Vikings are the GOAT

[KnightTemplar]

So the Vikings didn't test for PEDs back in the day?

Interestingly enough, the Viking Berserkers were believed to use a form of PED; a drug made from mushrooms that enhanced their aggression and increased their resistance to pain and shock. They had to be very careful in it's use, though; if they juiced up too early, they could go Berserk before they reached the enemy, and attack their comrades instead.

 

[IAC]

You guys get too impressed by fiction.

 

[STEVEN SEAGOLD]

Interestingly enough, the Viking Berserkers were believed to use a form of PED; a drug made from mushrooms that enhanced their aggression and increased their resistance to pain and shock. They had to be very careful in it's use, though; if they juiced up too early, they could go Berserk before they reached the enemy, and attack their comrades instead.

Chemical Enhancement. Ahead of the curve. Fearlessness + Size = Deadly.

 

[JadeOwl]

Ownership of France, Britain and Russia....

Bits and pieces of France and England you mean.

 

[STEVEN SEAGOLD]

Bits and pieces of France and England you mean.

Scared?

 

[KnightTemplar]

Bits and pieces of France and England you mean.

And some of the Scottish Islands. Although in fairness, we didn't really miss them

 

[JadeOwl]

Scared?

From a jumped up glorified pirate? not even a little bit.

 

[STEVEN SEAGOLD]

Yup. She's scared.

 

[IIIIIIII]

WHat I've always wondered was... Norwegians, Swedes and Danes(Fins are a little different culturally) of the modern day don't make me think of badass warriors...

In Norway any sport with head contact(like Boxing or MMA) is banned by the King and in Sweden Feminism has taken over and while they're lots of still manly looking dudes from these countries, the attitudes seem too have made them weak and passive.

I have alot of respect for these countries, they've kept Metal alive and have some of the best bands... but what the hell happened? Why aren't they the badasses they were 1000-600 years ago?

I guess Christianity pussified them... or were Vikings ever really that great?

in my personal opinion, the scandinavians (before the invasion of the muslims) had the most advanced society in terms of fairness for all. they are highly-taxed because they want their society to ensure that everyone is taken cared of. with this, comes equality and niceness. i italicized niceness because this is the reason why i think the scandinavians have become, "pussified" and don't seem to care that foreigners are raping their women and leeching off their kindness. they don't seem to want to be perceived as mean, so they place their values above, what most of us would think as, "doing what is right", and being aggressive in bringing back some of that aggression that they were know for.

another reason could also be because they saw what happened to nazi-germany, and don't want to ever find themselves in such a position where anger and aggression could take over their society and become violent. my two cents, for what it's worth.

 

[Phlog]

Bits and pieces of France and England you mean.

Since nations didn't exist then, yes.

 

[Insmoke]

Vikings are awesome.

They ain't got shit on the Romans, Mongols or British if we're talking about GOAT status though.

 

[Phlog]

Tall dudes don't often start fights. They got less to prove. So it goes for the Scandinavians. They are culturally tall.

 

[Crimson Glory]

in my personal opinion, the scandinavians (before the invasion of the muslims) had the most advanced society in terms of fairness for all. they are highly-taxed because they want their society to ensure that everyone is taken cared of. with this, comes equality and niceness. i italicized niceness because this is the reason why i think the scandinavians have become, "pussified" and don't seem to care that foreigners are raping their women and leeching off their kindness. they don't seem to want to be perceived as mean, so they place their values above, what most of us would think as, "doing what is right", and being aggressive in bringing back some of that aggression that they were know for.

another reason could also be because they saw what happened to nazi-germany, and don't want to ever find themselves in such a position where anger and aggression could take over their society and become violent. my two cents, for what it's worth.

This is why I've seen the bullshit that feminism is.

When I was a kid, I thought being kind, fair, nice and respectful etc was how the world should be, or atleast the way it was going... I see the world for what it really is now. You don't have to be a scumbag, but being a "nice guy" only gets you spit on.

Nice people finish last.

 

[MusclesMarinara]

I've seen maps of the extent of the Roman Empire. Does anyone have reference to the extent of the Viking 'Empire'? I realize this question may be difficult to answer as there were numerous seats of power the rendering agreed definitions difficult. Burt I am curious to know what is the extent of the Viking influence on Europe.

In all fairness, my limited knowledge on the subject comes from TV and a central european based educational system. I know even less of the Asian empires.

 

[STEVEN SEAGOLD]

I've seen maps of the extent of the Roman Empire. Does anyone have reference to the extent of the Viking 'Empire'? I realize this question may be difficult to answer as there were numerous seats of power the rendering agreed definitions difficult. Burt I am curious to know what is the extent of the Viking influence on Europe.

In all fairness, my limited knowledge on the subject comes from TV and a central european based educational system. I know even less of the Asian empires.

The Vikings created the largest empire in Europe, the Kievan Rus’. “Rus’”, the origin of the later Russian ethnonym, was originally the Roman word for “Norsemen”, as distinct from the people they ruled over, whom they called “Slavs”. The empire of the Rus’ was created to safeguard the primary trade routes of the Norsemen over the Volga and Dnieper rivers, which were the lifelines of the East/Baltic Sea economy towards its primary sources of silver and thralls. The Rus’ was undoubtedly one of the greatest early mediaeval states in Europe.

Another is Normandy, which was conquered by the Viking chief Rollo from the Frankish empire, and remained a distinct power, able to openly insult and challenge the authority of the French king, well into the High Middle Ages.

The Scandinavian Normans of Normandy would also go on to found the County and later Kingdom of Sicily, which kingdom would proceed to become an on-and-off mediterranean power during the early and high middle ages.

