Initial Research - The Vikings

7/27/2019 Initial Research - The Vikings

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Who Were the Vikings?

While the term Viking is used in a general way to describe the people of

Scandinavia during the medieval period; it's really a name for a profession.

The Vikings were originally Scandinavians who were also explorers, farmers,

fishermen and merchants, who also fought like warriors. The groups of people

who are usually referred to as Vikings were actually made up of several differentnationalities including the Danes, the Swedes, as well the Norwegians, with each

group breaking off into smaller kingdoms.

Actual Vikings were all men who used their expertise at seamanship and battle to

make raids on the towns and churches on neighboring kingdoms and later

countries. Women who sometimes took part in these raids adopted the name of

Shield Maiden, even though these ventures were part of the intensely masculine,

warlike culture that had an emphasis on battle as a way which a man had to

prove himself to the gods and his fellow man.

Vikings tended to attack churches for their wealth during their raids in the

western lands, and Christians were usually left horrified by the attacks due the

defilation of their sacred places. As a result of these raids most of the written

sources came from Christian accounts and depict the Vikings in harsh ways;

however the attacks on European towns and churches were both brutal and

terrifying, although these attacks were only one aspect of the Vikings culture.

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Religion

Vikings were initially pagans. This meant that they worshipped a pantheon of

multiple gods and goddesses having each one representing a part of their world

and culture as they experienced it.

Eventually the Scandinavians converted to Christianity but it took longer for their

conversion in comparison to the rest of the other peoples of Europe. Seeing as

there were was no central church in any of the Scandinavian kingdoms, none of

their traditional religious traditions were written down consistently. As a result,

Vikings religion was highly personalized and usually varied in context from one

place to another, however, over the years it evolved to a greater extent than

other religions.

Vikings usually didnt write down their history except for occasional rune stone

inscriptions and carvings, but this changed once they had converted to

Christianity. History prior to their conversion was passed on through an oral

tradition carried on by skalds.

Skalds were Scandinavian bards who recited epic poems known as sagas, which

were recited in a format that recounted the deeds of famous Viking kings, lordsand warriors. These poems were different in length, some being extremely long

and detailed where as others could be short and simple. Although some of these

sagas eventually became noted down in the later eras, most of these have been

lost to history.

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Weaponry

Essentially Vikings were a race of common men, but they were armed and

armored due to their nature to be fierce fearless warriors. A variety of weapons

were used, including bows, lances and javelins, but most commonly Vikings used

an assorted of sturdy axes that could be thrown or swung with head-splitting

force. The long sword was also common a typical sword was about as long as a

mans arm.

Armor featured within the Viking culture and mainly consisted of padded leather

shirts which sometimes bared an iron breast plate. If Vikings could afford it, they

would front chain mail shirts and sport iron helmets.

The helmets varied in appearance. Some were made of a solid piece of

hammered iron which resembled either a cone or a bowl shape. Others were

made up of separate items, which were riveted into place along an iron

headband. An iron or leather nose piece sometimes extended down to protect

the face; however in some cases the designs were slightly more complex with

elaborate face guards that surrounded the eyes.

A common myth about Vikings is that they wore horned helmets. This designwould have been impractical in battle, with poorly distributed excess weight

which also added no real protective value. Such helmets were perhaps worn by

Scandinavian chieftains in the pre-Viking era, and the horned helmet image

came known by the costuming in entertainment and culture in the 17th

and 18th

centuries.

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Ships

Along with their weapons, the Vikings were talented craftsman and become

renowned for their structural design of their boats. The Viking long ship became

a symbol which became associated with them. However this was not the only

vessel that the Scandinavians had built; they also made merchant ships and

cargo vessels. However all of their designs have several common characteristics.

They shared;

Riveted Wood Construction A Keel (the piece of wood on the bottom of a boat that helps keep it from

tipping over)

A singular mast with a square wool sail A double sided hull where both the bow and stern were shape the same

which allowed the ship to move in either direction without turning

around

A side rudderThe Hulls of Viking boats were commonly coated with tarred animal fur to seal

them against water. In all, a typical 70-foot long ship would require about 11 or

12 trees that were at least 3 feet in diameter to build.

