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The vikings world history
Paper on the history of the Vikings
A brief essay on vikings
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Many topics in history are interesting. Some topics are World War I and II, the Civil War, any well-known person, and many groups of people who accomplished many great things like the Vikings. There are many ways that the Vikings are known. One way is being a ruthless, disrespectful killer and another is people who wore horned helmets and made boats. Some just know the Vikings by watching the History Channel show called the Vikings. However, that is not who the Vikings are. Who exactly are the Vikings? The Vikings existed starting in A.D. 800 to the 11th century (History.com staff). They were known by various names like the Vikings, Norsemen, or Northmen. They raided coastal places like undefended monasteries in the British Isles. The Vikings …show more content…
Viking men farmed barley, rye, and oats (Cohen). They raised cattle goats, pigs, and sheep and could provide for their whole family. They also brandished scythes and not swords (Cohen). The pirates of the Vikings only stepped off their ships to burn villages. Viking men also preferred to be blond and any Vikings that had any hair color other than blond would use a strong soap with high lye to bleach their hair so they will have blond hair. Viking women usually helped around the farm, raised children, and took care of the house. They had very different rights than men though. Viking women could be married as young as twelve and took care of the house while their husbands went on raids. The women could inherit property, request divorce, and reclaim dowries if their marriages ended. So, Viking women are a lot like women today except that woman today can have jobs and vote in communities. The Vikings had excellent hygiene. They used tweezers, razors, combs, and ear cleaners that were made from animal bones and antlers (Cohen). They bathed once or twice a week (that was clean for them) and loved to go in natural hot springs. The Vikings had many activities that they did for fun like skiing. Skiing was developed by Scandinavians 6,000 years ago (Cohen). Skiing was an efficient way to get around and was a popular recreational activity. The Vikings also worshipped the god of skiing Ullr
When the Vikings reached the New World, they called the native inhabitants (American Indians or Native Americans), “Skræling.” There has been much debate as to what exactly this word or label meant. Some translate it as “skin wearers,” which may be true as to how they described them, being the Norse generally wore woolen or linen clothing and North American Natives generally wore animal skins. But there was one additional thing puzzling about the Norse and the Skræling. The Viking explorers weren't curious or baffled by these new people. As if, they'd come into contact with people like this before and their way of life. 500 years later, when other Europeans had come to the New World (The Americas), they were ultimately curious of these strange new people and their ways that they had never seen before. But not the Norse, the Norse hint that they have come into regular contact with people like this on a fairly regular basis.
All across cultures in history, varying groups of beliefs have come into contact with one another. As for early Muslims, military expansion and travel were key components for spreading the Islamic religion to foreign nations. However, not all exchanges were hostile or wholly based on the conquest of exotic lands. Some interactions solely were based on capturing lands to control, while allowing non-converters to remain in the area as the military continued forward gaining new territory. The primary sources, The Viking Rus, Peace Terms with Jerusalem, and The Pact to Be Accorded to Non-Muslim Subjects provide insight on how Muslims interacted with other religious groups. Early Muslims saw the expansion of Islam through conquest, travel, and trade with foreign cultures and beliefs, all while having unusual exchanges with each faith.
The vikings first made contact in eighth century Shetland. From there they made their way south to Orkney and Caithness, eventual...
In the Viking era women took care of the house and children, while the men took care of the fighting. The movie shows how these roles played
The Viking era existed from 800 AD to 1200 AD and during 1000 AD Christianity began to have major influence in the Viking culture (Roesdahl 27). A major religion that shaped the Viking culture is Nordic Paganism (Williams). According to Stephen Henkin who wrote an article called the Viking Fury, the Vikings admired and tried to live up to the character traits they saw their gods portraying(Henkin ). Stephen Henkin suggested that character traits the Vikings saw in the Nordic gods are virile qualities: brutality, anger, lust, and humor (Henkin). The Vikings attempted to try to shape their character from the character traits they saw their gods portraying believing that they should try to acquire these characteristics to make their gods happy. Nordic Paganism was polytheistic with the main gods being Odin, Thor and Frey (“The Pagan Library”).
... the Vikings decided to stay in England and entered into King Æthelred II's service as mercenaries, based on the Isle of Wight.