TLDR: Vikings created Russia, which eventually became the Soviet Union (TRY THAT ON FOR SIZE MONGOLS)

TLDR: The 2nd generation Vikings AKA the Normans, conquered England and ended up creating the British Empire (Boom son)

TLDR: Vikings created the British Empire THEREFORE they created the most powerful country in history... America.

Actually, you can make the case that at the end of 1945 the entire world was ruled by descendants of Vikings with the Soviet Union being traceable to the Kievan Rus and the U.S. and British Commonwealth being traceable to the Battle of Hastings.

GOAT STATUS BOI.

 

[Soma]

Not sure if it's already been said, but didn't the Vikings get their ass handed to them by Native Americans? They got wrecked by skinny Asians with a tan.

 

[JadeOwl]

The Vikings created the largest empire in Europe, the Kievan Rus’. “Rus’”, the origin of the later Russian ethnonym, was originally the Roman word for “Norsemen”, as distinct from the people they ruled over, whom they called “Slavs”. The empire of the Rus’ was created to safeguard the primary trade routes of the Norsemen over the Volga and Dnieper rivers, which were the lifelines of the East/Baltic Sea economy towards its primary sources of silver and thralls. The Rus’ was undoubtedly one of the greatest early mediaeval states in Europe.

They don't get credit for that because all they were absorbed by the Slavs. The Kievan Rus was in all aspects that count a Slavic state which looked toward Constantinople for cultural and religious guidance.

Another is Normandy, which was conquered by the Viking chief Rollo from the Frankish empire, and remained a distinct power, able to openly insult and challenge the authority of the French king, well into the High Middle Ages.

Once again, the Norsemen couldn't dump their own culture fast enough. Within a few generations they were fully assimilated and were culturally a Romance people.

The Scandinavian Normans of Normandy would also go on to found the County and later Kingdom of Sicily, which kingdom would proceed to become an on-and-off mediterranean power during the early and high middle ages.

By the time the Normans conquered southern Italy all that was viking about them was a fraction of their DNA. Culturally and militarily they were a variety of French.

TLDR: Vikings created Russia, which eventually became the Soviet Union (TRY THAT ON FOR SIZE MONGOLS)

TLDR: The 2nd generation Vikings AKA the Normans, conquered England and ended up creating the British Empire (Boom son)

TLDR: Vikings created the British Empire THEREFORE they created the most powerful country in history... America.

Actually, you can make the case that at the end of 1945 the entire world was ruled by descendants of Vikings with the Soviet Union being traceable to the Kievan Rus and the U.S. and British Commonwealth being traceable to the Battle of Hastings.

GOAT STATUS BOI.

 

[MedicineDog]

NOrse mythology is fantastic and interesting. Also, the show 'Vikings' from the History channel is great.

 

[STEVEN SEAGOLD]

Not sure if it's already been said, but didn't the Vikings get their ass handed to them by Native Americans? They got wrecked by skinny Asians with a tan.

The norse absolutely did try to set up 'colonies' in north american when they arrived. The norse first colonized greenland before moving on to the north of north america. The best evidence we have of a settlement in north america is a place called L'Anse aux Meadows at the northernmost tip of the Canadian region "Newfoundland"*. This is an amazing archaeology site (and UNESCO World Heritage Site) that you can actual visit if you're even in Newfoundland. Parts of it have been reconstructed!

The site dates to around AD 1000 and is widely accepted as our best evidence of the norse exploration of north america. The site was discovered by two Norwegians who were looking for an archaeological connection with the norse sagas of Vinland. The remains of at least 8 sod-covered buildings have been located in an area that would have been perfect for boat building and attempts at livestock rearing. It is likely that both men and women inhabited the site with estimated reports anywhere from 30-130 people.

It is likely that the site was only inhabited for a relatively short time and represents sort of a failed experiment in norse colonization. Archaeologists do not think that the indigenous people who inhabited the region (the Thule Inuit) [correction: /u/reedstilt has pointed out that we have later dates for the Thule migration in Newfoundland so the indigenous people most likely to come into contact with the Norse were the Ancestral Beothuk who are NOT considered the ancestors to the Inuit] were responsible for murdering the norse or engaging in overt "warfare" and in fact there is evidence that perhaps trading occurred (at both norse and Inuit sites). Moreover there is some evidence that the norse actually penetrated further west into canada and even perhaps came in contact with the indigenous predecessors of the arctic the Dorset (who are not linguistically, culturally or genetically linked to the Thule) although this research is not necessarily agreed upon by the wider archaeological community.

So what happened to the Norse? While the Norse managed to lived in Greenland for around 500 years (which is pretty amazing) something happened to end both the greenlandic and north american colonization by the norse. Many archaeologists think that is is a combination of things including a cultural incompatibility between the norse and the geographic location/climate of the region. When the norse left north american and greenland a rapid climate change was occurring because of the little ice age. The norse would not have been as adaptable to this rapid climate change as the indigenous people of canada and greenland would have been (the ancestors of the Inuit) and therefore there would also be competition for resources between the norse and the ancestral inuit. We may never know what complicated socio-political-cultural changes occurred that signified the end of the norse colonization of the americas but archaeologists and historians continue to try and crack this case!

 

[STEVEN SEAGOLD]

They don't get credit for that because all they were absorbed by the Slavs. The Kievan Rus was in all aspects that count a Slavic state which looked toward Constantinople for cultural and religious guidance.



Once again, the Norsemen couldn't dump their own culture fast enough. Within a few generations they were fully assimilated and were culturally a Romance people.



By the time the Normans conquered southern Italy all that was viking about them was a fraction of their DNA. Culturally and militarily they were a variety of French.

It's all true. The Vikings were the originators. Transcendent.