Warships were always built in manner that allowed them to be narrower and

had more room for oars which allowed the boat to have an increased speed.

Within these warships the oarsmen didnt have special seats; they just sat on the

crossbeams that made the internal framework for the boat.

The oar holes could be covered by wooden discs and warships had mounts

where the Vikings shields could be lined up which added extra protection from

attack.

The sail could be as long as 330 square feet of double think wool which was

often dyed in stripes of red to strike fear into their enemies.

Primitive navigation devices such as compasses were also used to help navigate

the seas.

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Pillaging

Vikings became known for their reputation to raid. A combination of several

factors likely caused the Vikings bloodthirsty behavior.

Terrain - Scandinavians lived on islands or peninsulas with no room toexpand. The land was usually poor for farming or too mountainous to live

on, and the climate was very cold. So they looked elsewhere, not only for

places to settle or conquer, but for places where they could simply take

the resources they lacked at home.

Population pressures - Scandinavian cultures existed for several hundredyears before they developed their reputation as plunderers. What

changed? Population. Advances in agricultural technology and the climateallowed them to grow more food and farm more land. The additional

resources lead to a healthier population, longer life expectancy and an

overall population increase. This population pressure manifested as

squabbles between various clans and kingdoms within Scandinavia, but it

also manifested as a drive to leave home, explore and conquer new lands.

Tradition - Coastal raiding may have started out as a simple job. SomeScandinavian men made their living doing this dangerous work. But it

grew into a tradition that fed on itself, until virtually every maleScandinavian was lining up to join the raids. Young men were expected to

test themselves in this manner.

Exile - Viking law frequently relied on exile as a penalty for convictedcriminals. When you send convicted criminals off in a longboat by

themselves to exile, there's a good chance some coastal pillaging and

plundering might occur.

Greed - The Vikings wanted things: coins, livestock, thralls, treasures,spices, works of art, raw materials. They probably didn't want these

things any more than other cultures did, and they often acquired them

through simple trade. But with their skill at sea and violent tendencies,

they often found themselves in a position to take whatever they wanted.

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Historical Context

Beginning with the historical background, we drew upon a basic timeline to

understand the major events in the century we had been given.

793: Vikings sack the monastery at Lindisfarne in Northumbria. 853: Viking invaders take over Ireland. 856-857: Main tide of Viking invasions occur between these dates. 871: Alfred the Great (youngest son of Aethelwulf) succeeds his brother

and becomes King of Wessex. He rules until 891.

875: Charles the Bald becomes Holy Roman Emperor. He rules until 877. 877: Charles the Bald, Holy Roman Emperor, dies in 877. Outrage and

anarchy breaks out following his death.

878: Alfred defeats the Danes at Edington. Vikings agree in Treaty ofWedmore to divide England between the Danelaw to the north and

Wessex in the south. The Danes partially evacuate to Paris.

886: King Alfred the Great captures London from the Danes. 891: King Alfred the Great orders the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon

Chronicle to be written, one of the first.

The timeline involved the actions of Alfred the Great who we decided to look

into further as it was an initial thought that he could be a possible character to

base our narrative on.

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King Alfred the Great (849 AD - 899 AD)

Alfred was born at Wantage in Oxfordshire in 849, fourth or fifth son of

Aethelwulf, king of the West Saxons. Following the wishes of their father, the

sons succeeded to the kingship in turn. At a time when the country was under

threat from Danish raids, this was aimed at preventing a child inheriting the

throne with the related weaknesses in leadership. In 870 AD the Danes attacked

the only remaining independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Wessex, whose forces

were commanded by Alfred's older brother, King Aethelred, and Alfred himself.

