Editing Thor Heyerdahl (section)

===Snorri Sturluson===

On Heyerdahl's visit to Baku in 1999, he lectured at the [[Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences]] about the history of ancient Nordic Kings. He spoke of a notation made by [[Snorri Sturluson]], a 13th-century historian-mythographer in ''[[Ynglinga Saga]]'', which relates that "[[Odin]] (a Scandinavian god who was one of the kings) came to the North with his people from a country called [[Æsir|Aser]]."<ref>Stenersens, J. (trans.) (1987). ''Snorri, The Sagas of the Viking Kings of Norway''. Oslo: Forlag, 1987.</ref> (see also [[House of Yngling]]s and [[Mythological kings of Sweden]]). Heyerdahl accepted Snorri's story as literal truth, and believed that a chieftain led his people in a migration from the east, westward and northward through [[Saxony]], to [[Fyn]] in [[Denmark]], and eventually settling in [[Sweden]]. Heyerdahl claimed that the geographic location of the mythic Aser or Æsir matched the region of contemporary Azerbaijan&nbsp;– "east of the Caucasus mountains and the Black Sea". "We are no longer talking about mythology," Heyerdahl said, "but of the realities of [[geography]] and [[history]]. [[Azerbaijanis]] should be proud of their ancient culture. It is just as rich and ancient as that of [[China]] and [[Mesopotamia]]."

[[File:Thor Heyerdahl 2000.jpg|thumb|Thor Heyerdahl in 2000]]
In September 2000 Heyerdahl returned to Baku for the fourth time and visited the archaeological dig in the area of the [[Church of Kish]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/84_folder/84_articles/84_kish.html|title=8.4 The Kish Church - Digging Up History - An Interview with J. Bjornar Storfjell|website=azer.com}}</ref>