What was a Viking Raid REALLY like?
Sources Below
00:00- Intro
05:20- Raids in Scandinavia
10:55- England
12:01- Ireland
13:20- France
20:40- Spain
22:10- Eastern Europe
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Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia, and through the Mediterranean as far as Constantinople and the Middle East, acting as looters, traders, colonists and mercenaries. To the west, Vikings under Leif Erikson, the heir to Erik the Red, reached North America and set up a short-lived settlement in present-day L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada. Longer lasting and more established Norse settlements were formed in Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Russia, Great Britain, Ireland and Normandy.
It is debated whether the term "Viking" represents all Norse settlers or just those who raided
I've never actually heard people say the Vikings were the most cruel and sadistic people of that time. The things going on in Africa make the Vikings seem like a Disney movie.
There was a lady at the bakery who asked about my Mjonir and she said "but vikings were horrible people who just raped and pillaged everyone" I just sighed and said that the vikings were basically pirates but the majority of the norse people were farmers and traders. There was no helping that person; along with MANY other sheeple. I do think that the opinion of the general population is changing as better media and publicity comes out; like northman and the last kingdom has helped changed that negative opinion. And I agree with what you said; I knew from a young age that I would never, ever go to africa. It's hell on earth to me.
@@kev1734 I just say to ignorant people hail Satan because you can never argue against ignorance and trying to explain yourself makes you a target to their beliefs no matter what.
African peoples are more violent it’s just a natural fact. Which is why no major civilizations can be established south of the saharan desert. They end up killing all of each other before anything can be established. Mali is then only notable one you can mention aside from maybe Great Zimbabwe. IIRC no real recordings of language were left behind either.
nothing compares to brutality of turkish hordes
The problems still exist to this day. Wars start at a drop of a hat.
To get an idea of the Viking moral code regarding killing people in their sleep, one need only read the Vinland sagas, where we have Freydís Eiríksdóttir, who falsely accused a man from a rival group who'd settled in the new land of beating her. Her husband then killed the man as well as all of the rival group while they slept -- except the women, because he felt guilty. Freydis then took an axe into her own hands and slaughtered all the women -- again, while they slept. Leif Erikson, her more famous brother, eventually found out after she'd returned to Greenland, and because she was his sister and he didn't have it in him to do to her what she had done to others, he hesitated to kill her, instead shaming her and ensuring that everyone looked at her and her descendants with disdain. Not only did he spare the life of someone whom we'd even today consider worthy of capital punishment, but he took it upon himself to capture, harass, and even torture the men who'd helped her and her husband, because the thought of such cowardly cruelty so vexed him. On raiding, it's important to remember that it was often done either out of retaliation against an enemy (often Christian), or because there was no other choice. If you wanted to trade instead of raid, you would need something to trade with in the first place, which was not always easy when coming from the harsh climates of the north, especially during times of famine. If you wanted to beg instead of raid, you would be without honor, and your neighbors would either raid you first, or outright conquer you -- and if not, there just wasn't enough stuff to go around to justify charity over trade. If you wanted to assimilate and join another culture instead of raid, you would first have to make sure that you weren't giving up your religion, freedom, laws, and general culture and essentially ending your life right then and there. Sometimes it made sense, like when places like Normandy and Dublin were founded, and sometimes it didn't, like when earlier Germanic tribes balked at the thought of being crucified or burned alive by Roman senators, or having their hands cut off for petty crimes. It's also worth noting that when various Germanic tribes did carry out a raid, they were well aware of their enemies and their complex political situations. Visigoths who'd recently converted to Arian Christianity would sack a town or city, or Rome itself, but leave all of the religious buildings and monuments in tact, without destroying very much. Burning buildings that contained people (especially women and children) would have been extremely dishonorable, as evidenced by what became of the Norse woman Freydis as mentioned above. When the Lombards claimed Rome after a power vacuum emerged when the Ostrogoths left, they were sympathetic to the peasantry and everyday civilians who'd hated the Roman government for its corruption, and said civilians actually welcomed them as a breath of fresh air from the degeneracy of what had been left of the empire, now a failed state. They took Italy unopposed.
