Much like Greek and Roman mythology, Norse myths are still with us. Famous storytellers from JRR Tolkien to Neil Gaiman have drawn their inspiration from the long-haired, mead-drinking, marauding and pillaging Vikings. Their creator is a thirteenth-century Icelandic chieftain by the name of Snorri S[...]

The popular picture of the Dark Ages is wrong. People knew the earth wasn't flat; they weren't terrified that the world would end at the end of the millennium. And the medieval Catholic Church, widely considered a source of intolerance and inquisitorial fervor, was not anti-science during the Dark A[...]