Thor's Day

FULLY ILLUSTRATED EDITION
Dive into the enthralling world and true history of ancient England and Scandinavia that has enchanted and inspired the likes of JRR Tolkien and William Shakespeare. A linguistic odyssey awaits, where history and fantasy intertwine! Learn how the whispers of Odin and the echoes of Viking longships have left an indelible mark on our everyday vocabulary.

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Helsinki Art Nouveau Jugendstil - guide

Discover a never-before-seen guide to the history and character of Helsinki’s vibrant Art Nouveau Jugendstil buildings. The story behind these buildings’ origins will leave you in awe, giving you a fresh perspective on Finland and its capital.

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Sisu: The secrets of Finland's can-do spirit

The Okinawans gave the world ikigai and the Danes gave us hygge. The world is now discovering the extraordinary power of sisu – from Finland. Sisu is a capacity of extraordinary determination and resilience.

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The Joy of English

It targets common pitfalls and those troublesome areas of English usage that affect everyone, no matter what their level of competence. It exposes several language myths and is bursting with 1,500 examples of both right and wrong usage.

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English Masala - History of Anglo-Indian words

Take a fresh look at India! By combining etymology with history, English Masala tells the fascinating origins of English words and a provides a chronological narrative of the story of India.

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Books

The Joy of
English

The simplest and easiest to understand grammar book on the top-100 mistakes.

  • Grammar, usage, punctuation AmE-vs-BrE

  • Short chapters, hundreds of examples

  • 1500 examples of correct and incorrect

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Sisu: the secrets
of Finland's
can-do spirit

This is no coffee-table book. It is a deep dive into what sisu is and where it comes from.

  • Sisu Mindset: What is it? How to get it

  • Resilience. Belonging. Purpose.

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Helsinki Art Nouveau
Jugendstil

An illustrated guide telling the full story of how these fantastic buildings came into existence

  • +40 beautiful, original illustrations by author

  • exclusive walking routes of Helsinki districts

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Thor's Day

Untangling the real history, art and language of Viking Scandinavia and Anglo-Saxon Britain

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Jesse's Books

Thor's Day: Untangling the real history, art and language of Viking Scandinavia and Anglo-Saxon Britain

FULLY ILLUSTRATED EDITION
Dive into the enthralling world and true history of ancient England and Scandinavia that has enchanted and inspired the likes of JRR Tolkien and William Shakespeare. A linguistic odyssey awaits, where history and fantasy intertwine! Learn how the whispers of Odin and the echoes of Viking longships have left an indelible mark on our everyday vocabulary.

EXPLORE BOOK

Podcasts

AND FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ...

Podcast: Finding Milton

A journey into history and my attempt to uncover the truth behind a most remarkable and intriguing tale. This is a story about a man called Milton (a black American Phd student), a man called Emil (a Jewish-German academic) and a man called Adolf (who needs no introduction). The time and place: Heidelberg, Germany, 1932.

SERIES PAGE

A PODCAST EXCLSIVETO SPOTIFY

From Analog to Digital: A Generation-X Tech Memoir

From Analog to Digital: A Generation-X Tech Memoir. This the podcast series, exclusively on Spotify, that tells the story of what it was like growing up during the great digital transformation. Each episode chronicles all the great tech that appeared in my life year after year - and what it was like seeing them, using them and why they were so mind-blowing.

EXPLORE ON SPOTIFY

Latest articles

FROM THOR'S DAY

How Apple designers discovered the Command-Key Symbol from mystic Old Norse symbols

The Great Heathen Army was one of the most successful military campaigns of the Viking Age. It saw an army of Vikings invade Britain and very nearly conquer the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms over a period that lasted nearly three times longer than the Second World War.

READ ARTICLE
FINALDN: SISU MINDSET

Put away your Nordic walking poles: the new fitness trend is Finnish stair training

Call them ‘fitness stairs’ or ‘exercise stairs’, a pioneering fitness revolution from Finland is quietly causing a sensation. Stair training is motivating people of all ages to get fit in the Nordic nation.

READ ARTICLE
FROM HELSINKI JUNGENDSTIL

Finland Pavilion, Paris 1900 -
‘A small masterpiece: an architectural jewel’

It had been 11 years since the last Exposition Universelle in Paris, yet memories of this previous event remained fresh. Expectations of the World’s Fair returning to Paris were high. The combination of the city and the World’s Fair was an unbeatable draw. Running from 14 April until 12 November 1900, organisers expected 300,000 to 400,000 visitors just this opening weekend. Despite 500 acres of grounds, 33 official pavilions and 40 national ones, it would still be crowded. And even busier during the summer.

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The Pavillon Finlandais stood in stark contrast to its neighbours. For a start, it was small. Or at least seemed small among the over-proportioned giants nearby. But it was solid. The ‘temporary’ pavilion looked as though it had stood on this very spot for 100 years. It was a long, low building of one level spanning some 10x40 metres. Although the original plans had called for an iron frame, wood had been used instead. Rising from its roof was a quirky, octagonal church-like tower in yellow and green. The tower was blighted by what Axel Gallén called “the crow” – the double-headed Russian eagle that was mandatory. At the tower’s base sat four man-sized bears carved in stone by sculptor Emil Wikström. While the building design derived from traditional Finnish medieval church architecture, the approach to ornamentation was new. There were stone frogs, elk and squirrels around windows, portals and gables. The roof was covered in hexagonal shingles of the type traditionally used in old Finnish churches. The planned-for stairs had been scrapped, so there was no access to the tower.
FROM THOR'S DAY

An illustrated history of
the Great Heathen Army
(865AD to 878AD)

The Great Heathen Army was one of the most successful military campaigns of the Viking Age. It saw an army of Vikings invade Britain and very nearly conquer the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms over a period that lasted nearly three times longer than the Second World War. The evidence shows that this full-scale invasion in 865 was unlike anything ever seen in Britain’s history.

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872 AD. In late 872, the Heathen Army headed from Reading to London under the leadership of Halfdan, where they settled in for the winter. London remained under the control of those Vikings not allied with Guðrum until 886. These forces continued to menace Alfred’s eastern flank. Danish King Halfdan was intent on staying in England, so much so that five separate hoards of coins have since been found across former Danish England a millennium later. These coins bear his name on one side and the London (LDN) monogram on the other. They suggest that he planned to keep control of London permanently.

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