I meant to say "were" not "where". Ugh…
The movie "pathfinder: Legend of the Ghost Warrior" coming soon here in the States. I guess it’s based on a graphic novel.
In the movie the come to America, brutalize the Native Americans, and leave a child behind who must fight the Vikings when they return. Sounds corny, but I’m sure I’ll rent it.
I’m curious because I’m mostly of Scandinavian descent. Great answers, keep ‘em coming.
Yes and no. Like every other society, they went through a period where being brutal and violent was tolerated. But most Vikings in ships came to trade, even in the "bad old days" and were often their victims were their own people.
Also it was the time of the movement of the peoples after the fall of the Roman empire, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Celts and Scandanvians, moved around Northern Europe at will and many joined Attilla the Hun and others in the sacking of Rome.
In pre-history all the "Northern Peoples" can all be traced back to the same area of middle Europe and during the Roman period all were noted for being migratory.
New DNA evidence shows that the Celts and the Vikings were fairly close and intermarried. Even Scottish legends claim the Celts in Scotland and the Vikings were once one people and a nation of loosely connected tribes and clans.
The Vikings were also the victims of timing and bad press. Because their exploits took place after the fall of the Roman Empire, they were written about and distrubuted all around the known world. Written and spoken Latin was the lingua franca of the Dark and Middle ages and the Viking raids were written down and read by others all over Europe and parts of Asia and Africa.
No doubt some embellishment was made to make the tales more saleable by the scribes who sold them. People were getting tired reading Homer’s stories, the Aenid, Horace’s poems and wanted some new stories. The Viking raids came along at just the right time.