Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how
Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm editor Candice Gibson, joined by staff writer Jane mc
Speaker 1: grath Pagans. I think that Vikings are some of the
Speaker 1: coolest people and all of history. They really are. They're
Speaker 1: like pirates um at times ten and they're just like,
Speaker 1: they're so awesome. And I think that one of the
Speaker 1: best things about Vikings is that their religion. They were pagan,
Speaker 1: so they had a pandeon of gods, and their foes
Speaker 1: in the universe were evil giants and dwarves and dark elves,
Speaker 1: and it's just like a storybook come to life. I
Speaker 1: think it's just so fascinating. It is original. Their religion, sorry,
Speaker 1: is very fascinating in that. Um. I guess everybody's heard
Speaker 1: of thor uh. Yeah, they got a thunder at the hammer.
Speaker 1: He was actually he was really strong. Obviously, he's also
Speaker 1: known as being kind of stupid. Um, but he wasn't.
Speaker 1: What I found is shying is that he wasn't their
Speaker 1: ultimate god. They had a for an ultimate god. There
Speaker 1: there's Zeus so to speak, was named Odin and he
Speaker 1: was the main god and they had this whole drawn
Speaker 1: out like mythology about Yeah, like you said, the giants
Speaker 1: and this battle would happen. I think it's called reg Norak.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure how that's pronounced, but um, yeah, this
Speaker 1: they had this whole idea of this battle would happen
Speaker 1: between their gods and the and the enemy giants, and
Speaker 1: that the world would be consumed in this fire and
Speaker 1: everything like that, and and just in the world would uh,
Speaker 1: there'd be enough members of both races to just barely
Speaker 1: survive a new world after that. And they just had
Speaker 1: this all mapped out for the future. Yeah, And it
Speaker 1: was sort of strange in the context that it was
Speaker 1: a very self defeatist sort of religion because they thought
Speaker 1: that evil would triumph over good, and so Vikings and
Speaker 1: warriors would continue to fight alongside Odin even in their afterlives,
Speaker 1: but evil would ultimately overcome the good and the universe
Speaker 1: would be plunged into darkness and chaos. Who wants to
Speaker 1: we wants to make up a story like that? Like, well,
Speaker 1: it got me thinking, Jane, because we know that Vikings
Speaker 1: have this reputation as being pillagers and raiders, and I
Speaker 1: thought maybe they were living for the here and now,
Speaker 1: you know, steal from all the good people and enjoy
Speaker 1: the money and the resources while you have them. And
Speaker 1: so we may be getting a little bit ahead of ourselves.
Speaker 1: So let's start back at square one. Viking itself as
Speaker 1: a term that the origins of which are are pretty nebulous.
Speaker 1: It's sort of lost in the annals of history. And
Speaker 1: Viking history itself is is also pretty nebulous because most
Speaker 1: of the written record about Vikings come from Christians because
Speaker 1: they were literate at the time, and when Vikings came,
Speaker 1: monasteries and churches were hotspots for them to raid because
Speaker 1: there were so many riches contained within. So of course,
Speaker 1: you know, the monks and the other religious authorities there
Speaker 1: wouldn't have written very complimentary things about the Vikings, so
Speaker 1: that's why they have such a predominantly negative reputation. On
Speaker 1: the other hand, the Viking side of the story has
Speaker 1: been handed down through epic poems and saga's. It's all
Speaker 1: oral history, and you know very well that oral history
Speaker 1: changes as it goes through the year, so don't know
Speaker 1: a lot about them. That's true, and it's interesting comparing
Speaker 1: it to like stories like Beowulf and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: Those were also stories told in in similar time periods
Speaker 1: by these these poets and for Vikings, those Scandinavian peoples
Speaker 1: at least, uh, they were told by these people named skalds,
Speaker 1: and they would just recite these very intricate, detailed stories
Speaker 1: um and some of which were eventually written down after
Speaker 1: the people were assimilated with with the Europeans, but a
Speaker 1: lot of them have been lost to history exactly. So
Speaker 1: we don't know what the term Viking itself means, but
Speaker 1: we have some guesses, and those guesses range from pirate
Speaker 1: to ports an even body of water. And the raids
Speaker 1: that Vikings would go on were known as I Viking
Speaker 1: sort of like iPod different words right right now. It's
Speaker 1: interesting because our article on our site actually makes a
Speaker 1: good point in that, uh, we should differentiate between Vikings
Speaker 1: as sort of an occupation of like they were really
Speaker 1: just pirates, and they were part of these peoples from Scandinavia,
Speaker 1: like Sweden and Norway and Denmark and these areas um
Speaker 1: north of Europe um, and so we should differentiate when
Speaker 1: we talk about them, definitely, And Vikings were such courageous people,
Speaker 1: and I think that that's a fact that gets lost
Speaker 1: in the more glamorous aspect of the Viking legend, which again,
Speaker 1: as you know, the raping and pillaging and plundering, that's
Speaker 1: the sort of juicy stuff we'd like to hear about.
