so having colder climate and crop failure the Viking’s had the opportunity with early medieval warming the need to explore combined with a mythology that relished battle made them motivated and determined to target comfortable complacent neighbours ( er 2026?)
In early 10th-century Scandinavia, what truly bound a warrior to his king? Was it personal loyalty, sacred oaths, the promise of land, or gifts such as silver arm rings? If a king gave a warrior such a ring, was it simply a reward, or did it create an obligation that could follow him for the rest of his life?
Snorri Sturluson describes Odin as a human leader who migrated north from Asia and was eventually worshipped as a god. While this is usually dismissed as medieval euhemerism, do you think there is any possibility that Norse mythology preserves a distant memory of real migrations, rulers or cultural encounters? And what kind of historical evidence would we need to investigate that possibility seriously?
so having colder climate and crop failure the Viking’s had the opportunity with early medieval warming the need to explore combined with a mythology that relished battle made them motivated and determined to target comfortable complacent neighbours ( er 2026?)
Is the word “viking” synonymous with the “scandinavian” population of the same era? I gather there is some debate about this
In early 10th-century Scandinavia, what truly bound a warrior to his king? Was it personal loyalty, sacred oaths, the promise of land, or gifts such as silver arm rings? If a king gave a warrior such a ring, was it simply a reward, or did it create an obligation that could follow him for the rest of his life?
Snorri Sturluson describes Odin as a human leader who migrated north from Asia and was eventually worshipped as a god. While this is usually dismissed as medieval euhemerism, do you think there is any possibility that Norse mythology preserves a distant memory of real migrations, rulers or cultural encounters? And what kind of historical evidence would we need to investigate that possibility seriously?