You’re watching Ancient peoples Don’t miss out on more content from Geopop
THE Vikings they are one of the most well-known and recognizable peoples of the past, also thanks to films, books, video games and TV series Vikings. However, not everyone knows, for example, that calling Vikings is not entirely correct: the people, originally from Scandinavia, were actually those of Norse; The meaning of Viking instead it is linked to a specific profession expected in Norse society, not very different from that of the pirate. Today these two terms are used almost interchangeably, but it is good to keep in mind that, ultimately, there is a difference.
Who were the Vikings and stereotypes about these people
The Vikings – that is, the Norse – were a people who inhabited the Nordic countries (now Norway, Sweden and Denmark) in medieval times, approximately between 800 and 1000 AD, who had an influence mainly between the Baltic area and the Black Sea.
In the imagination they are represented with horned helmetswhich however never actually existed. Or rather, maybe they had them but how ceremonial helmets, they certainly didn’t use them in battle, also because they would have been really uncomfortable. Plus the Vikings weren’t even like that violent how they are portrayed: as we will see they had a complex culture and a society that was not based solely on war… although this was undoubtedly an important component. We know this because in recent years we have found so many Viking remains, and many of theirs skeletons had fractures from violent impacts – particularly in the Norwegian Vikings, in addition to the fact that each of them was often buried with battle weapons.
The fact that they were so inclined towards war is no coincidence and is closely linked to theirs religion.
The Norse religion
The Vikings had a very rich polytheistic religion, with many deities. We have for example Odin, the main deity who was the God of war and death; we have Thor, the god of lightning and protector of humanity. Then again Loki, the god of deception or Freya, the goddess of fertility and love. In short, many deities, but it is singular that the main one of these, as I told you, was Odin, the God of War. And that their paradise, the Valhalla, it was only reachable by warriors who died in battle. Therefore war for them was a sacred thing and was the very will of the Gods.
So from here we already understand why they were a people who often fought battles and who were therefore also very advanced from a military point of view. So much so that even today we still talk about berserker, whose correct name would be berserkerthat is, “mythical” warriors capable of overwhelming their enemies with brute force. But exactly who were the enemies of the Vikings?
Well, first there were the other Vikings. In fact, they didn’t have an empire… in reality they didn’t even have cities. They mostly lived in villages, ruled by a ruler beneath whom there was a class of noble warriors. And they often fought with each other to conquer territories. But it’s not over! Because the Vikings, living in a country with many kilometers of coastline, soon became skilled navigators and began to expand throughout the known world of the time, also conquering other lands.
In particular, they developed a particular boat which later proved to be fundamental: the drakkar. It was a fast, easy to handle vessel that could navigate even in very shallow waters. This made them real conquest machines.
Viking travels and explorations
Among the first countries in which they set foot we find Great Britain, Ireland and then up, up to Iceland and to Greenland. But not only that! Indeed, the Vikings were the first Western people to reach the Americas, almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus! In fact, just a few years ago, camps were found in the northernmost part of the Canadian island of Newfoundland, effectively rewriting a piece of history that we have always taken for granted.
But it’s not over! Because the Vikings did not only go to America but also to France, Spain, and the Mediterranean, reaching Eastern Europe and we even have evidence of Vikings in Baghdad, in present-day Iraq. Of course, it’s not that they founded villages in all these places: often some of the countries we mentioned were simply trading destinations, and we know this precisely because, for example, we have found Viking jewels in amber in the Middle East. But it is also true that in some of the countries where they went – especially Great Britain and Ireland… well there we say they settled by force.
The Vikings in Britain
In fact, those were lands inhabited by Anglo-Saxons, who as you can imagine did not take the arrival of the Vikings well. In fact, over time there were great battles between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons, so much so that some Viking Kings even became King of England. This is the case, for example, of Svenn Swallowbeardwho was king of England for five weeks. Not much, but still an achievement.
Small aside, the Vikings had names that seem strange to us, because it was often customary to give a name plus a nickname linked to the characteristics of that person. So there was Svenn Forkbeard, Erik the Red, Ivan Without Bones or Harold Blue Tooth, in English Harold Bluetooth. In case anyone was wondering, yes, the name of the bluetooth technology is a tribute to this Viking king. In fact, just as Harold managed to unite the Danish people, in the same way Bluetooth manages to unite technological devices. But not only that. The Bluetooth logo itself is nothing more than the fusion of the H and B runes, which stand for Harold Bluetooth!
Viking writing
Speaking of runes. The Vikings like many peoples of the time had their own writing systembut this was certainly underdeveloped. In fact they had the runes, which were symbols that were often engraved on stone or wood, but they were usually short engravings and often for religious. They never wrote books that told us about their society for example and in fact, as absurd as it may seem to us, most of the things we know about them come from what their enemies wrote about them! For example, the Anglo-Saxons described them as an extremely people violent because obviously they were the invaders, and therefore today we also have a somewhat distorted and biased view of them.
It seems, in fact, that the Vikings were not like that rough And dirty how they painted them. We know for sure, for example, that they cared a lot about cleaning – at least the Vikings of the highest social classes, certainly not the slaves – and in fact you think we have found gods Viking combs made of deer horn dating back to 700 AD which they used to keep their beards and hair combed.
But not only that: various testimonies from other peoples not only define them as “clean”, but also rich of jewelsespecially amber jewelry. In fact, in Scandinavia there are many forests and therefore it was not difficult to find fossil amber in the area. The Vikings, who were also excellent craftsmen, were attracted by this colored stone, and therefore transformed it into jewels which they partly traded and partly wore to make themselves beautiful in the eyes of other rulers.
The end of the Vikings
Officially the end of the Vikings was marked in 1066, when the Viking king Harald Hardrada was defeated by the English in the Battle of Stamford Bridge. But in reality this was only one of the causes. In fact, as time passed, the Vikings not only began to trade more and more with the rest of Europe, also acquiring customs and habits, but many converted to Christianity. And this further reduced the difference between them and “the others”. Finally, other powers also developed large fleets, diminishing Viking power over the seas and further relegating them to their lands. So, as absurd as it may be, although the Vikings were a “violent” people, their end was more peaceful than that of many other populations.