Speaker 1: But other scholars point out that they were also incredibly
Speaker 1: well organized and very very sturdy men. And another important point,
Speaker 1: all Vikings were men. Women didn't have a place and
Speaker 1: that particular part of the culture. And we know that
Speaker 1: they found a Dublin, they conquered Normandy, they ruled half
Speaker 1: of England, They sailed to North America, they traded with
Speaker 1: the Middle East and North Africa. We even have some
Speaker 1: archaeological evidence that points to the fact that they traded
Speaker 1: with Turkey and Russia. And we did an earlier podcast
Speaker 1: um about a month or so ago about Easter Island,
Speaker 1: and we talked about how the Easter Islanders left their
Speaker 1: home and sailing in these you know, sturdy but rather
Speaker 1: makeshift boats to who knows where they were going. And
Speaker 1: the Vikings were kind of like that too. They had
Speaker 1: these clinker built ships which were made of over overlapping
Speaker 1: planks of wood, and some scholars wonder if Vikings knew
Speaker 1: exactly where they were going, or if like the Easter Islanders.
Speaker 1: They were just setting out sail hoping to find land somewhere.
Speaker 1: So you have to think that these people who were
Speaker 1: on these ships, these these crews were up against high
Speaker 1: winds and stormy seas. There was very little opportunity to sleep.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you know, they may have just landed just to
Speaker 1: get some rest. That's right. And it is regardless of
Speaker 1: like what motivated them or whether they knew where they
Speaker 1: were going. UM, it is amazing how far they went.
Speaker 1: Like if you look at a map of where they went,
Speaker 1: it's just interesting. You never think of them going down
Speaker 1: of the Mediterranean, but they did and um, and their
Speaker 1: ships were amazing feet of technology at the time too.
Speaker 1: They had uh square sales, but they also had or
Speaker 1: so it's both stale and or um. And they're about
Speaker 1: between forty five and seventy five ft long. Uh and
Speaker 1: they were double ended, many of them, so that they
Speaker 1: could basically go either way without turning around. And historians
Speaker 1: speculate that it is actually motivated by the nature of
Speaker 1: their land. Where they came from is very inhospitable. Uh.
Speaker 1: It was it's mountainous and it's cold, and and what's more,
Speaker 1: when you think of Scandinavia. You also think of lots
Speaker 1: of islands and peninsulas and smaller parcels of land, and
Speaker 1: so the Vikings expanding their empire, they needed more land
Speaker 1: or they needed to go to places that had resources
Speaker 1: that they couldn't support on their soil and bring it back.
Speaker 1: And you were referring to this this population boom in
Speaker 1: the Scandinavians, and some historians think that there was a
Speaker 1: warming trend and that contributed to the ability to grow
Speaker 1: more food, which led to a bigger population and eventually
Speaker 1: the clans that existed within the Vikings, you know, the
Speaker 1: Scandinavians encompassed the Swedes and the Danes and um other
Speaker 1: groups of Scandinavian tribes. They were they were fighting each
Speaker 1: other so much they had to go out and strike
Speaker 1: new territory, It's true. And we also contributed to this
Speaker 1: because they were surrounded by water and so there was
Speaker 1: a great source of food for them was to go fishing,
Speaker 1: and they were lucky enough to have like plenty of
Speaker 1: trees around and so they quickly developed good good ships,
Speaker 1: as we mentioned, and this all came together and that
Speaker 1: they wouldn't go raiding exactly. And another factor was that
Speaker 1: whether you were in Norwegian or Swedish or Danish, it
Speaker 1: was very much a matter of tradition to be a Viking.
