I recently released a music video about the grindadráp, taken from the documentary Far Away Islands. Grindadráp is a Faroese tradition where they hunt whales. However, in modern times, they use motorboats, GPS, and other modern equipment to drive the whales into shore for slaughter. I don’t believe this is traditional, sustainable, or right. I want to address some of your comments, particularly why I don’t talk about Denmark’s overfishing. I have actually spoken out against it many times. I’ve sailed for many years, traveled the world for the past 10 years, and have seen firsthand how ecosystems have collapsed or are on the verge of collapse, especially marine ecosystems. I’ve specifically highlighted the destruction of Køge Bugt in Denmark, where the entire bay is suffering due to silt dumping. I’ve also spoken out against Japanese whaling, China’s massive overfishing, and other critical issues. This is close to my heart because I’ve personally witnessed the decline of ocean life. We live in a modern world with a growing population, and we need to find a way to sustain the oceans both now and for future generations. I understand that grindadráp is something Faroese people may feel is their right and tradition, but haven’t times changed? It is no longer about tradition when motorboats, GPS, and modern tools are used to drive whales onto shore for slaughter, only to discard much of their meat and other useful parts. This isn’t an attack on the Faroese people, it is an attempt to start a discussion. Is this really necessary anymore, especially considering the heavy metals and other contaminants in the meat? Is it truly about survival, or is it done as an act of defiance against the outside world, believing others simply want to erase your tradition? I truly appreciate everyone who has engaged in discussions on my YouTube channel, Facebook, and elsewhere without resorting to just insults or anger. I especially appreciate those who have shared different opinions in a constructive way. Productive discussions are important, and I’m grateful to those who approach these issues with an open mind. You can watch the documentary here, where both sides discuss and voice their opinions: https://www.waterbear.com/watch/far-away-islands

Hrólf Kraki is one of the greatest Danish kings of the Scylding lineage. This is the 13th part of the story about him, the people around him and the many adventures they experienced. Halga SeaKing was the youngest of Halfdan's three children, but by far the largest, the strongest and the most influential. As a child, he and his brother Hróar escaped and lived in hiding from their uncle Ingjald, but when Halga was 13, they killed Ingjald and became kings of Denmark. Hróar became land-king while Halga became sea-king and won many battles. Halga was a great warrior and often went on expeditions both near and far, which gave him a mighty reputation and great wealth. After living as a sea-king for many years, he settled in the Scylding royal court Lejre and continued his life as a land-king. After a few years, his brother Hróarr sought him out and gave up his part of the kingdom. From then on, Halga was the sole king of Denmark. Halga SeaKing won back Jutland from the Saxons, whom he liked beating on accation. He killed the Swedish king Hodbrod, for which he was nicknamed Halga Hodbrodsbane. And he went on victorious campaigns to Russia. He was a mighty king and his career was magnificent... on a personal level, however, life became increasingly complicated for Halga. Source: Hrólfs saga kraka ok kappa hans, Saxo Ill.: The Scylding lineage, BFB

Denmark didn't get a lot of snow this winter, so I'm glad I had the chance to be a bit creative when the snowstorm hit us 🤍

🇬🇧 text + link further down. 🇸🇪 Ulfva Hvidegaard – Ny Thegn i Danmark Med hennes engagemang, energi och vilja för att stärka Asatron i våra länder och gemenskapen mellan danska och svenska fränder och fränkor hälsar vi Ulfva Hvidegaard välkommen som Thegn för Nordiska Asa-samfundet i Danmark. Läs mer på: [https://asa-samfundet.se/ulfva-hvidegaard-ny-thegn-i-danmark/ 🇬🇧 Ulfva Hvidegaard – New Thegn in Denmark With her dedication, energy, and commitment to strengthening Ásatrú in our lands and fostering the bond between Danish and Swedish friends and kin, we welcome Ulfva Hvidegaard as Thegn for the Nordic Asa-Community in Denmark. Read more at: https://asa-samfundet.se/en/ulfva-hvidegaard-new-thegn-in-denmark/

It has been VERY foggy in Denmark the past week and think I managed to capture some serene moments of it 🤍 #fog #denmark

Just for fun, what's everyone's Genealogy? I myself have never done a DNA test, and I've thought about doing one to see what all pops up. However, I got a lot of family records, and of course my family living in different countries helps. As of now, my family is spread between 4 countries. Denmark, Sweden, Ireland and the United States. Though I've been told I have very distant family in Norway and Iceland. From my mom's side, from family and records, my family is of course Primarily Danish, and there's some North Germany in there, Swedish, and a little bit of Irish in there from certain family members. On my dad's side, it is Irish and Danish from my current living family. However based on last names, and down history we can find, we believe there's some Norman and Anglo-Saxon way down the line. But over the last 100 years in the family, Denmark and Ireland were places my family were around most, with some going back and forth from Sweden and Denmark, and my family that settled and stayed in Ireland on my mother's side. My dad's side had settled in Ireland quite a bit longer, with some of our records going back and forth from Ireland and Scandinavia for quite a while, with family from Denmark establishing themselves as early as 14th century if our records are correct. My dad was actually born and immigrated from Ireland which is kind of cool, because as much of a Dane as I am, since my mother's family immigrated from Denmark, I've always just known myself as a Danish American. I only met my dad in the last few years of my life and began learning all this information at least from his side of the family and it's pretty cool knowing and learning things about my family. All this information has made me want to get a DNA test and see what it says, and what I can piece together for a further back family tree. Though i may find out by blood im far less Danish than i think i am, which is a bit saddening lol, none the less, most of my family lives in Denmark, and I'll always stand by the good saying, Fuck Dig Jeg Er Dansker! 😁 Anyways show me some DNA tests and let's talk about some history!

