The Vikings raids

[Gentle Norsemen]

:fork:

I did not see a thread so I hope this is the right section for it.Just a history on the Vikings.Feel free to partake or post information to.Any Scandanavians here we should all post some information from our ancestors Viking raids.Lets start off!

(How do you put videos in a thread?)

http://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/1/777777122292/3071_early_lg.jpg

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/08/16/rgw_longboat_narrowweb__300x385,0.jpg

Although only a few vessels took part in the initial Viking raids, their numbers gradually swelled, and the fleets that sailed westwards to England, Scotland, France and Ireland numbered many hundred ships. They came as raiders and pillagers, bringing terror to the coasts they frequented; but they were traders and administrators too. They founded cities such as Dublin, and colonies such as Normandy, in France. From 879 to 920 they colonized Iceland, which in turn became a base for the colonization of Greenland.

In 986 Norwegian-born Eirik Thorvaldsson, known as Eirik the Red, explored and colonized the southwestern part of Greenland. It was his son, Leiv Eiriksson, who became the first European to set foot on the shores of North America, and the first explorer of Norwegian extraction now accorded worldwide recognition.

The date and place of Leiv Eiriksson's birth has not been definitely established, but it is believed that he grew up on Greenland. The Saga of Eric the Red relates that he set sail for Norway in 999, served King Olav Trygvasson for a term, and was sent back to Greenland one year later to bring Christianity to its people.

There are two schools of thought as to the subsequent course of events. One of these is that Eiriksson, en route for Greenland, was blown off course, and quite by chance arrived at the shores of northwestern America in the year 1000, thus preceding Columbus by nearly 500 years. However, according to the Greenland Saga, generally believed to be trustworthy, Eiriksson's discovery was no mere chance. The saga tells that he fitted out an expedition and sailed west, in an attempt to gather proof of the claims made by the Icelandic trader Bjarni Herjulfsson. In 986 Herjulfsson, driven far off course by a fierce storm between Iceland and Greenland, had reported sighting hilly, heavily forested land far to the west. Herjulfsson, though believably the first European to see the continent of North America, never set foot on its shores. Leiv Eiriksson, encouraged by the current talk of potential discoveries, and the constant need of land to farm, bought Bjarni's ship and set off on his quest of discovery.

He appears to have followed Bjarni's route in reverse, making three landfalls. The first of these he named Helluland, or Flat-Stone Land, now generally regarded as having been Labrador. The second was Markland, or Wood Land, possibly Newfoundland. The exact location of the third, which was named Vinland, is a matter of scholastic controversy, but it could have been as far north as northern Newfoundland or as far south as Cape Cod or even beyond this.

Eiriksson and his men spent the winter in Vinland, at a place they named Leifsbud-ir, returning to Greenland the following year, 1001.

It was left to Eiriksson's brother, Thorvald to make the next voyage to the new-found territory, for Leiv Eiriksson never returned there. Subsequent attempts at settlement of Vinland were unsuccessful, due to strong friction between the Viking settlers and the native North Americans.

Though many still regard Christopher Columbus as the discoverer of the New World, Eiriksson's right to this title received the stamp of official approval in the USA when in 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson, backed by a unanimous Congress, proclaimed October 9th "Leif Ericson Day" in commemoration of the first arrival of a European on North American soil.
http://www.norway.org/history/expolorers/expedition/expedition.htm

[timetraveller]

I am Half Norwegian and possibly Scandanavian .. you could say [viki the viking ] ..

Orkney is where my Father is from and my Mother is from Norway ..maiden name Gulberg

[Paddy51]

My father was from Ireland and my mother from Iceland - half Viking. I was born and brought up in Iceland but now live in Scotland. I guess you could say that I followed in the footsteps of my Icelandic forefathers....

[Koskela]

I´m from Sweden so my ancestors problably went eastwards.
Beware people of Rus!

/K

[Gentle Norsemen]

Glad to see some of us here.
Here are some videos.For the private messanger thanks alot.







