Vikings had a mean streak? Yes, but they weren't all bad

winnipegfreepress.com ^ | March 19 2011 | Kevin Rollason

[Berlin_Freeper]

Winnipeg students will get a chance to unleash their inner Viking.

And before the students in Grades 3 and 5 think it means they'll have a chance to attack and pillage European communities, they'll soon discover Vikings have been wrongly stereotyped through the ages.

"We want these children to have a lasting impression about Viking life as it was rather than the stereotyped image," Selma Parsons, president of the Scandinavian Centre, said on Friday.

"Yes, we have reenactment-quality swords, shields and chain mail, but we also want to show them they were traders, settlers, and explorers."

But Parsons said that doesn't mean the Vikings weren't above pillaging European communities. Vikings were at their peak from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.

"They just happened to be much better than anyone else, so they got the reputation," she said.

"They just happened to know where the money was and they knew it was in monasteries and they weren't Catholic, so they didn't care."

The school program, called 'Everyone wants to be a Viking,' was the idea of Natalie Denesovych, the honorary Norwegian consul for Manitoba.

[Berlin_Freeper]

I lol'd.

[Tainan]

VIKINGS...Mead, Mushrooms and Mayhem.....Whats not to like?

[nathanbedford]

"They just happened to be much better than anyone else, so they got the reputation," she said.

"They just happened to know where the money was and they knew it was in monasteries and they weren't Catholic, so they didn't care."

And they happened to have the technology, open water seaworthy vessels which were still shallow draft enough to navigate the rivers to facilitate raiding inland monasteries which were the treasuries of the time. Much like the British gunboats of the 19th century, this technology permitted them to extend their raids and ultimately their settlements as far as the Black Sea, Sicily, and, of course, Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain controlled much of Africa with those gunboats and the Vikings ultimately large portions of Europe. For example, William the Conqueror who invaded England in 1066 was actually a Viking descendent whose great-grandfathers had conquered Normandy.

A look at those ships brings back to proper usage the word "awesome" when one considers the beauty and functionality of their form. One wonders how men could stand long voyages in the open Atlantic exposed as they were to the elements and spray. These ships were truly technological breakthroughs of the age.

[A_perfect_lady]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAFXayH1bpY

The truth is here...

[Hypo2]

teaching competition can’t be all bad, can it?

[Lysandru]

How many of you know the game Fire and Ax: A Viking Saga?

I have an incredibly high win rate in this multi-player board game (now out of print here in the U.S.). The key thing is to realize that you can rack up a lot more points colonizing than you can by mere pillaging. But the three main means of scoring-- trading, raiding, and settling--are interrelated.

[Semper Mark]

“Vikings had a mean streak? Yes, but they weren’t all bad” :-(

~~~

“...the Vikings weren’t above pillaging European communities.”

Well, at least they’re leaving in some of the good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgh6V-kXnv4

[bill1952]

we have reenactment-quality swords, shields and chain mail..

Notice that she did NOT say the PC word “Toys.”
I would like to see what “reenactment quality” is.

Might be quite nice :)

[Sacajaweau]

3-5 graders.....Maybe let them read about them in their text, write a 200 word paper on the vikings....and GET ON WITH TEACHING!!!!!!!!

[wendy1946]

VIKINGS...Mead, Mushrooms and Mayhem.....Whats not to like?P> We'd all be driving Volvos. Picture a world in which Sweden was a major power; Tsar Peter saved us all from that.

Благодарю вам, Царь Петр!!!

[Salamander]

One of my top 10 Tull favorites *but* this always annoys me:

“The heroes rest upon the sighs of Thor’s trusty
hand maidens”

The Valkyrja were servants of Óðinn, not Thor.

[sorry...I’m a stickler for historical/mythical accuracy]

[Salamander]

Few realize the there were many varieties of the vesels, each having its own purpose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longship

[Salamander]

Sæk og plyndre først, derefter brænde.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

In Latin, Veni, Vidi, Vici. Not much difference, except the scale. The Romans realized you could get more from human livestock if you milked them, rather than slaughter them straight away.

[SengirV]

[R. Scott]

… they'll soon discover Vikings have been wrongly stereotyped through the ages.

Thanks to Hollywood, but in their defense making a movies about a village of farmers and craftsmen wouldn’t be all that exciting. Neither would a movie about international tradesmen.
The Norse were a warrior society and with nothing much to do between planting and harvest – the traditional time of war for most societies – they went on raids. Warriors need to be able to brag about their prowess in battle, loot was always welcome.
Gold and silver wouldn’t keep them warm, they couldn’t eat it and it was no use on the farm. To convert loot into something useful they set up trading centers and expanded their zone of control.

[magslinger]

Viking kitties?

[Vor Lady]

Huzzah for my ancestors!

[plangent]

Good history here. Yep the Norman French originated with the invasion of the North Men. A truly ambitious and enterprizing gene pool that spread through Europe, likely the engine that fired the Renaissance and brought on the Industrial Revolution.

Had the rest of the world been gifted by Viking invasions, there would be less sloth and poverty. Hmmmm! Did the Vikings ever invade Japan?

[GenXteacher]

Pinging....