More info about the Dna article 'Norse Code' in Natue magazine. Prof Alice Roberts's (edited due to length) social media post: "My friend Pontus Skoglund and his colleagues have JUST published this incredible new piece of research into Viking-era migrations - using ancient DNA and a brand analysis called Twigstats. [......] This new analysis includes a new piece of information relating to [.....] the remains of 30+ individuals from a mass grave in Oxford, thought to have been slaughtered in the 1002 St Brice’s Day Massacre, [......]. Ancient DNA analysis is an incredibly powerful tool for understanding populations, migrations and families [.....]. This is really exciting science. And it’s really hard. First the archaeogeneticists have to take samples from ancient bones, then they extract DNA from the samples [......]. Ancient DNA might survive the ravages of time - but it’s usually broken up into tiny pieces, [......]. So the next stage is assembling those segments of code into a whole genome. It’s a mindblowingly huge puzzle which is only made possible with advances in computing power. But reconstructing an ancient genome is just the beginning. What the archaeogeneticists are really interested in is comparing lots of genomes - looking for similarities and differences. These are the key to understanding what was happening to populations in the past - and tracking migrations. Over time, genomes acquire new mutations. Those mutations will be inherited by descendants of the person in whom the mutation first arose. While most of the genome will be identical between two people, the pattern of these little differences is crucial for working out what happened to populations over time - and for tracking families. [.......]. Pontus told me that distinguishing different Iron Age Scandinavian groups, for instance, is MUCH harder. It’s not a perfect analogy, but imagine trying to tell if someone is Norwegian or Danish by the appearance - it’s hard. But Twigstats works by focusing on salient differences - and these are ones related to relatively recent mutations [......]. It ignores older mutations which have been sifted and sorted through populations over time, creating confusing ‘noise’. So it’s a bit like snipping a twig off a gene tree so you can focus on just those branches - ignoring the rest of the tree. Hence the name: Twigstats. This means you can now spot subtle but important differences between populations that are quite genetically similar. And then this also means you can spot when in time a population starts to look more similar to another one - implying that those populations have merged with each other. In other words: some people have migrated and settled in a new place and started to mix with the population already there. Pontus and his colleagues tested their new technique on simulated data to make sure it worked - which it did, very well. Ten times better than anything else they’d tried before. They used it to look at some real samples, looking at modern human and Neanderthal DNA - to test a criticism of the theory that these species interbred with each other in the Palaeolithic. Now this is something I’ve been following for years, ever since my first big landmark series for the BBC, The Incredible Human Journey. Back then, in 2008, there didn’t seem to be any evidence of modern humans (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals mixing. At least, fossil bones weren’t providing a suggestion of interbreeding. But then ancient DNA came along - with the first Neanderthal genome published in 2010. And then it seemed there was evidence for interbreeding, around 60,000 years ago. But a few scientists have criticised this claim, saying that the patterns in the modern human DNA could have happened another way, just through genetic variants being sorted over time, creating a sort of mirage of an interbreeding event with Neanderthals. Most archaeogeneticists still thought that interbreeding explained the pattern. But there was an element of doubt. [....] Twigstats finally puts that doubt to bed. Neanderthals and modern humans definitely met up and swapped genes with each other (delicately put). [.......] The main focus of the study was the later first millennium - the Viking Age. And here, Pontus and his colleagues were able to use Twigstats to track migrations of different populations that have been difficult to ‘see’ before, they’re all so similar. They found evidence for migrations of Germanic people southward into Poland and Slovakia, as well as into south-central Europe and Britain. And then later, those people that ended up in Poland were themselves replaced during the Slavic period. They also found evidence of a previously unknown migration into Scandinavia, before the Viking Age - transforming the ancestry of Denmark and southern Sweden. Interestingly, this seems to coincide with a change in runic script and language - establishing Old Norse and the Younger Futhark."

"Russia expands its warning to Denmark to include 'military-technical measures.'" The Russian "bear" as they call it, is all growl no bite. Maybe its a teddy bear instead. 😆 amazing how they always threaten with nuclear bombs and other military measures. All they do is use their old secret container ships trying to destroy our data cables in the baltic sea, when no one is looking. Maybe they should just shut up for a while..

https://www.mensjournal.com/news/archaeologists-iron-age-weapons-denmark

Old studio, Denmark. Looking forward to building the new one.