Speaker 1: Maybe your father was maybe your father's father, father's father's father,
Speaker 1: and it was considered, you know, very manly and very
Speaker 1: virile to be a part of this culture. And some
Speaker 1: of these men were so virile that they were called berserkers,
Speaker 1: and they would fight with the intensity of beasts, even
Speaker 1: drape animal pelts on themselves, and they acted as that
Speaker 1: they were immune to pain. It's sort of wild, but
Speaker 1: again part to this tradition, and other historians speculate that
Speaker 1: Viking raids could have been carried out by exiled Scandinavians.
Speaker 1: They would have put criminals, convicted criminals on ships and
Speaker 1: just told them to sail away, get out of dodge.
Speaker 1: And if you are a hard up criminal on a
Speaker 1: ship in the middle of nowhere, you would probably be
Speaker 1: tempted to steal from the first percel of land that
Speaker 1: you saw. You would take the resources. Sure, sure, And
Speaker 1: that makes sense. That theory doesn't make sense if you
Speaker 1: think about the story of how um some Vikings founded
Speaker 1: Greenland Um, because you might know that the Vikings had
Speaker 1: settled Iceland pretty early on, and uh there was this
Speaker 1: one Viking named Eric the Red who actually committed murder,
Speaker 1: and so the Vikings exiled him. And so he had
Speaker 1: heard stories though there's land to the west um sort
Speaker 1: of legendary stories, and so he um took his boat
Speaker 1: and he had it out there with his people, his men,
Speaker 1: and so he founded Greenland after that, and his son,
Speaker 1: aptly named leaf Ericsson actually went west further after him
Speaker 1: and founded um Land on North America. And it's interesting
Speaker 1: to look at the type of government that Vikings had
Speaker 1: in Scandinavia, because we've said before they were extremely well organized,
Speaker 1: and while they may have been somewhat bloodthirsty, there was
Speaker 1: a method to the madness. And we know that they
Speaker 1: had a primitive democracy. They had assemblies called things, and
Speaker 1: they met pretty regularly, and so it was very much
Speaker 1: a controlled procedure whenever they went out. And the raiding
Speaker 1: parties that settled at different ports in different countries eventually
Speaker 1: evolved into armies, and so they would sometimes stay behind,
Speaker 1: not all of them, but some of them and the
Speaker 1: lands that they they rated, and they would either assimilate
Speaker 1: among the people or they would strike deals with the
Speaker 1: leaders to get part of the land. And one of
Speaker 1: the most interesting stories about that is how they came
Speaker 1: to acquire Normandy and one of the Viking rulers struck
Speaker 1: a deal with the Frankish king Charles is simple and
Speaker 1: it was. It was pretty civil deal. The deal was,
Speaker 1: if you convert to Christianity, uh Viking leader, then I
Speaker 1: will give you Normandy. And that's Vikings got Normandy and
Speaker 1: France was appeased. And it was almost not exactly but
Speaker 1: it was similar to your way of paying tribute, and
Speaker 1: that was something that Vikings would demand of other lands.
Speaker 1: And we've discussed tribute on another podcast before, but basically
Speaker 1: the promise of having someone pay you money so you
Speaker 1: don't bully them, sort of like, yeah, that the bully
Speaker 1: taking your your lunch money and agreeing not to meet
Speaker 1: you at exchange. Sure, and a similar story actually happened
Speaker 1: in England. We were talking about Normandy. Um. England has
Speaker 1: this famous Alfred the Great. He was like the only
Speaker 1: English king. I think it was given that that's the
Speaker 1: great title. But he is mostly famous for holding off
Speaker 1: the Vikings and he did at one point make an
Speaker 1: agreement like that one, and that the Viking leader this
Speaker 1: one was called Gootherum, he promised to convert to Christianity
Speaker 1: and Alfred actually ended up being his godfather. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and this is an exchange. So he said, oh, you
Speaker 1: convert to Christianity and you're gonna some of this land.