In 793 a Viking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking) raid on Lindisfarne caused much consternation throughout the Christian west, and is now often taken as the beginning of the age of Viking raids. A very famous passage in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_Chronicle) reads:In this year fierce, foreboding omens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omens) came over the land of Northumbria. There were excessive whirlwinds, lightning storms, and fiery dragons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragons) were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and on January 8th of the same year, the ravaging of heathen men destroyed God's church at Lindesfarne.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne

The video also shows some of the early raids.From Paris to England and the colonization of Greenland.

http://youtube.com/v/D6sr3v4_O6U

[Gentle Norsemen]

BBC Blood of the Vikings.

http://youtube.com/v/0LUOsQGVNv8

http://youtube.com/v/JzWEDVCIHWM

http://youtube.com/v/Sp1eu0aqKlo

[Gentle Norsemen]

BBC Blood of the Vikings

Viking raids and interview in Scandanavia.
http://youtube.com/v/kHY_pZ9yU68

http://youtube.com/v/4LWVB8T1Tqo

[Thor]

Scandinavian World Tour 750-1000 A.D.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Vikings-Voyages.png

They probably went further than that, Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, North America including Manhattan and Minnesota, South America etc.

[Gentle Norsemen]

I believe we went to the furthest reaches of the globe.Nothing stood in the way of our ancestors.

Good music compilation from Nordland Bathory to the Histories Channel viking series.Odin lives!

http://youtube.com/v/M4GzsDgOKDg

[Loki77]

Scandinavians in Viking Age were the most civilized people of their day, they had great poetry, advanced scientific skills and they fought a pagan crusade against Christianity in order to avoid being forced to become Christians...Very Sad...

[Engine Mech]

Nice posts. The Vikings left a lot of words in the english language. But what about the Friesians, they got around too.

[PrivatePyle]

My familys originally from Yorkshire, near York, or Yorkvik as some peoples ancestors would of know it, after they plundered the place :D

[valtrex]

The Vikings attack Constantinople


The Rus were in contact with Byzantium as early as 838 , but did not have the resources to raid the capital at Constantinople prior to that date. The 838 date is supported by a Byzantine account that records that a party of Swedish traders had to turn back to the Greek city because their way north up the Dneiper river was blocked by "savage tribes", perhaps the Magyars.
Rus launched their first assault against Miklagard, the Golden City , led by the Rus leaders Askold and Dir in June, 860 .
Byzantine historians, describe the fury of the attack & the terror of the Greeks. The attack took the Greeks by surprise "like a thunderbolt from heaven" (Patriarch Photius) .
Photius describes Rus as "a fierce & savage tribe of barbarian people" . Vikings (or Varangi as the Byzantines called them) were unknown or insignificant to the Byzantines until they became famous in this attack. The City was saved by huge storm which scattered the Rus forces.
The next attack was led by Igor, son of Rurik & took place in 941 . The Greeks met this threat by quickly equipping a number of older ships and dromons with Greek Fire projectors, and launched these against the Rus. When the fleets met, the seas were clear and calm, perfect for the use of the dangerous Greek Fire. The Rus threw themselves into the sea to drown in great numbers rather than face the flames. Only those men who managed to get their ships to the shore quickly enough survived, because the Greek ships with their much deeper draught could not follow them into the shallows. A number of captured Rus were later publicly beheaded.
Despite these attacks, the Byzantines found it useful to encourage close associations with the Varangians. Thus, Varagians who desired to enter military service with the Byzantine Emperor, they formed the famous Varangian Guard/Varangia Phroura the Byzantine Imperial Guard. Many famous Norsemen served in the Varangian Guard, among them Kolskegg Hamundarsson and King Harald Hardrada:

"Then Harald had a large ox-hide spread out and emptied on to it the gold out of the chests. Scales and weights were brought and the wealth weighed out into two parts, and all who saw it wondered greatly that so much gold could have been brought together into one place in the northen lands. It was in reality wealth belonging to the King of the Greeks, for all men say that there are buildings there filled with red gold"
Snorri Sturluson-the Heimskringla saga

The Byzantine Army divisions stationed in and near the capitol were called the Tagmata, and the Varangians were a part of this division. Originally, Scandinavians served in several units of the Tagma [pl. Tagmata], including the Candidati (cavalry composed mostly of noble Greeks), the Hikanatoi (a less exclusive cavalry unit), the Excubitors (an army unit serving as the city police force), the Arithmos (Number, the night palace guards), Optimati (infantry units who guarded the city walls), or the Hetaireia (Company, the Emperor's bodyguard) . Over time, the Varangian Guard was established as a separate unit, and eventually the primary duties of the Varangians were to act as the Emperor's Bodyguard (Tagma ton Varangon), and to guard the Imperial Treasury. The Varangian Guard members had the privilige to wear red tunics and uniforms.

