Vikings' Barbaric Bad Rap Beginning To Fade

National Geographic ^ | 2-17-2004 | Stefan Lovgren

[Ukiapah Heep]

Swell. More Politically Correct blather about "respect for third world cultures". Bloody Vikings!

[Fierce Allegiance]

The current rep of Scandanavians ain't so good , what with the articles of Norwegians wearing their skivvies for weeks at a time and all.

I say we need fully funded US Federal programs to stop the besmerchment of all scandanavians so as not to harm their self-esteem, and demand full reparations! I Similarly demand that any govenrment construction contract have mandatory particpiation "goals" at or above the 12% mark( Never to be called a quota, however) /sarcasm

[Jagdgewehr]

[Landru]

Vikings did "Rap"??

Nawwww.

...what'd I miss.

[Cacique]

btt

[farmfriend]

Gods, Graves, Glyphs
List for articles regarding early civilizations , life of all forms, - dinosaurs - etc.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this ping list.

[Miss Marple]

My father was of Danish descent. My mother was a Scot.

This explains my fascination with swords.

[SoDak]

Sadly, as a life-long Vikings fan, I have to agree.

[SoDak]

I believe most of the actual Vikings settled in the Faroes and Iceland. Apparently, they left all the more milquetoast segments of society behind in Scandinavia where they can manage their nanny states in peace. I'm thankful my Norsky forbears had the balls to leave and come to America.

[Viking2002]

See? We weren't such bad folk.....LOL :-)

[facedown]

Accompanying art:

Viking jewelry and crafts, such as the crucifix pictured above, were important to Viking culture. They offer evidence that Vikings were not merely barbarians, but also farmers, artists, shipbuilders, and innovators, according to researchers.

[facedown]

Accompanying art:

Viking jewelry and crafts, such as the crucifix pictured above, were important to Viking culture. They offer evidence that Vikings were not merely barbarians, but also farmers, artists, shipbuilders, and innovators, according to researchers.

[facedown]

Oops. Don't know how that happened.

[blam]

"Did you know about this runestone in Minnesota, Blam?"

Yes, It's in Sweden presently:

Kensington Runestone Goes To Sweden

[blam]

Did The Vikings Stay? Vatican Files May Offer Clues

[solzhenitsyn]

Scholars say the Viking raids were about survival, not conquest, and were prompted primarily by a shortage of land.

So they weren't the bad guys, they just needed liebensraum?

[elli1]

Even more interesting article than the one you started the thread with, blam.

I've mentioned it before, but anyone who is into the Viking thing will enjoy reading Byzantium by Stephen Lawhead. He goes into lots of detail about Viking culture such as housing, legal system, food...; the novel is set around the 11th century. It's a darned good adventure type yarn.

[Androcles]

Cool post. Ever since I disvovered the sagas I've loved Viking culture and winced whenever you see the normal drunken barbarian thug descriptions.

My favourite angle is their love of lawsuit. A kills B. B's family sues A. Wins heaps. B's brother doesn't agree with size of settlement, kills A. A's brother slaughters' C, back to court, more slaughter and so on. Great stuff!

[Pilsner]

Cool post. Ever since I disvovered the sagas I've loved Viking culture...

Scinece fiction author David Drake bases many of his books on historical facts or mythical tales. His Northworld trilogy is based on Icelandic tales.

[Androcles]

Thanks, I'll have to hunt them up. Cheers for the pointer.