Vikings PDF

Vikings Old Norse *vik:* bay of the sea -- 'bay people' *vikingar* -- seaborne raiders Today: Ancient seafaring people from Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) Voyaged far and wide Viking Age Ca. AD 750 - 1050 Expert sailors and navigators Far-flung influence: Spoke Old Norse and made i...

Vikings Old Norse *vik:* bay of the sea -- 'bay people' *vikingar* -- seaborne raiders Today: Ancient seafaring people from Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) Voyaged far and wide Viking Age Ca. AD 750 - 1050 Expert sailors and navigators Far-flung influence: Spoke Old Norse and made inscriptions in runes Children of Ash and Elm (Price) Vikings rarely wrote their own histories (though exception -- Viking sagas) Oral society Archaeology / limited texts Title from 3 brother gods Oden, Vé, and Vili made first humans from driftwood Viking society Family and farm oriented Deeply stratified Slave trade Level of equality b/w married men and women Maritime violence: fleets numbering hundreds of ships, carrying thousands of men Vast scale of Viking world Crossed the Atlantic to "Vinland" Sailed rivers of Russia, Baghdad, Paris, London Eventually seasonal campaigns evolved into continual Viking presence in British Isles and France Greenland settlers clung to their farms into the 1300s (almost 400 years). Sophisticated traditions, practices, and world views built over millennia Networks of trade and warfare Viking raids violent, brutal, tragic: manifestation of economic policy Successful raiders improved standing, personal wealth, economic outlook, marriage prospects Modern imaginings of Vikings White, colonizing northerner who vanquishes peoples White supremacist\'s use of this imagery -- misappropriation Other representations more complex and useful: *Children of Ash and Elm* (Price book) Vikings misunderstood, need for reassessment Archaeology: Places and objects, but evidence has limits Historians: Texts and events, but runes (Scandinavian texts) are few The sagas -- Witten in 1100 -- 1330, after the Viking ages undefined Viking Age Early phase of European colonialism How to read sagas (and any historical text) Multi-cultural, multi-ethnic No such thing as 'pure-Nordic' bloodline Cosmopolitan world Sequence: 1. Wane of the Roman empire/ Interaction with Germanic tribes 2. Rise of piracy and sea pirates / diaspora 3. Urban revolution in Scandinavia / colonization of Russia and beyond Viking Worldview: Familiar on surface (villages, trade, social structure), Multitude of Beings: Coexisted with gods, spirits, and creatures Cosmic Structure: Complex Soul: Gods and Giants: Guided by: On the edge of modern era: Archaeology as a key source of info