"The soldiers who from old were his appointed bodyguard came to the Emperor`s tent first, some wearing swords, others carrying spears or their heavy iron axes on their shoulders, and ranged themselves in the form of a crescent at a certain distance from his throne"
Anna Comnena-Alexiad

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/4153/varangianartistsconceptje5.gifhttp://img385.imageshack.us/img385/8691/varangianartistsconceptdn2.gif

Names of Vikings who went South & served in the Varangian Guard of Grikkland, Grikkar, Grikkinar, as they named the powerful Byzantine Empire, men mentioned in the treaties or in the Sagas: (These names are taken from http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/VarangianNames.htm#TreatyNames)
Farlof
Karl or Karli (Karl)
Hróðleifr (Rulav)
Steinviðr (Stemid)
Vermundr (Velmud)
Farleifr (Farlo)
Fréleifr (Frelav)
Gyði (Goudy)
Hróaldr (Rouad)
Hróaldr (Roal)
Hrœrekr (Rurik)
Hrolleifr (Rulav)
Ingjaldr (Inegeld)
Kári
Karl (Karly)
Vermóðr (Veremoud)
Eilífr Þorgíls son sprakaleggs
Eindriði ungi (The byname ungi is "the younger")
Gríss Sæmings son Hallfreðar
Halldórr Snorra son Haralds
Haraldr harðráði (Joined the Varangian Guard under the alias Nordbrikt. Became King of Norway after leaving the Varangians)
Kolskeggr Hámundar son Njáls
Ásbjôrn
Áskell
Ásmundr(?)
Eyvindr
Eyvísl(?)
Geirbjôrn
Gunnarr
Halfdan
Ingimundr
Ingvarr
Juli
Styrbjôrn
Tófi
Þorkell
Ingifastr
Grímmundr
Gulleifr
Arnfast
Farulfr
Slagvé
Þorsteinn
Ásgautr
Haraldr broður Ingvarrs
Skarði
Sæbjôrn
Hróðgeirr
Gunnleifr
Þorsteinn
Ônundr
Bjórsteinn son Lífeyjar
Ormr
Ósníkin
Banki or Baggi
Már Húnrøðar son Morkinskinna
Ulfr Óspaks son Haralds
Víga-Barði Guðmundar son Heiðarvíga
Þorbjôrn ôngull Þórðar son Grettis
Þorgestr or Gestr Þórhallz son
Þormoðr Eindriða son or Ásgeirs .
Þorsteinn drómundr Ásmundar son Grettis
Þorir helsingr
In 988 AD, Prince Vladimir I (Valdemar in Norse) of the Rus, officially adopted the religion of the Byzantine Empire as the state religion of the Rus state.

Source: http://www.clanrossi.com/Viking%20Rus.htm

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/4887/varangml5.jpg
banner of the Varangian Guard

[Gentle Norsemen]

Scandinavians in Viking Age were the most civilized people of their day, they had great poetry, advanced scientific skills and they fought a pagan crusade against Christianity in order to avoid being forced to become Christians...Very Sad...

It is good to see a accurate portrail of the norse.

http://youtube.com/v/3pTUvB9uExI

[Mr. Nielsen]

Scandinavians in Viking Age were the most civilized people of their day, they had great poetry, advanced scientific skills and they fought a pagan crusade against Christianity in order to avoid being forced to become Christians...Very Sad...
I know our ancestors were not the savages portrayed by the contemporary litterature and later in the entertaining industry. But "the most civilized people of their day" might be stretching it a bit.:)

[Lokos]

Scandinavians in Viking Age were the most civilized people of their day, they had great poetry, advanced scientific skills and they fought a pagan crusade against Christianity in order to avoid being forced to become Christians...Very Sad...

Well, if you say so.

Lokos

[Gentle Norsemen]

It's true.The Viking age.

[AROUETLJ]

Pfft.... the chaps who settled in Normandy soon turned Christian and THEN they went on to create the most civilised and scientifically advanced civilisation of their day. Yeah!

[Gentle Norsemen]

Christianity was the downfall of the Vikings.Christians would behead Pagans and vice versa.One big blood bath.

[Lokos]

Christianity was the downfall of the Vikings.Christians would behead Pagans and vice versa.One big blood bath.

My friend, stop while you're ahead.

Lokos

[Mr. Nielsen]

Christianity was the downfall of the Vikings.Christians would behead Pagans and vice versa.One big blood bath.I have heard the end of the vikinge era explained by the rest of europe becoming better organised and stronger. Meaning that that the Viking fleets had to go with more and more ships and men, with lesser and lesser dividend.