Id heard that a lot of the vikingr were spare sons and the like who basically had to go out and make their fortunes elsewhere because the land and resources of their homelands were already claimed and reserved for the firstborn, which makes some sense because that's typically what drives groups of young men out to explore and conquer historically and it's a totally understandable motivation rather than the wanton violence and rapine pillaging attributed to them in popular culture.
Thank you sir awesome video
I really like your videos thanks mate
Wow. Amazing and informative video.🙏
Excellent breakdown, duder!🙌
Another great video; always thought provoking and down to earth. Cheers!
for the "attacks" by vikings in Frankia it was not all about raiding , a lot of them were opportunisticly mercenaries during the numerous civil or succession wars amongst the late carolingian nobles.. one example the carreer of the prince Peppin II of Aquitaine who claimed to be an independant king only thanks to his viking "allies" living and dying as one of their band.
One of your best videos imo!
Good info. So true. Keep up the good work on the vids. Everything you do is inspirational and very knowledgeable
Excellent video! 👏🏻
Presentation very fair. Packed with great information. Thanks.
Love the content. I watch the adverts 🤙🏽
Thanks once again! This is a treasure to me!
I really appreciate how you set the record straight. Thank you for your informative and highly entertaining content. 🤘
Thats it? I wanted more damnnit! I really like videos like this keep it up the good work Thor Dalr
I could listen to you all day long…so interesting…
nice one!! Definitely following... I too think most shows portray Vikings in a different and sometimes unrealistic way.... keep it up
you are awesome i watch all of your videos
Thanks again for another great video. I hopefully got a few more subscribers for you. A young pagan and his brother were looking for knowledge. I suggested your channel for a even keel direction.
The sources!! And all the interpretations !Hopefully your videos are always so close to the sources and sagas ! Thanks for your works !
The lement of the Celt is the fact that they didn't keep any written records so the voice of the Roman's is what is used to describe us.
Great perspective. There is always another side to the story. So glad you took the time to break it down from each side as you seen them. Time well spent watching, thanks again. This is how history books, movies, and such should be, not a one sided and lean towards, History is only remembered by those that wrote it down approach, ie the roman side only.
Excellent video! May I recommend The Poem Of Lindisfarne on the Northworthy Sagas and Stories channel here on KZhead. ⚔️
Nice video .
Hey awesome video.. I believe you know my friends Mike,he told me about your channel.. I subbed,looking forward to seeing more...😁👍🐍🕊️...
Great video. I correlate this to my brother and I being automatically ready for travel sports when we were around that age. I would be leaving middle school weeks early to travel to play weekend baseball games in other states. I have a Norman last name and the way I was raised by those men made it easy on me to "raid" at a young age. We stood out in this regard. My brother didn't love it like I did, but he had to go through it because it was expected. I'll always miss the glory days!
11 year old Viking raiders were news to me. Learned a lot in this vid. Please keep up the good work.
Same🧐
Tonsigg My Grandmother's ancestry was from South Uist in the Scottish outer Hebrides. When we were children in the 1950's she told us a "true" story about the Viking's arrival in Uist. The Viking's name was evidently Thormid the Black. His first act was to kill the local Christian Priest, skinned him and nailed the skin to the church door. He then had the priest's remains boiled in a large pot and invited the locals to a feast. I would be interested to know whether there was any documentary evidence for the existence of Thormid.
"Thormid the Black" is an awesome name regardless of the veracity of the tale
I don't know that the story is true, but I can actually make a little sense of why a pagan might do something similar to it. So as a pagan coming in and hearing/seeing these people talk about eating/drinking the blood/body of Christ , and also pretty much worshipping these greedy and often sick in the head priests. So killing the priest and offering his remains to be eaten my his community is sort of a misunderstanding as well as a way of saying "your beliefs are nuts"....lol. This said I think if anything it would be a " big fish" story , it was embellished over time for drama and propaganda by the church to gain fore control over the local people....same old shit they do today in media.