The location of the Norsemen greatly contributed to their mythology. Situated in Old Scandinavia (what is now parts of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and Ireland), they had a deep connection with nature and the seasons. The long, dark winters were bitterly cold, and the rocky and mountainous terrain was unforgiving, especially for poor farmers, giving rise to large cult followings of fertility gods, and gods that controlled the weather, such as Thor, god of Thunder, Wind, and Rain. During the Middle Ages, the Icelandic volcano Hekla, was prone to frequent, violent eruptions (World Mythology). This, along with the contrasting frozen landscape, gave fruit to numerous stories, including those of the creation of the world and the apocalypse. The personalities and values of the Scandinavians, who were considered great warriors and adventurers, or “Vikings,” were reflected in their gods as well. Unlike the beautiful pagan gods of Greece and Rome, the Norse god...
J.R.R. Tolkien Research Paper As many have grown up during this generation, they have been dazzled by the work of J.R.R. Tolkien as well as the artistic interpretation of this trilogy by Peter Jackson. This movement started when Tolkien created The Hobbit and then later the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s. However, there are those who have criticized both the books and the cinema for being sexist and/or racist. Tolkien is not sexist because he develops his female characters by revealing their individualism and dynamic features, and is also not a racist because much of the criticism comes from Peter Jackson’s interpretations and because racism is harshly looked upon more in this generation than it was back in the 1940’s.
The berserkers are one of the most interesting and least understood aspects of the Viking warrior society. These were individuals who fought in such a blinding fury that they lost all sense of self and became unconscious killing machines without discrimination.
Typically, the image of a Viking is a barbaric, bearded man plundering and destroying a neighboring village. This is actually the stereotypical viewpoint. In actuality, Vikings, have a very different image. For example, Vikings did not wear furry boots or furry armor, they did not have horned helmets, they invaded Britain, and they also were the first to discover America! They were also experts in nautical technology, crafts, trading, warfare and many other skills (Jonsson 1). With all of these traits, the Vikings seem like an unstoppable force in the European continent. But, who were the Vikings? The Vikings were actually venturesome seafarers. This means that they were travelers who were constantly exploring and looking for new areas of land. There roots can be traced all the way back to 6000 B.C. were nomadic men traveled in primitive crafts up the Denmark coast. Fast forward two millennia and these nomadic people have established permanent homes, but still using the boat for food and travel. As stated before, they were not just raiders, although they did do this frequently, but they were actually expert traders, trading all around the world. It wasn’t until around 793 A.D. that a Viking explosion took place in northern Europe (Jonsson 2). Raids began to take place on neighboring villages and their places of worship. To some this is the only type of knowledge they have about Vikings. However, their culture was something to be admired. Trading, religion, and everyday life are all important parts of a Viking culture.
Men, women and children each had different roles in Viking society. Men had a variety of jobs to help out in the community. About a handful of men were handymen, helping out with any little job they could find, others were potters and leather workers. Some were able to get a job as smiths or boat builders. Though the most unpleasant jobs, such as, dunging the field were left to the slaves, which were acquired during rais or battles which mos men fought in protecting their chief and family. Women's jobs, though, were much different. Women in viking society took charge of spinning, weaving, and making clothes for her family. If the family lived on a farm the women take charge of milking cows and making cheese. The biggest role women played in Viking society was watching over
The Norse tale of Ragnarok presents an interesting example of apocalyptic literature by providing both an end and a unique beginning. The world which rises from the cosmic rubble seems to be essentially equivalent to that which the apocalypse destroyed, possessing the same creatures, features and Gods of times past. This considered, and by incorporating themes of time and fate, Snorri challenges the concepts of the past, present and future of Norse lore by providing a framework which allows for the potential reiteration of history. By reviewing The Prose Edda’s telling of the events surrounding Ragnarok, the relationship between fate, time and history provide a unique alternative to the standard eschatological timeline.
The beginning of the ninth century AD to the eleventh was known as the “Viking age”; during this time Iceland was settled by Scandinavians and CeltsCeltics. Some of the settlers were Christian while most were Pagan; together they created a culture
Towards the end of the first century another group begins to plunder the British Isles, they called themselves the Vikings but were known as the Danes to the Anglo-Saxons.
Everything has an origin or a meaning behind it, right? Nothing is just thought of out the blue, as one might say. People stop everything, and become nervous when they “jinx” themselves. They will then knock on the nearest piece of wood to chase the evil spirits away. It is thought in superstition that these “spirits” will cause irony and make bad luck happen. For example, if one would boast about their good fortune, then the evil spirits would cause horrible things to happen and the persons luck to completely change.