[Basillicus]

I have some Swedish ancesters so I guess I have some Viking blood. It's strange btw that there wasn't much Viking influence in Finland back then except maybe some trading and skirmishes. After all there's only one small strait separating us. Well, maybe it's because language was different and there wasn't anything to rob in here back then and the living conditions were even worse than in southern Scandinavia.

[Kitsune]

Scandinavians in Viking Age were the most civilized people of their day, they had great poetry, advanced scientific skills and they fought a pagan crusade against Christianity in order to avoid being forced to become Christians...Very Sad...


They were certainly not. Point is that they were not the bloodthirsty heathen barbarians who knew nothing but death and destruction and who lived just from murdering and plundering either - that is the nasty christian porpaganda of the day. Apart from their superiority in shipbuilding, the rest of their culture was about as advanced as the one in the rest of northern and Western Europe. For example they had a similiar variety of professions and the average age they reached was also similiar. Most of them lived also pretty normal, through work and toil, only comparatively few earned their living through raiding. However, thanks to their great ships they were far ranging traders and it is assumed that most of the southern coin that archaeologists found in viking settlements was actually acquired through trade not through raiding.
In any case they were certainly not the most advanced or civilized culture of the day. The East Roman Empire around Byzantium (called "Miklagard" - the great city by the Vikings) takes the biscuit as the most advanced christian culture in Europe at the time. This city had half a million inhabitants (the largest Viking settlement had what, two thousand?), wide streets, palaces and golden domes which must have let it appear as a miracle to any northern European, wether he was a Frank, a German, an Anglo-Saxon or Norse. And there was of course the great civilisation of Al Andalus at the time, muslim, but nonetheless superior to anything christian with the exception of Byzantium. Then there was the Abbasid Caliphate (Baghdad allegedly had around 1.5 million inhabitants around the year one thousand) and even farther to the East the Chinese Empire in the Song Dynasty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty). Hard to believe that any of them would have seen Vikings as very civilized people, good ships or not.

[Kippari]

If someone has Medieval: Total War II and likes Vikings, then here's something to wait for. http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=306 I take pride of being a minor part of the project myself.:p

[Gentle Norsemen]

We still get a bad rep to this day :)

[Gentle Norsemen]

The last great Vking King.Harold.Viking culture died with him.

http://youtube.com/v/hl8azawaksE

Invasion of England by the Vikings led by King Harold.Battle of Stamford Bridge near York.The last stand of King Harold.

http://youtube.com/v/tnVMxGlpJHs

[Kitsune]

"King Harold" which I know under the name Harald Hardrade (I like that better since the Anglo-Saxon leader of the other side at Stamford Bridge went also under the name "King Harold", added to that, this name sounds somewhat gay in my opinion, that may be ok for an Anglo-Saxon but for a Viking...no, Harald Hardrade is much better) was allegedly the model for Robert E. Howard's figure Conan. Ehem.

[Paddy51]

I think there were many different reasons for the downfall of the Vikings and perhaps it is wrong to call it downfall. For one thing many became Christians. It is interesting to note that in Iceland the Archaeologists keep discovering remains of various kinds that indicate Christianity being adopted much earlier.

As for the barbarianism, well ... how come the barbarians were soon writing sophisticated histories not to mention one of the earliest known European novels as in Njálsbrenna or the Sage of Burnt Niall [Neil in Scottish].

Perhaps an important clue lies in the genetic makeup of Icelanders today. Modern genetic studies have shown that something like 35% of the nation are in fact Celts (Irish and Scots). So it would seem that as the Sagas indicated the Vikings went to Ireland and Scotland and took slaves as they called it. These were really not referred to again but it seems likely that these slaves were women and became wives. These women were Christians and their teachings also introduced different forms of writing (not runes) as in latin alphabet that underpinned the literature to be written

Barbarians? Don't think so.

Don't also forget that the Christian church spread stories of fear about the Vikings being brutal so and sos to control their populations.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Perhaps an important clue lies in the genetic makeup of Icelanders today. Modern genetic studies have shown that something like 35% of the nation are in fact Celts (Irish and Scots). So it would seem that as the Sagas indicated the Vikings went to Ireland and Scotland and took slaves as they called it. These were really not referred to again but it seems likely that these slaves were women and became wives. These women were Christians and their teachings also introduced different forms of writing (not runes) as in latin alphabet that underpinned the literature to be writtenThe viking word for slaves were thralls (da=trælle)

[Paddy51]

The viking word for slaves were thralls (da=trælle)

In Icelandic it is þræll in the singular and þrælar in the plural. The word is still used in Icelandic today, usually to mean hard work.

