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Viking society and culture
Viking society and culture
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Viking society and culture
Viking society and culture
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Recommended: Viking society and culture
The Vikings were a group of Germanic sea dwellers who traded with and raided towns all across Europe out of their Scandinavian homeland. During the late 8th to 11th centuries they ruled all of Europe through their barbaric ways. Even other cultures outside of Europe saw the barbaric ways in which the Vikings acted towards the villages that they encountered. One such case of this was a Muslim Chronicler, Ibn Fadlan, recounting of the Vikings as “[T]he filthiest of God’s creatures.” While they were very savage in their actions, this very trait gave them the ability to be able to roam through and ravage an entire town fully unopposed and within a very miniscule timeframe.
In Tschan 1). The Vikings were said to have then “attacked the entire province with impunity”, meaning leaving no person untouched from their force (Adam of Bremen qtd. In Tschan 1). After that, the Vikings took captives upon their huge ships to become slaves (Adam of Bremen qtd. In Tschan 1).
The horror in their bloody faces, the anguish as you witness your own village getting ransacked by barbaric blood hunger Vikings. The Vikings are savages who have zero knowledge of morals and have no sympathy. Instead of laughing and watching them terrorize the peace, we need them to leave us alone as fast as possible. As you may have heard recently, my own small village two weeks ago was pillaged by the Vikings. It was ransacked and torn but what was the reason why?
When you think of Vikings you think of the blood thirsty pillages who plundered villages and killed many innocents. But the info presented shows that the Vikings were like every other colony back then trying to adapt to the changing world and survive in it. For example document seven says that the Vikings could not keep up with the growing population. This caused food shortages to be common problem which led into Viking raids. This would allow them to keep up with the demand for food.
While some Viking age Scandinavians were berserkers and warriors the majority were traders and explorers with an extensive trade network that covered all of modern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Northern India, and even some parts of China. During the Viking age the economy of Europe was changed from a simple exchange of goods type system into a mercantile and market based system. The Viking raids in the 9th and 10th centuries took a heavy toll on the stability and political development of ancient Europe. The Scandinavian attackers caused much fear in the populations of Europe and historians at the time were usually priests who saw the pagan Scandinavians as marauders and murders, which they were largely in their primary interactions with the outside world. Additionally the Church, was an extremely rich and defenseless target for the raiders and may have been more frequently targeted than many other parts of European kingdoms.
The Vikings spoke old norse, old norse was Germanic language. Vikings eat fresh fruit and with buttered bread with a little honey on it. Vikings were about 5 ft-3/4in. The Vikings were famous for sailing huge distances from their home in Scandinavia between AD 800 and 1066 to raid and plunder, but they also traded with people from other countries. Vikings played Piggy in the Middle with rolled up bearskins.
The Viking raiders are described as Hell's Angels motorcycle mob that was out to rob and kill. The Vikings originated from Scandinavian countries in the 8th century and travelled by sea in search of new adventures and areas and new territories. However, other sources2,4 indicate that the Vikings were friendly people who were assaulted by the Native American
Viking activity in Ireland is synonymous with two of the Vikings most prominent activities, consistent raiding and slavery, often interlinked with each other. However despite being quite heavily associated with the Vikings, slavery was still evident in pre-Viking Ireland, though often deemed rare and unusual when it happened. However during the Viking dominance in 9th century Ireland, slave trading became systematic and very common. This systematic slave trade was established over time as raiding and slavery became more prevalent in Ireland, by reviewing the course and establishment of Viking slave trade we can assess the impact The Viking Slave Trade had on the early medieval Ireland.
Without the mass farming techniques and advanced technology that exist in modern times, most Norse people at that time were sustenance farmers- they grew only enough for themselves and their families. However, others did create surpluses of food. This is the only reason non-farmers such as merchants and pillagers could exist in their
Viking long-ships were lean, speedy, lightweight ships that could easily cut through the most vicious waves that the ocean could throw at them. At the time, no other civilization had been able to achieve such an amazing naval feat, so this gave the Vikings a great advantage over medieval combat, political affairs, and even the trading industry. Since the ships were so fast, the ships were great for transportation of soldiers, or merchandise. “The Viking longboat was the key to the Vikings success in traveling.” (Legends and Chronicles, Paragraph 14).
As we have seen, the introduction of Christianity to the Vikings had significantly contributed to the end of the Viking Age in mid 11th Century, not only due to the persuasive Christian missionaries, and the realization of the benefits of Christianity, but also the forcible nature of Scandinavia king’s conversion of their subjects (which will be looked into in more detailed in due course). One must bear in mind that most of the evidence we have on the conversion of the Vikings is through archaeological excavations, as Gareth Williams explains that “we can see it in the archaeological evidences [that] Pagans buried their dead with grave goods, but Christians normally didn't, and this makes it relatively easy to spot the change in religion.”
The Viking expansion started in 793 with the first raid and ended around 1050. The division of the geographical core area is important, because this division also separates Vikings in the way took part in the expansion Norwegians travelled west- and southwest to colonise. The Danes went southwest for their conquests and the Swedes proceeded east- and south-eastward for their raiding and trading. Raiding and trading routes Raiding and trading
The epic poem “Beowulf”, translated by Burton Raffel, focuses on a hero by the name of Beowulf who goes on a quest to rescue King Hrothgar and his people from an egregious monster by the name of Grendel. This Anglo-Saxon tale gives insight into the values and beliefs of the people from whom the story originated. Their war-centered ideology and views on loyalty and courage were the principles that the Anglo-Saxon culture was founded upon. While warfare was a focal point in their lifestyle, it was far from a savage, barbaric state of fighting. Honor and prestige were bestowed upon those who died during battle and selflessness for fellow warriors was a fundamental belief.
The Old Norse Religion or Norse Paganism were practised traditions by the Norsemen prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, dating as far back to roughly 793-1066 CE. This religion was separated, and categorized into three different families; the Æsir, Vanir and Jotnar; these were all polytheistic groups. The Æsir tribe contained some of the best-known Norse Gods and goddesses such as Odin, Thor, Frigg, Tyr, Loki, Baldur, Heimdall, Idun, and Bragi1. These Gods represented kingship, order, craft, etc. The Vanir were Gods and Goddesses such as Freya, Freyr, Njord and the Germanic Goddess Nerthus.
Some Vikings that were on offensive majority of the time would use some natural recourses such as strong and sturdy wood to create weapons that could pierce through the defensive side. (4) They would also use some other materials such as stone to build houses or huts, but this particular recourse would be only for the wealthy because it was such a valuable item at the time. Nowadays majority of the people who live in places such as Denmark, Norway or Sweden would easily be able to afford these things as if they were air. Other than just the construction of housing there was also other times that nature was useful. One of these things were the crops and farming.