Viking: Beyond The Conquest

Vikings:

Beyond the Conquest

Looking back to the early middle ages, we can see that medieval Europe was plagued with conflict stemming from both internal matters, as well as foreign attackers. For the European inhabitants, one of the most dreaded and feared forms of external attacks came from the ferocious Norsemen, or more commonly know as Vikings.

When identifying and labeling a group of people as "terrifying", it becomes historically important to look into that group's culture and background to determine how their civilization promoted and bread such brutish and violent warriors. These are the warriors who would successfully loot and terrorized all of Europe during the Middle Ages. However, despite this fierce reputation, it would be a mistake to believe that the Vikings were such one dimensional people, who's only role in life was to seek out and destroy those around them. It can be seen, in fact, that the Scandinavian people who were attributed to having raped, pillaged and plundered all through Western Europe, were also land loving, and cultured individuals, many of whom led lives comparable to those throughout Europe. "Discussion of the Viking Age has all too often been dominated by the picture of fierce, pitiless barbarians spreading terror and destruction in their boundless lust for loot, while many less sensational but equally important aspects of the period have been overlooked. This is largely due to the one-sided viewÐ'... who very understandably, saw the Vikings solely as plunderers and extorters of tribute." As one can deduce after studying the people who inhabited the land of Scandinavia, the lives of the Vikings populous was much more sophisticated and had more purpose than that of looting the lands of the medieval Europeans.

As we investigate the Vikings and their heritage, we must first look at their place of origin and their way of life to see what type of individual come from the "Northlands". When looking at any culture, by beginning an investigation by looking at the society's religion, it is possible to discover much about the people, their daily lives, and their motives for much of what they do. The Viking society's religion is historically known as being a pagan one. Although today, we know very little about the pagan practices and beliefs originally adopted by the Vikings, we can still interpret many of the works left behind by the Scandinavian's in order to draw a rough deduction as to what their religion consisted of. Since the first written works dealing with Scandinavian myth and religion were recorded in the thirteenth century, almost 200 years after the official conversion to Christianity, it is clear we will not be able see a complete and

accurate rendition of Norse pagan beliefs. We do however, know rather more about the stories associated with the pagan gods. These stories survived after conversion because it was possible to regard them simply as myths, rather than as an expression of religious beliefs. Had the latter been true, it is most likely that the writings would not have survived the shift to Christianity. The main sources of evidence are the Eddas. The Eddas are literary works which represent the old pagan beliefs as folk tales. These tales, much like those of the earlier Greek myths which tell of the conflict between the Gods and the Titans, convey a story about their gods, and the struggle with their adversaries, the Giants. The Eddas provide information about the gods, and their relationship with giants, and with men. The most powerful god was the one-eyed Odin, the "All-father", god of warfare, justice, death, wisdom and poetry. Despite Odin's "Zeus" like resemblance, the most popular god of the time seemed to be Thor. Thor, as we can still see in our own modern society in the form of comic books and cartoons, was not surprisingly intelligent, but he was incredibly strong. With his hammer, he was the main defender of the gods against the giants. He was also the god of thunder.2 For these reasons, it becomes clear why he was particularly well worshipped by seafarers. Amulets of Thor's hammer were popular throughout the Viking world, even later when the Vikings adopt a coinage based economy we can see Thor's hammer printed on the precious metal monies.

Being that Thor was considered one of the favorite gods, with his incredible strength, and heroic reputation, it is clear to see the similarity between Thor's power and the strive of Norse warriors to prove themselves and achieve their own glory. This can be seen in the tenth century Viking Maxim; "Cattle die, kinfolk die, we ourselves must die. But one thing I know will never die: the dead man's reputation."1 This desire for personal glory must have contributed greatly to the creation of the "berserks." The famous berserks may have fought in groups, and believed that Odin, the god of war gave them both protection and superhuman powers. With these gifts from the gods, they believed that they had no need for armor, hence fought in "bearskins" which may account for the origin of the word "berserk". To intensify their beliefs in their ability and of Odin's power, they would work themselves into a battle frenzy so intense that it is said they would bit on the edges of their shields. While entranced in this frenzy, it is also told that they were able ignore the pain of wounds received during battle.3 The idea of berserks has lived through the age of the Vikings and has become a symbol even today of the crazed and possessed warrior. At times seen as an admirable quality, others as a form of insanity, either way, the term "berserk" denotes a force to both fear and respect.

While adhering to the stereotype that the Vikings did nothing but destroy and pillage may be ignorant, one aspect of the Scandinavian culture can still be investigated by looking into their travels. Granted, the Vikings are attributed to the destruction and chaos surrounding much of Western Europe. Nonetheless we must also acknowledge their expertise as mariners. In a NOVA interview, William Fitzhugh, a curator in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, who also believes that the Vikings were far from simple, brutish savages, talks about the positive impact made by the Scandinavian's; "Ð'...without question it (the most important contribution of the Vikings) was reconnecting humanity, making the world a smaller place by traveling huge distances, connecting peoples from Baghdad to Scandinavia to southern Europe to the north Atlantic to the mainland of North America." The boats which the Viking seafarers used to travel such