Don't be fooled by my Irish name as I am half Icelandic and was born there. I suppose I represent that original mix of half Icelandic and half Irish.... rofl

[Mr. Nielsen]

In Icelandic it is þræll in the singular and þrælar in the plural. The word is still used in Icelandic today, usually to mean hard work.After all icelandic is the scandinavian language being closest to what the vikings spoke. And the danish is the most spoiled. :)

[Loki77]

They were certainly not. Point is that they were not the bloodthirsty heathen barbarians who knew nothing but death and destruction and who lived just from murdering and plundering either - that is the nasty christian porpaganda of the day. Apart from their superiority in shipbuilding, the rest of their culture was about as advanced as the one in the rest of northern and Western Europe. For example they had a similiar variety of professions and the average age they reached was also similiar. Most of them lived also pretty normal, through work and toil, only comparatively few earned their living through raiding. However, thanks to their great ships they were far ranging traders and it is assumed that most of the southern coin that archaeologists found in viking settlements was actually acquired through trade not through raiding.
In any case they were certainly not the most advanced or civilized culture of the day. The East Roman Empire around Byzantium (called "Miklagard" - the great city by the Vikings) takes the biscuit as the most advanced christian culture in Europe at the time. This city had half a million inhabitants (the largest Viking settlement had what, two thousand?), wide streets, palaces and golden domes which must have let it appear as a miracle to any northern European, wether he was a Frank, a German, an Anglo-Saxon or Norse. And there was of course the great civilisation of Al Andalus at the time, muslim, but nonetheless superior to anything christian with the exception of Byzantium. Then there was the Abbasid Caliphate (Baghdad allegedly had around 1.5 million inhabitants around the year one thousand) and even farther to the East the Chinese Empire in the Song Dynasty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty). Hard to believe that any of them would have seen Vikings as very civilized people, good ships or not.

Why not? many Norse in Viking Age were also astute businessmen, farmers, crafters and politicians who stimulated European trade, helped the development of national kingdoms, and made important contributions to art and technology... Sorry but, medieval Scandinavia has some peculiarities not found in other areas of Europe. The society was self-regulated, law and order was based upon the Þing(thing) system, which had already been established via common-meetings dating to 600 AD. The Thing had legislative and judiciary powers. Also, women and handicapped people could attend the Thing. Every free man had to respect the law, including chieftains and the king. Compared with the democracy of ancient Athens, which included nearly 10% of the inhabitants as citizens, the Thing system was more democratic. It included everybody as citizens, except the slaves and those exiled from society...

[a_very_ex_STAB]

Don't also forget that the Christian church spread stories of fear about the Vikings being brutal so and sos to control their populations.

You only have to look at the map in England to see Norse, Anglo Saxon and Celtic village names all right next to each other. This would suggest that there was trade and gradual integration (plus occasional violence) rather than successive waves of invaders brutally displacing populations by slaughter and ethnic cleansing.

[Paddy51]

Here in Scotland there are numerous place names that show the presence of Vikings and their integration with the local population. Take for example Uig in Skye which stands for Vík or inlet. There is also a place called Dingwall which the historians say was a place where the clans met to talk. Ding is Þing ("parliament") and wall is völlur or vellir which means plain. In other words this means the plain where the Þing was held. Compare that to a place in Iceland called Þingvellir known to be the home of the Icelandic Viking parliament. The democratic society of the Vikings is, as has already been pointed out, an indication that these guys were not barbarians. It was the Vikings who introduced early democracy although this was also their downfall at least in Iceland where the lack of an executive force resulted in blood feuds and endless long term strife between different clan based factions. A very similar scenario that was found in Scotland.

Interestingly, the Viking settlers in Scotland integrated themselves and were not regarded as barbarian raiders. You can see various signs even today of this integration e.g. in the style of boats and houses that are built, traditional tools etc.p-)

[Eoin666]

Bring back the punishment of the blood eagle for feckin traffic wardens

[Paddy51]

Bring back the punishment of the blood eagle for feckin traffic wardens

Hear hear :fork:

[a_very_ex_STAB]

Bring back the punishment of the blood eagle for feckin traffic wardens

I can think of all kinds of useless social parasites in the UK who should be blood eagled - including most of the public sector.