Must have been the Spam
Posted on 03/26/2018 2:49:50 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
More than a thousand years ago, the Vikings arrived on the world stage as swiftly as their longships cut through the waves. They raided and traded, conquered and colonized. They left their mark on four continents -- not just at archaeological sites, but also in the flora and fauna, the languages and local populations.
The Viking Age did not last long -- it's generally defined as beginning in the late eighth century and ending in most areas by the early 12th century -- but the explorers still capture our imagination today.
"The Vikings epitomized the freedom and strength we like in our heroes," says Judith Jesch, professor of Viking studies at the University of Nottingham. "They were enterprising and bold; they were certainly violent, but so was everyone else at the time -- and still are."
But despite their well-documented spirit of adventure, warrior culture and innovative shipbuilding, the Vikings still have their secrets. Questions remain about how they lived, where they traveled and who they really were.
Now, like ship captains setting sail to untouched shores, scientists are exploring a new age of Viking research. On this adventure, DNA is their map.
The full text of this article is available to Discover Magazine subscribers only.
(Excerpt) Read more at discovermagazine.com ...
I suspect we find the Vikings so interesting because they played an outsized role in the development of modern England, from which most of us still derive our basic historical template. Point of view counts for a lot in writing history.
Quite right, the natural climate cycle has caused a long series of cultural and civilizational flowerings in central Asia, followed by a sudden, rapid outward push when the agriculture crashes due to the downtick in the weather. The Scythians were the terror and scourge of the 1st millennium BC, but wound up much more settled and urbane when, centuries later, their relatives the Sarmatians arrived for a similar reason and pounded them.
:") I think that's probably backwards -- better info becoming available -- and the Afrcans are descended from people who came from elsewhere, during glaciations.
Somehow I just don't see Vikings as being stealthy, all that armor would rattle and bang. OTOH, they did sack Luna using trickery...
The Vikings left Sweden. Why shouldn't they? Sweden is a cold and harsh place. Some migrated to northern France, where they were known as the Normen (North-men). From there, in 1066, they invaded England and became the aristocracy there.
So who was left in Sweden? The slaves the Vikings brought back from elsewhere, and the ones too timid to go adventuring.
Same thing that happened to the Romans. The original Romans marched all around the world. Many settled elsewhere. Meanwhile, millions of slaves were imported into Rome from elsewhere.
Then there's the European-Americans who became the queer Anderson Coopers and David Hoggs. They were extinct in two generations.
That looks an awful lot like Scott W's.
The "Great Heathen Army" that attacked the English kingdoms and sacked East Anglia was comprised of both Norse and Danes, but at other times Hibero-Norse kings fought the Danes over interference in their sphere of influence.
Although the term "Norse" can be generically applied to anybody who came from the north, it most properly applies to Norwegian vikings.
The reason the Scandinavians are such saps today is because the tough ones all left to go a-viking. Only the losers stayed home and spawned pathetic weak bloodlines -- Adolphus Rex notwithstanding :)
Must have been the Spam
Roger ruled over mostly Mohammadens in Malta and to some extent Sicily. They gradually converted to Christianity over 200 years, some under duress
And then later due to their harrying Harold (he defeated them) his army was too tired to fend off William
By themselves I am at a loss to understand what roles they directly played.
But they do have 1 NFL Championship.
“However they still haven’t conquered a Super Bowl victory yet. (:”
I feel your pain.
I was going to go down that path, but then, as you pointed out, the Swedes were still a force in the north uinto the 17th century And also the places the Vikings went to (like England) aren't quite that warrior like any more
it's inevitable - the Persians were horse-riding warriors who took over Elam (modern Fars province) in the 7th century BC and then conquered most of the known world west of the indus 200 years later, yet they were later conquered by Macedonian, Arab and then Turkic peoples
My ancestors are from the southwest coast of Ireland so it looks like I might have some Viking blood in me.
Looking for their DNA? Stop looking in Sweden, Denmark or Norway. Nothing there to links them to the Vikings anymore!
Ditto for Jewish blood in most peoples
I've also seen it written that the Spanish,at one time,made their way to Ireland.If true that would help explain the “black Irish”.Also,it's not difficult to imagine that people from Continental Europe might have some Jewish blood but I doubt many Jews made their way to the tiny island of Ireland.But I suppose I could be wrong.
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