Speaker 1: And he also made deals, like you said, of of
Speaker 1: paying them uh to for to stop fighting and it
Speaker 1: worked for a while. And so we've been mentioning that
Speaker 1: Vikings weren't just raiders but traders, and you may be asking, well,
Speaker 1: where's the evidence for that? And if you look at
Speaker 1: some of the sites that archaeologists have uncovered, you can
Speaker 1: see that it reads like a variable map of where
Speaker 1: have the Viking Vikings been. And we see that some
Speaker 1: Vikings buried in Sweden are buried in um Chinese silk
Speaker 1: garments made of Chinese silk, and then other Vikings who
Speaker 1: were buried in burial ships are they're painted blue. And
Speaker 1: whether it's Indian Indigo or it's Lapist from the Middle East,
Speaker 1: we're not sure. But it's definitely evidence that they were
Speaker 1: trading with these people. And we know for sure it
Speaker 1: was a trade and not a raid because there were
Speaker 1: these thin silver coins called Durham's and they were manufactured
Speaker 1: in Bagdad. But it would have been a way of
Speaker 1: of bartering and trading and giving commission for these goods
Speaker 1: and paying back instead of just taking. That's true, and
Speaker 1: it's interesting. I guess it would make sense that we
Speaker 1: believe now that they set up trading posts in the
Speaker 1: in the places where they did raid. Um. It's interesting
Speaker 1: going back to how their ratings works. They're like when
Speaker 1: they ended up raiding uh the coasts of Europe and such,
Speaker 1: they would use very advanced uh technological weapons. UM that
Speaker 1: would and they were so swift about it that people
Speaker 1: could hardly muster their defenses when when the Vikings came
Speaker 1: storming in and what they particularly used. They used longswords, javelins,
Speaker 1: but especially the battle ax. They're known for using the
Speaker 1: battle ax and throwing it um, but also bows and
Speaker 1: arrows and stuff like that. And forum protection they used
Speaker 1: up padded leather UM and breastpeed plate of iron often
Speaker 1: and like the very rich could use a mail shirt,
Speaker 1: which it was expensive and it took a while to make,
Speaker 1: but um they had that technology and their helmets were
Speaker 1: made of iron. Was interesting about their helmets. You you
Speaker 1: may have an image in your mind of a Viking
Speaker 1: helmet has like a metal piece down the middle for
Speaker 1: the nose to protect the face. But if in your
Speaker 1: mind you might also be picturing the famous horns on
Speaker 1: a on a helmet. You see this in like Capital
Speaker 1: one commercials, you know, like Vikings with their horns on
Speaker 1: their helmets. And this is actually kind of uh not true,
Speaker 1: or at least archaeologists believe now that they wouldn't have
Speaker 1: warned these in battle, and then it would have added
Speaker 1: extra weight. It would have been awkward. And it's true
Speaker 1: that archaeologists have found some of like evidence that these existed,
Speaker 1: but um, they believe it predated the Viking Age. And
Speaker 1: if you're wondering what the other Scandinavians who were not
Speaker 1: Vikings were doing, if we have an answer for you.
Speaker 1: They were farmers, they were fishermen, uh, they were merchants.
Speaker 1: And we know for sure that these professions existed because
Speaker 1: there are different types of ships dating from around the
Speaker 1: Viking era, and they're all different sizes, and they're built
Speaker 1: in different ways for different functions, and we know that
Speaker 1: there are separate ones that exist for carrying cargo, for
Speaker 1: conducting war raids, and for fishing. So if you weren't
Speaker 1: a Viking, you could still be involve from Scandinavia. All
Speaker 1: hope is not lost and there's just so much more
Speaker 1: for you to learn about Vikings and about Scandinavia and
Speaker 1: that particular time period. So would be sure to check
Speaker 1: out our articles on how stuff works dot com for
Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics. Is it
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com? Let us know what you think.
Speaker 1: Send an email to podcast at how stuff works dot
Speaker 1: com