viking history and the people who made it.

I believed in the vision of The Viking Herald in delivering high-quality content, with a personal touch, from Day 1, and we will all strive to continue that vision into the future, with your loyal support.

The Viking Herald will stay the course and be powered by humans like you, not robots. There is nothing artificial about that. 

Skål to what lies ahead!

We get to provide readers with original coverage thanks to our loyal supporters. Do you enjoy our work? You can become a PATRON here or via our Patreon page. You'll get access to exclusive content and early access.