Good video ⚔️🍺
What about the raid of my hometown Hamburg in 845? That was a very cruel one! Or would that count as a battle in your opinion? Keep up the good work.
Min fru och jag besökte ön vid Lindisfarne och det var fantastisk att se!
I live a short distance from lindisfarne and visit it often it's such a quiet place it's hard to imagine the raiding that took place on the monastery there.
Hi, can you do a video about raids in Spain in 844 and 859? Loving your videos!
My man's got the A10 eyes, destined to define eras and change history, to be remembered for millenia. Your dream of a pagan society will come true my friend, and I'd like to join it.
Charlemangne is christianizing the North with sword and fire: "...and then, for no reason the viking raids start!"
As much as the Irish complained about Viking raids in their country, a listing of who raided what monastery - I believe it was from the 800s- admits that of the raids of that century, they could identify the perpetrators of all but a handful. Despite blaming the Vikings, about 49% of all the raids were perpetrated by local Irish bandits.
Where I live in the coast in South Wales uk we have a Viking connection. I live in Ogmore by sea and we have a little tidal island named Tuskar rock apparently named after king Tuskar a Viking king who is said to have settled here once upon a time . It fascinates me to think of the Vikings maybe stopping off for supplies etc in their way to the old Wessex etc especially after watching the series Vikings and the Last kingdom and having Wales mentioned a little haha! We also have the Viking connection in Swansea further west on the coast with the Gower , worms head , and of course St David’s further west again that has documented raids . Also apparently the Vikings teamed up with us celts to fend off the Anglo Saxons from invading Wales at one point in history.
Birds like a feather flock together.
I like how much you know about Dorrestad. Vikings were friendly to the Frisians, because the Frisians helped attacking against the Franks ;) Frisia was ruled by Rorik of Dorestad, a Danish viking
Hi Michael, with the ending of the Last Kingdom, could you make a video talking about the series? Thanks
We would love some of your insights on the great Heathen army attack on York city king Ællas.
I live near Jorvik (York) my county Yorkshire was part of the Danelaw. So we have a lot of Viking place names and still some of language remains.
Dan Davis has a video about the Koryos. Very informative
Vikinger by Danheim has Egil’s poem in the lyrics
thank you for all of your work. will you be so kind as to please post any links that detail what king Charlemagne did to the vikings, to prompt such revenge from them?
Can you do a video on what they did with their pets when they went on a raid or journey? Id be very interested in seeing the sources as I am making a months long canoe trip to Texas from Minnesota with my dog (service animal). We're also gonna go feral hog hunting while we're down there 😁
Thank you for telling the truth about the monster Charlemagne. So tired of hearing him called a hero.
Hey what do you think of the 13th warrior? Great videos!
Is based on a book called The eaters of flesh I recommend you read the book is much better than the movie which it is only based on the book that is
@@arconofanarchy8707 yea the book eaters of the dead by Michael Crichton
@@arconofanarchy8707 And Eaters of the Dead was based on a blending of Beowulf with Ibn Fadlan's documented visit to areas of "Vikings." And I'll be honest, Beowulf had to be an oral story from before the Christian times, and it was such a great story that whoever finally wrote it down altered it by turning it into a Christian story. There are just too many Heathen/pagan symbolisms for it to have originated during the Christian period. Like everything, they attempt to dumb down our culture.
Feeed video 😁
It has become pretty well accepted among honest historians that the slaughter and excesses of Charlemagne's forces precipitated the viking age.
Let's go Viking Brothers
skooool bruthers
Can you make video about saxon wars?
Hey, mate! Takk skal du ha for this video. A question. There is an old movie made in the Soviet times called "On stones grow trees". I think that was a joint project of a Soviet and some Scandinavian (I think Norsk) film crews. So interested in your take on that movie. Raids and relations and many other things are there. So your opinion, mate? I don't mind another rant ;)
Ha de fin. Your awesome cousin. 30% Norwegian, oppland, Norway.
