There has been renewed interest in the lives and traditions of Vikings, and more and more is being rediscovered about who they really were, and what they may be again. While there is a certain cliché about pillaging their neighbors (or worse) for sport and wealth, it’s only logical that their society couldn’t have all been marauders. There is a richness to the Norse heritage that is much more than that, and what is being remembered, too, is that a certain philosophy lies in the heart of that culture. In this post, Bjørn Andreas Bull-Hansen waxes a little poetic on the hearts of Vikings, and why their spirit of independence is rekindled in the modern age.