Viking Notes

Vikings

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

9:35 AM

• Most of Europe had become Christian
• Celtics in Gaul and Ireland
• Tribal people
• Weren't Christian
• Dribanuistic
• Will eventually integrate
• Become one people

• In the north - Scandinavia
• Christianity hadn't spread
• Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland
• There were Nordic Vikings and Swedish Vikings
• Vikings attack England and Ireland
• Between the 8th and 11th centuries
• Spent a lot of time raiding England

• Believed in Odem
• Afterlife
• If they died in battle they would be greeted as heroes
• Called Norse or Northman
• Two primary sources for Viking mythology are elder Edda and the younger Edda
• Older in poetry younger in prose
• 13th century
• Written down by Christianized Norse in the 13th century
• The second of the important books is the Heimskringla
• Written by Snorri Sturluson
• Legends about the kings
• Not written until the Vikings are gone or Christianized

• In Norse mythology there are nine worlds
• We live on midgard
• To the north is Alfheimer - world of the elves
• To the south is Svartalfaheim - black elves
• To the east Vanaheimer
• Muspellheim - world of fire
• Jotunhemr - world of the giants

• To the west Niflheim - world of ice
• Up is Asgard - where the gods are
• Hel - netherworld
• Furthest away place across the ocean - Ginnungagap
• Vodin is told he can have something very special but he has to hang himself in a tree (Yggdrasil tree, huge tree that stretches into the upper world)
• He hangs for nine days and doesn't die
• He dies for a few seconds and come back to life with the knowledge of Runes
• Runes are their language
• Second big story is Ragnarok
• Great battle at the end of the world where everything is going to burn
• Once the fire goes out there's going to be new civilization

• Had a blood relationship
• If one of them was killed
• The rest were bound to find the

• Erik the Red
• Viking king
• Father of Leif Erikson
• Leif Erikson supposedly found North America
• Colonized Iceland, tried to colonize Greenland, might have tried to colonize northern Canada

Movie

• Had a great civilization
• Were great builders of boats
• Before they were vikings they were farmers
• Just wanted to survive
• Rely on livestock and farming
• Expanding population
• Start fighting each other
• Some decide just to up and leave
• Built boats
• Went to western coast of the british isles
• First raid was on a monastary - one of the richest and holiest places in england at that time
• Lindelsfar first major viking sea raid
• Tons of norse becames vikings
• Form fleets but the fleets act idependently
• To attack more inland places they go up one of the many rivers
• Attack paris
• Ancient terrorists
• Stay on the rivers raiding for years
• Whenever they attack nothing can stop them
• King of France pays off the Vikings so they will leave them alone
• Vikings do the opposite
• They see all the money that they have and start attacking all over Europe
• Norwegians move west and colonize iceland and greenland
• Erik the Red - colonizes greenland
• Harsh but a few hardcore vikings stay
• Have a nice government where people can speak for their defense and speak about community thin gs
• Leif Erikson - Erik the Red's son
• Gets blown off course - might have found newfoundland
• Colony last only a decade
• Leif erikson returns to Greenland
• They convert to christianity
• This is the way they unite
• Struggled with giving up their old ways
• Christians challenge a beserker to try and pass through their fire and they couldn't when he could pass through the pagans fire
• They all see that Chrisianity is more powerful

1066 battle of fulford - Britains and vikings

Vikings led by - harold hardrada