Well, that explains my teen years!
Does anyone know what's the name of the painting within the thumbnail of this video ?
Wow, I did not not know about the Winter Raids if 881-882, nor about the Viking incursions in the Rhineland. I would watch a movie about that. Out of curiosity, what was the relatinship between the Norse and the Baltic and Finnish peoples during the Viking Age?
The relationship was highly fluid. For example, Norway raided Denmark every year from about 1050 to 1062. Then (after a huge battle) they signed a peace treaty and Norway turned its attention to England in 1066 instead. Just like that, Denmark had peace.
I wanna know more about Leif Eriksson and Frejdis what raids they did?
Thanks to pop culture, and people learning history from TV shows and video games, most don't know that "Vikings" weren't the only - or even first - sea raiders. The Saxons, Angles, Jutes, and Frisians made a habit of raiding the coast of Britain long before the Norse and Danes got involved, and the entire time the Romans occupied it. There were Roman forts set up specifically to combat those raids. By the way, "Anglo-Saxons" are generally the children of the Angles and Saxons that migrated to Britain after the Romans left. They are the people that became the British. The first settlers there were still distinct tribes who divided Britain up between them. If you go back to Germania after the migration, you would still find separate and distinct tribes, since all of them didn't un-ass Saxony and the north coast in favor of Brittany.
Probably the most ads of any channel I watch
You should watch a Movie called: Redbad. It's based on The Frisian Pagans and i think a blending of Norse mythology.. etc. Long film, but i found it rather good!
how can it be a blending if they had the exact same mythology? both are germanic.
The Holy roman Empire - Eu today
Agreed. It tries to be something it's not and is not holy, an empire, or Roman.
As our Norwegian mom(yes, mom!) related to us: Why rob & kill somebody when you can come back and rob them over and over again?
Now.. Thats a mom! Haha
Fantatisk ide! : P
I like the violence shown in the movies and shows, and even in some books. but knowing that it was actually done to continue the existence of a tribe and not for whole sale slaughter makes me more proud of my ancestors.
11:16 "rapine" is a french word so not 8th century anglosaxon...but a recent translation..and as you said it means "thieving" not "raping". as usual in medieval times texts were re-written generation after generation...so the describtion can be genuinely what happened in the 790's but not the wording ..that can be tricky to interprate.
It seems like language becomes more and more vulgar over time, terms such as “gay”, “queer”, “arousal”, “hook up”, “pipe”, and even “daddy” have all changed meanings and become inappropriate within the past few decades or less. Reminds me of Idiocracy when Starbucks was a brothel and Fuddruckers became Buttfuckers.
Immediately tought Daenerys Targaryens words "I don't tend to be the queen of ashes" Of Course, it doesn't make sense to sail across seas just to burn everything down when you finally arrive.
I don't watch this enough to know how he talks about Norway as a country now.. can anyone suggest a video?
What game were those cut scenes from
What's interesting in my lineage in regards to these stories, is that I have tracked my ancestry to both "Rollo" and Charles III "The Simple." So my direct ancestors were the leaders of both sides of the negotiations that created Normandy as we know it. Oh and the TV show also says he and Ragnar were brothers, so they got a good amount wrong on "Rollo."
Everyone White is related to these two men. If you lived back then, and have descendants today, it's not mathematically possible to have it be otherwise. Due to downward social mobility , second sons of second sons became non-noble over the years.
@@brianne8254 they weren’t white, misguided sheep
The wildest raid stories get the most press because of the old saying, “If it bleeds, it leads.” (No pun intended - lol)
Boss
I am amazed that the population ever grew before the modern age.
