Tag: viking
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Vikings in Ireland: Arrival and Initial Impact
Rising out of the sea, a storm of serpents approached Ireland in 795 CE that would cast a complex shadow across the land of Éiru (Ireland) over the following centuries. The ‘Vikings’, in their storm of fury, allegedly came to pillage and destroyed the Golden Age of ecclesiastical learning in Ireland. The Vikings, however, did not…
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Objects Associated with Thor in Norse Mythology
Anonymous asked: I dreamt of a wooden bowl washed with seawater that caught the sunlight and was hailed by a chorus that sang “Thor lives!” Was this entirely dream-fiction or are there objects beyond the hammer associated with Thor? The first thing that comes to my mind when you describe your dream is a scene from Brennu-Njáls…
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Vikings in Ireland: Tribal, Rural, Hierarchal, and Familiar
IRELAND WAS A RATHER UNIQUE PART of the medieval world. Interestingly enough, however, the Irish world was much more like the ‘Viking’ world than many others were at this time, particularly in their political situation and the power of kinship in medieval Irish society. Thus, this lesson will delve into the background of Irish society prior to…
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Vikings in England: Knutr and Hastings
During the reign of Æthelred the Unready, England was at the mercy of renewed Viking aggression. This time, however, there was no King Alfred to save the day. The Viking leader Sveinn Forkbeard conquered England in 1013, but died shortly after. Svein’s power quickly dissolves, but eventually a Viking named Knútr regains power over England,…
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Vikings in England: the Danelaw and the Unready
Despite King Alfred’s best attempts, he did not rid England of the Vikings permanently. Although he gave them a fight, pushing their ‘Great Army’ away from England, there were still many Danes who settled northeast England, primarily in the kingdom of Northumbria. The story after King Alfred then unfolds as king after king addresses this problem,…
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Vikings in England: the Great Army vs King Alfred
THE ARRIVAL of the ‘Great Army’ in England marked a turning point, “transitioning from seasonal raiding to a more permanent Viking presence in England.” ‘Great Army’ is a term that has been translated from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which uses the term micel here. The leaders of this Danish army were the legendary sons of Ragnarr Loðbrók: Ívarr hinn Beinlausi (the Boneless) and Halfdán Ragnarsson. CONTENTS:I.…
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Vikings in England: Early Raids
Beginning as early as the 780s, England was among the first places to be hit by Viking raids. The earliest of these attacks lasted up until around 822, followed by a period of settlement in the 840s and the arrival of the “Great Army” in 865. Unlike with Francia, the Vikings would end up being…
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Vikings in France: Rollo and Normandy
With Francia consumed by desperation, a Viking by the name of Rollo found his way into French royalty; Normandy, and an impressive genealogy to follow, was born. CONTENTS:I. The Treaty of Saint-ClairII. RolloIII. Normandy I. THE TREATY OF SAINT-CLAIR: The “Great Army” left Francia after a troublesome famine in 892. This was not the end of…
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Vikings in France: Messy Politics
If you think this year’s U.S. election is bad, let’s just talk about the messy politics of post-Charlemagne Francia (France) for a moment. CONTENTS:I. CharlemagneII. A Divided KingdomIII. The Great ArmyIV. Impact I. CHARLEMAGNE: Francia was, during this period, at its height during the reign of Charlemagne (768-814 CE). Under his reign, Francia experienced a great deal…
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Vikings Abroad
Originally, I had planned to immediately jump into the realm of raids by discussing France. However, There are some things that are worth noting before we get into the fine, lovely, and often messy details. The nature of this lesson is really to cover miscellaneous concerns, mostly in chronology, motivations, and level of organization. CHRONOLOGY…
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Viking Age Warfare
Prepare yourself, for our ships are nearly ready to sail west. In this lesson, we will be briefly discussing the foundations for future raiding: warfare. How did they fight? How organized were they? What was the scale? What advantages did they have? It would be foolish to assume that these northmen just washed ashore and…
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Notes on the Word ‘Viking’ in Old Norse
Anonymous asked: how did vikings called themselves (is it different by country/area?)? the term, “Viking” came later after the viking age (if I recall this well). This is a wonderful question, because the term “Viking” is now a convoluted mess of our own creation. The “Vikings” never addressed themselves as “Vikings” in the sense of ethnicity. It was…
