Posted on 08/14/2006 6:17:14 PM PDT by blam
Man for man, a Viking military force was no more effective in actual battle than the European warrior bands of the day. The Vikings' military advantage was mobility and surprise, due to the longship and the fact that they were (at least initially) raiders who could pick their targets. Their poorly organized victims were unable to provide adequate point defense against an enemy who could strike anywhere while drifting away from serious resistance.
The Vikings' great weakness was their own political fragmentation. On the few occasions when a Viking king was able to put together a broad enough pirate alliance, Viking invasion forces were certainly capable of going toe-to-toe with serious European armies (as opposed to local levies called out to oppose raids), but their success was quite mixed.
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Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution. |
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When the farthing ceased to be legal tender in the UK, there was a cartoon showing a Scot with a huge sack full of farthings bringing it to be cashed in just before the deadline.
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