0:04 ... Erm... why does the Northeast coast of England look like Point Elizabeth in New Zealand? I know the Vikings went far and wide but even so... I'll put it down to the massive waves... talk about going off course...
so radding is essentially armed robbery. not necessarily violent but could get that way if things went sideways
Story as old as time. Nation rising against nation people against people for Survival
The vikings also looted Dorestad in what is now in the Netherlands a few times. Which was a very important trading place at the time . These looting were mainly political attacks Greetings from the Netherlands 🤘🇳🇱🇳🇴
Kings of England and France where known for scorched earth tactics. I assume this is what people picture when they think of the stereotypical raid for this era.
Perhaps it should be noted as to who recorded that history, i.e., mainly monks of the monastery's that were raided. The ones who were educated and could keep a written record. Thus, is explains the bias.
I don't think exactly that the reason for the violence is more important than the violence itself because a peasant who gets slaughtered doesn't care for what reason, its just terrible suffer that no one should experience. But of course the reason for the violence is important nevertheless and also has be considered when we talk about those events. And in that regard I agree with you, the vinking's reason was less harmful.
Kingdom of Two Sicilys?
"most don't have it"...lol. Btw, in order to get on a raid, you need a place to attack, so most people only tried to take care of their own to the best of their ability. My thoughts ;o)
😂 Somehow I get the feeling that I'd be fleeing the church and likely try to find a husband and a lift out of Christian lands...lol Though I wouldn't have been in the British isles since the families only seem to move back and forth between the Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia ....well until they found the great lakes in the US and moved to the new world for living space and freedoms. It's interesting to me how similar the places are as far as landscape, nature,but this time those Dutch people made sure to put their farms near lots of fresh water and not under sea level ....a large percentage of the world's fresh drinking water, and boy am I glad they did given the way that things are going. I must have missed this one when it came out.
Which game is that?
"You have something I want so I will take it." So just like today then.
we're they're any Vikings that come from Ireland ,kind of like what happened in Scotland?
People should think in practical ways, it would be easier. Understanding that Vikings attacked the Frankish areas violently says a lot. It also shows that there was more of a reason to raid various Christianized areas of Europe. The Vikings i assume raided primarily because there was an active war going on against the pagan cultures. Its really that simple.
Just so happens I'm writing a history book about Hardrade, and he's sailing for Scarborough right now. I haven't watched this video yet, but Scarborough was burned to the ground and every person there was killed- even after surrendering. So I'm pretty sure Norse raids could be about as bad as it can get. Obviously not all of them, but the potential for grief was as high as you can set a bar. This is no different than any other demographic though. People can be jerks, no matter where they are from. Look at Ukraine.
If they were being paid off or hired as mercenaries they apparently were great military practitioners/warriors. That's something to be very proud of.If I went back in time with my husband I wouldn't bother even waking him up and I would definitely give them their tribute not to say anything bad about my husband but reality would definitely kick in he would not have a chance. And I would prefer to keep him around lol.
Yeah … it was to convert the saxons for no reason .. it’s not like they were doing the same kinds of raiding you’re speaking about 100 years later lol
This is pure speculation, but they must have consumed lots of Mead because vast treasures are being found buried on beaches. I may be wrong but I think that's a plausible thought. Too much Mead where did We bury that gold? Lol interesting
Not in the Viking age but, the Ottoman's raided Iceland on and off for the summer in 1627 and took slaves. Pretty wild.
What bout the Ties between the Picts n the Norse as my ancestor was taken from a Pictish king n tan to the court of Olaf 2 n married his neice than generations later came back to fight the scots!