In 871 AD, Alfred defeated the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown in Berkshire. The

following year, he succeeded his brother as king. Despite his success at

Ashdown, the Danes continued to devastate Wessex and Alfred was forced towithdraw to the Somerset marshes, where he continued guerrilla warfare

against his enemies. In 878 AD, he again defeated the Danes in the Battle of

Edington. They made peace and Guthrum, their king, was baptised with Alfred as

his sponsor.

In 886 AD, Alfred negotiated a treaty with the Danes. England was divided, with

the north and the east (between the Rivers Thames and Tees) declared to be

Danish territory - later known as the 'Danelaw'. Alfred therefore gained control

of areas of West Mercia and Kent which had been beyond the boundaries ofWessex.

Alfred built up the defences of his kingdom to ensure that it was not threatened

by the Danes again. He reorganised his army and built a series of well-defended

settlements across southern England. He also established a navy for use against

the Danish raiders who continued to harass the coast. As an administrator Alfred

advocated justice and order and established a code of laws and a reformed

coinage. He had a strong belief in the importance of education and learnt Latin

in his late thirties. He then arranged, and himself took part in, the translation of

books from Latin to Anglo-Saxon.

By the 890s, Alfred's charters and coinage were referring to him as 'king of the

English'. He died in October 899 AD and was buried at his capital city of

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Mythology

Before the Scandinavian people converted to Christianity during the Middle

Ages, they had their own highly sophisticated and complex indigenous religion.Norse mythology is one expression of this religion that included the veneration

of deities such as Odin, Thor and Loki. Such religion never had a true name, and

those who believed and practiced it simple referred to it as tradition.

Norse mythology was the Scandinavian peoples beliefs much like the Bibles

tales were to the Christians. These usually provided grand narratives which gave

life meaning and helped to provide people with an understanding the world.

An idea which the Scandinavian people believed in was the theory of the Nine

Worlds. The Nine Worlds were believed to be the homelands of the various

glasses of being that populated the pre-Christian world view of the Vikings.

These nine planes were thought to be contained in the roots of the world-tree

known as Tggdrasil. These worlds were as followed;

Midgard the world of humanityAsgard the world of the Aesir tribe of gods and goddesses Vanaheim the world of the Vanir tribe of gods and goddessesJotunheim the world of the giants Niflheim the primordial world of ice Muspelheim the primordial world of fireAlfheim the world of the elves Svartalfheim the world of the dwarves Hel the world of the eponymous goddess Hel and the dead

Asgard was where the legendary hall of Valhalla was located. Valhalla was

believed to have been an enormous and majestic hall which was ruled over by

Odin. Warriors who were allowed into Valhalla were chosen by Odin once theyhad died in battle. These chosen warriors were lead there by Valkyries to the

great hall where they would fight to the death and be reborn later in the day to

feast in the evening before repeating the cycle the following day. However, not

everyone was as lucky to be granted access to Valhalla; the others went to the

fields of Freyia which were known as Flkyangr. 9


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While researching into the Mythology of the Vikings, we came across the stories

of two different types of elves.

"The light elves are fairer to look upon than the sun, but the dark elves are

blacker than pitch

The two races of elves couldnt be any more different, and it was general

folklore that the light elves were the good in society, and the dark were the evil.

Light Elves

Light elves were beautiful creatures. They were considered to be the guardian

angels The god Freyr, were the ruler of Alfheim. The Light elves were minor

gods of nature and fertility; they could help or hinder humans with their

knowledge of magical powers. They also often delivered an inspiration to art or

music.

Dark Elves

The dark elves hated the sun so they lived in the murky underground. The dark

elves were hideous and could be a great nuisance to the humans many

described them as being extremely annoying. The dark elves were nothing buttrouble. Many believed that dark elves were also responsible for the nightmares.

These dark elves were called mare. A mare would sit on a sleeping persons

chest and whisper bad dreams to haunt the person. A mare could also haunt

animals, especially horses. The dark elves could not be exposed to sunlight, if the

suns rays reached them they would immediately turn into stones.

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Initial Research - The Vikings

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