Puerto Rico), and in the 1860s Iceland was considered for compensation for the British support of Denmark in the Schleswig-Holstein conflicts. During this time, British interest and enthusiasm for Iceland and Nordic culture grew dramatically, expressed in original English poems extolling Viking virtues, such as Thomas Warton's "Runic Odes" of 1748: Yes – 'tis decreed my Sword no more Shall smoke and blush with hostile gore To my great Father's Feasts I go, Where luscious Wines for ever flow. Which from the hollow Sculls we drain Of Kings in furious Combat slain. United States Rasmus B. Anderson, the founding head of the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, also founded a publication company, The Norrœna Society, which focused on republishing translations of texts devoted to the history and romance of Northern Europe. Anderson was the author of a number of books with Scandinavian themes. He brought to the American popular attention the idea that Viking explorers discovered the New World and was the originator of Leif Erikson Day. See also Gothicism Scandinavism Vikings in popular culture Norse mythology in popular culture Neopaganism in Scandinavia Norse Mythology Neopaganism in German-speaking Europe Asatru Viking metal Viking rock Viking Society for Northern Research References Sources Litzenberg, Karl (1947) The Victorians and the Vikings: A Bibliographical Essay on Anglo-Norse Literary Relations (University of Michigan Contributions in Modern Philology) Wawn, Andrew (2000) The Vikings and the Victorians: Inventing the Old North in Nineteenth-Century Britain (Cambridge: Brewer) Ross, Margaret Clunies (1998) The Norse Muse in Britain 1750–1820 (Edizioni Parnaso) Logan, F. Donald (1983)The Vikings in History (London: Hutchison & Co.) Arnold, Martin (2008) Vikings: Culture and Conquest (Hambledon Continuum) Foote, Peter Godfrey and D. M. Wilson (1990) The Viking Achievement: The Society and Culture of Early Medieval Scandinavia (Palgrave Macmillan) External links "The Viking Revival" by Professor Andrew Wawn. BBC Vikings on Film guide at Mondo Esoterica Revival Romantic nationalism Admiration of foreign cultures