bloomann Posted October 16, 2003 Report Share Posted October 16, 2003 When I was doing research on Shakspeares Hamlet I found out that the essential story was taken from a Danish legend which was chroniceled by that 12th century historian : Saxo Grammaticus. What I found was a great site : http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/DanishHistory/ This has almost all the books translated into English. It also has a real comprehensive outline and introduction discribing Viking life, laws, types of warriors, types of weapons, how they dueled, types of spells, and different magical items. It makes for a fantastic background for a viking campaign. Saxo, who was writing the legends down for the Archbishop Absolom, was still knee deep in paganism, yet trying hard to rectifiy or christianize certain beliefs, thus he claimes that before man there was a period where powerful giants ruled and shaped the earth with there magic. After they fought with another race, which he called the Wizards (whom we recognize as the old Norse gods). The Wizards won this war and the giants fell into obscurity. Then man came along and replaced in his turn the prominence of the Wizards domination. During the episodes in which Saxo is writing, the gods still interact with men, sometimes helping and sometimes betraying. Giants and dragons roam about in certain savage areas but these encounters are rare. What you have, if you can get around the antiquated prose Saxo uses, is a fine sourcebook and fondation for an original viking campaign with very specific rules concerning spell types, weapons and different cultural aspects. Very rich material. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted October 16, 2003 Report Share Posted October 16, 2003 Here in Denmark every home is required by law to have a copy of Saxo. Just kidding, but it sure seems like that Anyhoo, if you liked that stuff, I would recommend further reading of the icelandic sagas. You can get the three classics (Egil's saga, Njal's saga and Grettir's saga) for free here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/index.htm#scandinavia A number of others can be acquired through Penguin classics, in old fashioned book format (but better translations for the modern reader). I discovered the sagas as an undergraduate and was so inspired I treated my players to a year or so of viking-flavoured dramas of murder and revenge (the famous Snøtgøbblersons saga). I consider these essential reading for any GM who wants to run low fantasy games. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloomann Posted October 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 great site Thanks for the link! this site is a fantastic treasure cove of legend. Very cool cheers PS Are you in Copenhagen? Someof my best friends live there. Anyway thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 Yeps. I'm in Copenhagen. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloomann Posted October 21, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2003 Cool Mark, perhaps the next time I'm up I could try to contact you and convince my friend that gaming is great, although we've never talked about it the last time I was there (this summer) I overheard him say (after many beers, how you Danes party!) that he missed playing D&D. anyway it won't be before next summer so I guess that gives you ample time to figure out if you'd like to host a 1 nighter or something e (for eric) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 Host a one nighter? But of course! I'm always up for that - and it helps that my wife is gamer too. See ya next summer cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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