*Thank you* for letting people know the *truth* about this; it's honestly *horrible* that modern people would rather do as *Christians* did and *slander* the Norsemen as these absolutely *evil* people when in *truth* , like you said, while they weren't *perfect* because they were human, they were *human* , not *monster* , and they were some of the *more* ethical humans of the time! There're some *other* things they did more ethically than lots of other peoples at the time according to Hurstwick; for instance, like pretty much *everyone else* (*including blacks* ), the Norsemen *did* in fact practice slavery, even having a whole *class* in their society for them (the Thrœll class), but unlike lots of *other* people at the time, who ensured that slaves were slaves for *life* , they actually allowed slaves to save some money to *buy* their freedom! *Another* thing they practiced in a much *more* ethical fashion than lots of *other* people at the time is is *human sacrifice* ; unlike lots of *other* people who practiced human sacrifice at the time, the only humans the *Norsemen* sacrificed were the *capital offenders* of their society, *murderers* and the like, meaning the human sacrifices were more of ritualized *executions* . And as *other* people have pointed out in the comments, the Norsemen actually considered theft; taking something of someone else's *without* first claiming victory in combat against them, and killing people in a state in which they can't fight back, like in their *sleep* , to be incredibly *cowardly* , and cowardice was *incredibly shameful* to them. When you understand *that* , you realize that by choosing to raid *openly* (if starting out with the element of surprise) instead of just *sneaking off* with their treasure like they *could've* , the Norsemen were actually giving their raid victims a chance to *fight back* to *keep* their treasure and resources; a chance that *most* of their raid victims simply *never took* . And when it was the *Christians* who first attacked and slaughtered a lot of *them* for their refusal to convert to the tyrannical religion that is Christianity, you can *definitely* understand why they'd mostly raid Christian countries in particular; it's *horrible* that the Christians have *brainwashed* so many people into accepting *only their slanderous* accounts of the Norsemen as the historical reality, when it's *not* ; thanks *so* much for getting the *truth* out there!
Off topic but, hey i was just wondering if you believe that the gods are just apart of nature and that they’re symbolic, and not like real ‘human like’ figures. what is the purpose of worshiping/or giving offerings to them, like what was the point of doing so? like when you summoned tyr to help you out at one of your sigrblot in a previous vid, if the gods are symbolic how would this work? sorry im new to this so i’m just trying to learn and get it right lol.- or if anyone can reply and help out
hopefully you understand what i meant
I would suggest that you check out his videos on animism which help explain the more multifaceted nature of the Gods. There are also other channels that do a good job about explaining the Germanic "soul complex" which addresses subjects like megin, ond, fyglia, hugr, lich, and more. There is a lot to learn and contemplate when it comes to this subject, and most are not willing to put in the effort to go beyond a superficial understanding.
In the end Vikings are what regular people would become when you have shit circumstances and need resources to grow your community and have a decent quality of life.
RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!
I'd like to celebrate Norse culture and learn more about it. I always get dissuaded by realizing that much of the pride of that culture is centered around being warriors, and that culture is derived from what was similar to the mafia. When raiding, colonizing, and collecting forced tribute is addressed, I feel like minimalization of such evil is akin to defending "the South" in the USA when it comes to slavery. Sure, every culture has done horrible things, but those things must not be the cornerstone of the pride of that culture. Why celebrate and be proud of being the least worse of evil? I will continue to learn more about Norse religion and history, but I will always be mindful that although the Viking reputation for being bullies has been exaggerated, it was earned by theft, slaughter, slavery and rape. This educator has large muscles and weapons on his walls, and I believe this guy is proud of his culture. I don't believe those muscles and weapons would be used as a bully. I see someone trying to share their culture with others. Something natural in me wishes to drink mead, hear the tales of bravery, learn of the old Gods and carve a long boat. Something else says there are bullies, the bullied, the bystander and the hero. Are Vikings bullies or heroes? What is a modern day Viking, and how does their warrior spirit manifest?
So if you made it to say age 50....you didnt go out raiding anymore?
All Dark Age cultures pretty much took slaves and raided. The Christian Monks wrote about the Norse and were shown in a bad light. The Irish, Anglo Saxons, Picts, etc practice slavery and raids. Saint Patrick was taken from Briton to Ireland.
Speaking of England, not getting raided very bad. I disagree with this assesment; and what about the great heathen army? The blood eagle given to King Aella of Northumbria? 🤓
And then there was all the Knights like Richard Lionheart giving us heck. And prior to both was Rome invading the British Isles. Got it worse than anyone we did.
That was not a raid, that was invasion for land and resources.