Scandinavian Vikings

The strengths of the Vikings surely was the most significant factor in enabling them to be successful in terms of their strategies and tactics. Their strategies for example included the ‘Great Army’ which consisted of small forces therefore allowing them to use the element of surprise to their advantage and so raid completely undetected. They first gathered in East Anglia (866/7) and were skillfully able to live of this land by taking horses and supplies from the locals. The success of these Great Armies is clearly represented by their ability to destroy 3 kingdoms including Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. The Great Army was certainly key as it was believed to have been able to ‘dramatically change the political and demographic

1. Each prospective Queen must have a six month probationary period. During this probation, the prospective Queen is not permitted to date or participate in any sexual activity with a current Viking King.

Scandinavians (Vikings) had first settled in southern Scandinavia, but then they started to seek and explore just as every other nation in history. They had started to divide into separate factions and were loosely structured, but they still had enough in common to work together and expand. They stretched from their southern Scandinavia to England, a bunch of really tiny islands, tips of Europe's mainland, Iceland, Greenland, and landed in Newfoundland (which they called Vinland). They had skirted around other islands and peninsulas similar to Greenland, but didn't settle there. What is fascinating is the fact that they had landed in North America about 5 centuries before Columbus. They had used an early version of their most recognized longboats.

Viking history and culture have been depicted in many movies, television series, and stories. Vikings are commonly known as barbarians that raid villages and intimidate others with huge ships with dragon heads, and horned helmets. This information is based on facts, but has been distorted and exaggerated over many years and tales. Viking history spans from the years 780 until 1100, which is the time span of the Viking raids. Not every Scandinavian was a Viking; Vikings were known as the men that conducted raids and bloody battles. The old definition of Viking was synonymous with the term pirate. The modern definition is relevant to the Scandinavian medieval culture, to include farming, crafting and trading.

Compare and contrast the Frankish annals AND the Irish annals as sources for Viking history.

Correspondingly, the Siege of Paris and the Sack of Paris in 845 saw the Viking invasion of the kingdom of the West Franks: A Viking fleet of 120 longboats sailed up the River Seine led by Danish jarl (“chieftain”) Reginherus with the goal of seizing the rich farmlands of Marin. In turn, they strategically took advantage of internal conflicts in Europe to extend their activity further inland. In fact, after the death of Louis the Pious in 840, emperor of Frankia (modern-day France and Germany), Charles the Bald, fought his half-brother Lothair I who invited the support of a Viking fleet. Charles the Bald, after triumphing over Lothair I, was left to defend against the Vikings: Charles offered to pay Danegeld (“Danish tax”) in silver if the Vikings would leave France and not return. The Vikings accepted 7000lbs of silver as a promise to not only spare from ravaging the land but to leave and not return. However, “before long other Vikings realized that Frankish rulers were willing to pay them rich sums to prevent them from attacking their subjects, making Frankia an irresistible target for further Viking activity”. Consequently, this brought about mass extortion, and if payment was not met, the Vikings would cut a slit through the nostril of the debtor; which influences the popular modern-day phrase of

In researching the life and times of women from the Norse mythology, I came to realize they were not only the ones running the home. There were women who worked, those who wielding power along with the boys, and some who would get together with friends, the way we might today. I suppose when reading mythology, which is often centered on male characters, I came to see female roles in ancient times to be on the periphery of what was going on. After completing my research, I can see that perhaps Viking women had more in common with me and the women I know than I ever thought. While they weren’t getting together for Sex in the City marathons, there were many strong females in Viking times, who deserve to have their stories told.

