Where the Vikings really as brutal & violent as the new movie "Pathfinder" makes them out to be?
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.
Yea, they were very brutal, they were the most worst type of person. They would make deals with the Muslims about bodyguards. The muslims (being rich and stuff) have alot of wives. They need bodyguards and well they didnt want the bodyguards to do it with the wives. So to fix that probublem they wanted boys without balls, The vikings would go into villages, steal, rape, kill and enslave ppl. The girls they would sell and the boys they would cut their balls and sell to muslims.
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No. Brutal and violent, yes, when opportunity knocked because the culture favored an aggressive individualist.
Viking were also traders who traveled far. The Rus, who
lived in what we call Russia today, were a nomadic sort
until assembled by Vikings into an ordered society that
lasted until khanate replaced their rule with more eastern
values.
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I have never heard of this movie, but it sounds right up my alley… The Vikings were mainly farmers, traders and explorers.. The so called Viking era only lasted about 300 years..They were a formidable foe and had superior weaponry due to their mastery of metals..They were probably no more brutal & violent as any other race of peoples of their time… In 793AD they attacked a Monastary at Lindisfarne UK and were basically from that time on feared and became part of the Viking legend as we know about today.. Things were also a bit trumpted up, I would say.. The Vikings are a fantastic piece of history to research.. I have not read much in years this is off the top of my head.. Love and Light.. )O(
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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.
References :