Viking History: Myths Debunked
The Vikings History is vast and can be dated back to these warriors’ first raid around A.D. 793 on Lindisfarne’s island. This island was home to a monastery of St Cuthbert on Lindisfarne. Where the Vikings mercilessly attacked and pillaged the land.
After their first raid, the Alcuin of York, an Anglo-Saxon cleric, released a detailed narrative of what took place in the first Vikings raid in Lindisfarne’s island. This act strengthened the perspective of the people during those times to fear the Viking warriors even more.
The warriors were only getting started as they boarded their ships and head on various explorations looking for land, food, territories, women, and anything they can get their hands on. They became the horror of the towns and civilized nations as pagans out for blood, but they are more than what the people believe in actuality.
These fearless warriors have invaded many territories throughout their explorations and raids, strengthening the Vikings’ power and reign with their acts of terror lasting for more than two centuries. Throughout these years, they have established their complicated Scandinavian history.
With this long history of these warriors, certain discrepancies still thought to be facts today. Here are some myths about the Vikings history that you may have believed to be valid until today.
Myth: Vikings Were Only Raiders
Vikings were indeed raiders, and even the term Vikings have the meaning of the word, raiders. During the Nordic era, these Vikings were the ones who pillaged different lands, but they weren’t only warriors who ransacked any land they saw. They were also traders and far away travelers who explored Russia’s far east rivers to the Caspian Sea and across the Atlantic and North America. The Vikings were Norse people who originated from the past lands of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
They were fishermen and farmers who lived a simpler life but then applied the advancing technologies on boats and ships to set sail and explore more resources for their people. According to historians, this is one of the main reasons the Vikings started raiding, which eventually became their culture and tradition.
They weren’t only raiders as they also developed their taste for the arts in forms of poetry writing, prose, and stories about their seafaring journeys and mythologies. They only have a handful of creations, but there are proses about their gods Odin, the Valkyries, and Yggdrasil’s tree of life.
They were human beings who wanted to have more with their lives but did so on how they know best, and that is through exploring the seas and taking matters into their own hands, literally! They did many unspeakable things during their time that resulted in their power and reign over the lands.
Myth: Vikings Only Lived On Ships
The fact about Vikings traveling far and wide through their advanced and enormous ships that carried their people is accurate. They did stay on boats during their sails, but they did not only live on boats. The fact of the matter is, they searched for land and territories where they can settle and build protection from attackers.
Numerous archaeological findings reveal the locations where the Vikings stayed and built their homes, forts, and citadels. During their migrations and explorations, the Vikings took control over lands like the Chernihiv Viking Age ‘Rus’ settlement, where they built defenses and free-roaming space for their people near a river, similar to the Repton, Derbyshire, also a Viking site established near a river.
These areas are also the places where they dug up Viking necklace pendants and other priceless treasure buried there that date back to the early 800 A.D. Their belongings are still found on land and have stayed there for centuries and millenniums.
Myth: Viking Warriors Were Savages
Researchers and archaeologists found items on Viking sites, some personal items like combs, eating utensils, and other grooming tools that indicate that the Vikings gave importance to their hygiene and appearance. This evidence contrasts with the widespread belief that all Vikings were savages and barbarians who did not clean themselves and lived off like animals.
The times were hard during the Viking Age, and it made it even harder for the people to have enough resources to look after one another. Those Scandinavian regions where the Vikings came from did not have any unity and became divided because of the scarcity of everyday resources.
This state is why they pushed to explore new territories where they will have more food, water, shelter, and luxury than at their current lands. Their pillaging helped their people become powerful and eat, sleep, and live without facing daily turmoil for their lack of resources.
And before we forget, Viking warriors did not wear horned helmets!
Concluding Thoughts:
The Viking warriors are seen by many as evil and greedy warriors, known for being merciless who also used their brute force to get what others possess that they do not have. They are born into a simple life wherein they wanted more and had the power to demand through their strength.
These myths are just some of the discrepancies that most people believe about Viking history that needs to be clarified and corrected to help understand their ways of life. By understanding their history, the people of the current age will have an idea of how to live prosperously in the coming years while considering their past mistakes.
There is no denying that their lives were full of blood, rage, and greed for power, but as modern times progress, people of this time should take the lessons and facts about the Vikings and improve for the future.
Louie is the father behind the travel blog Browseeverywhere.com. He has a background in photography, E-commerce, and writing product reviews online at ConsumerReviews24. Traveling full time with his family was his ultimate past-time. If he’s not typing at his laptop, you can probably find him watching movies.