The Vikings are often represented in modern culture as burly, horn-helm wearing savages, who ruthlessly plunder and destroy towns and countrysides, and while this might be an exaggeration, it is not completely untrue. In the 9th century, the Vikings from Scandinavia exposed the weakness of Charlemagne’s self-confident regime, they sought to loot the now-wealthy Franks and replace them as the dominant warrior class of northern Europe. It was their turn to extract plunder and to sell off slaves across the water. They succeeded because of a deadly technological advantage, ships of unparalleled sophistication, developed by Scandinavian sailors in the Baltic Sea. They were light and agile, with a shallow draft, which allowed them to penetrate

The Vikings were well-known for their creation which integrated metal works, woodcrafts, figurines, tusk, earthenware, crystal, as well as books. In Zemljanoe Gorodishche, there are many specimens of trinket, adornment, apparel, comb, recreation collections, sacred objects, stallion harnesses, armaments and objects with decay, which contain the legendary dragon head, a diminutive statue of a female, as well as two charms with mysterious engraving. Parallel discoveries happened at Jorvik which produced kitchenware, basins, recreational fragments, adornment also horn combs. Archaeological site of Viking Dublin consist of timber mixer, trowels, cords of tree twigs, barriers of thicket fences, blades of lumber, intertwining slabs of ivory, in addition

The Vikings used a written alphabet and letters called Runes. The Vikings believed that the god Odin gave them runes as a gift. They believed the runes were magical and they can also tell the future.

Skandia is a Viking like land where the inhabitants must be strong to survive and prosper. Unfortunately, not all Skandian children live up to the expectations set for them. Will, a half Scandian, half Arluen child is the weakest and the smallest of his age group. Will is met with mockery and disdain for the majority of his younger years. Despite his best efforts to be an equal, Hal’s inventions only serve to further alienate him from his Village. Skandians were supposed to think with their muscles not their brains. Because of this, when the time came to enter a Brotherband, Will was unwanted. However, Will was not the only outcast of his age group. Stig, Edven, Ingvar, Jesper, Stefan, Ulf, and Wulf all find themselves unwanted in the Brotherband

In fact, the Nordics are quite the opposite to Vikings. Being described as extremely peaceful and very kind to humans – Kind! Yeah right - kind my arse!

The third observation tells us that Mandarin is more prominent than Malay and Tamil. Out of all the signs and posters, more than half of them featured Mandarin as one of the language. This explains that the commercial area is mostly populated by the Chinese and the target audience is most likely the Chinese residents and consumers. The population of the Chinese has always been larger than the Malays and Indians. The 1957 population statistical report states that 75% of the population are Chinese, 13.6% Malays and 8.8% Indians. This is similar to the 2015 report which mentioned that there is 76.2% Chinese, 15% Malays and 7.4% Indians. These reports highlights that the Chinese population is overpowering than the other ethnic groups. Therefore,

During the Viking Era, expansion to the west, as well as the east, introduced a new wave of technology, industrialization and development, and culture to the European world. The Viking’s expeditions to both were quite similar in that advancements stemmed from their adventures east and west. However, expeditions from the eastern Vikings (Sweden) were heavily dependent on the usage and development of economic centers, specifically the Byzantine Empire, powerful and rich in culture, as well as Russia which housed quality materials as well as slaves. The Russian Primary Chronical is the most important source on the Russian world during that time. In it are descriptions of the Scandinavian relationship with the Russians from the 9th century. Unlike in the west, where the western Vikings (Norway) plundered and settled, the Vikings were always a minority of the population near the Baltic. The authors of the chronical assumed that they were the original inhabitants of the land, but in reality, they arrived relatively recently (SSN pg. 3). They came to trade, not necessarily to settle. The wealth and vast resources in the east are what drew the Vikings. Throughout this paper, I will present both the opportunities as well as the challenges faced by the Vikings during their quests to the East.

There is a sense of forced assimilation through the loss of the Irish language, with the reoccurring feeling of isolation appearing to be the result. A lack of mutual understanding is present between not only the British and Irish but also the Irish themselves, for there are common disputes about conforming to the English language. “The native language declined, not as an outcome of British policy so much as because an entire generation of the Irish themselves decided no longer to speak it” (Kiberd 1995: