10 Big Myths About the Vikings

People seem forever reimagining the seafaring Vikings from northern Europe, but 'the Viking Age' is one of the most confusing periods in European history. When did it really start and why? What does 'Viking' really mean? What kind of helmets did they actually wear?
One of the best ways to delve into these questions is to delve into the most common misconceptions, often conjured up from how Vikings are depicted in film and TV, and run through why these myths exist, and the historical reality. James Carson runs through 10 of the biggest myths he's encountered after a few months getting close to the Vikings.
Expert opinion expressed on History Hit podcasts Gone Medieval and Dan Snow's History Hit are used to help shape our understanding of the Viking Age. You can go deeper by listening to the following links:
Professor Caroline Larrington - Ragnar Lodbrok - podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
Dr Stephen Ashby - Rise of the Vikings shows.acast.com/gone-medieval... ALSO Viking Hair play.acast.com/s/gone-medieva...
Dr Roderick Dale - The Beserkers podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Dr Tom Horne - Raiding and Trading in Viking Britain shows.acast.com/gone-medieval...
Dr Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir - Valkyries - shows.acast.com/gone-medieval...
Professor Gordon Campbell - Vikings in America - play.acast.com/s/dansnowshist...
Also, check out Dr Cat Jarman's book River Kings www.amazon.co.uk/River-Kings-...
Here are the 10 Big Myths About the Vikings chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:50 - 1. Horned Helmets
02:25 - 2. Ragnar Lodbrok
04:48 - 3. It All Began in 793
08:32 - 4. It Took Place in the Dark Ages
11:55 - 5. Beserkers Took Magic Mushrooms
14:24 - 6. There Was One Viking Empire
16:12 - 7. They Called Themselves Vikings
18:22 - 8. They Were All Raiders
21:07 - 9. Women Warriors Were Commonplace
24:55 - 10. Leif Erikson Landed in America
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[@DSWL_]

as a Harvard professor specializing in the Scandinavian Viking era. i can say there is a 78% chance Ragnar did in fact exist. the berserkers did take psilocybin in preparation for battle. it was a warrior culture and they where chosen at a very young age to be the tip of the spear. prepared their entire lives to perform these incredible acts. so their minds would have been ready. they weren't at a grateful dead concert.

[@BlackQback]

Well, one way of looking at Ragnar issue is - if Ragnar didn't exist - who was the father of sons of Ragnar? Also, the phrase "the little piggies will grunt when they hear how the old boar died" that pops up in a late Icelandic saga (forgot which one, IIRC written down in 13th~14th c.), but also is recorded by a Latin chronicler much earlier, which gives some credence to the whole story about Ragnar, storm, and king Aela killing him (though probably not by throwing him in the pit with venomous snakes). The other might be that "sons of Ragnar (Raggnarsons)" could have been a group of warriors who took the name of a mythical hero as a role-model to follow in his footsteps, so followers of Ragnar. 78% chance, though... 🤔

[@tombullish3198]

Evidence and references needed. I don't disagree but for the psychoactive ingredients that were allegiately used before combat us no scientific evidence. For the use of psychedelics in general I have found evidence. Ragnar did likely exist of his character was based on the hero chieftain that sieged Paris in 845, Reginherus, or a conjugation of multiple heroes.

[@laneromel5667]

You have never read Hägar the Horrible he wore a helmet with horns, I remember reading it every Saturday in a section of the news paper.

[@monkeytennis8861]

😂😂

[@BlackQback]

Me too, though it was translated as Hogar the Terrible (or Fearsome, or any of the synonyms), and I also remember that he was often pestered by his wife Helga. One 3-frames strip comic every Wednesday, back in the 70s and 80s.

[@ylfluoS]

Regarding the usage of "Viking" mythology in German opera in the nascent German Empire: it was not Norse mythology that got conflated with German mythology, especially the Ring of the Nibelungs _is_ German mythology... as well as Norse! Snorri wrote about it in the Song of Sirgurd, but the oldest known physical copy is actually from Passau in the far south of Germany. Wagner tried to repopularize "pan-German mythology", as the Saga of the Nibelungs was known all througout the German speaking countries (as well as Scandinavia).

[@natalieeis9284]

Also there were Vikings in North Germany. There is lots of settlements and excavation sides. The distance between Germany and Denmark is minuscule

[@Siegbert85]

Right. Idk that Wagner's operas ever said anything about "Vikings" at all. The imagery of horned figures from the North was just pretty iconic and was later conflated with Vikings. Propaganda ads for the foreign SS division "Wiking" would show stereotypical horned helmet Vikings alongside modern SS soldiers for instance

[@natalieeis9284]

While I enjoyed Vikings for a while, The Last Kingdom is so much better and more accurate.

[@gobbledygook5000]

Vikings became unbearably stupid and unrealistic in the later seasons. The Last Kingdom has the books of Bernard Cornwell to go off of, so you've got a huge advantage already over whatever Hollywood hacks the history channel hired.

[@sykadelik459]

Yup.

[@runningwildttv3648]

That maybe true however Uthred would have died early Season 4 he was actually killed by Eric Bloodaxe. If you look deep enough they are both wildly inaccurate.

[@sostenos]

People who hype up TLK for historical accuracy are historically uneducated. TLK is just as if not more inaccurate than Vikings

[@norwaybaba3381]

Another myth is Wineland has something to do with grapes. Leiv Eiriksson named the land he saw and it was; "Helleland" meaning Rock land, " Markaland" meaning Forest land and "Vinland" meaning Meadow land! I searched on google about Bergen, a city in Norway earlier known as Bjørgvin. This is the explanation of the name Bjørgvin, translated to English: "The name Bergen comes from "Bjørgvin" which means the green meadow between the mountains (bjørg: mountain, vin: green meadow, pasture). Bergen was granted city status by Olav Kyrre in 1070. Until 1299, the city was the king's main seat and was considered Norway's capital." I understand they have tried to find evidence of grapes on the east cost, but why try to prove a myth.

[@kenaustinardenol1338]

I like history, any history really, but its rare that I turn to Google, books or encyclopedias directly to search on a topic. Mostly those searches are instigated by a movie or televisionshow. I never take them as the truth, but they are a great startingpoint to look for more information on the subject. And so I did with vikings

[@hazleygod]

Can I ask, what do you use?

[@kenaustinardenol1338]

@@hazleygod Huh???

[@hazleygod]

@@kenaustinardenol1338 to search on a topic

[@hazleygod]

@@kenaustinardenol1338 like, to search on topics?

[@kenaustinardenol1338]

@@hazleygod watch Vikings, stroll through wikipedia to find anything on Ragnar. Same with King Arthur, Romans etc etc. It broadens your knowledge and its fun to know how much is true or not within the movies

[@veganmonter]

12:40 - In my imagination, there is a comedy sketch of some scary looking vikings (wearing horned helmets and speaking perfect modern English of course) having an acid trip. They question their purpose in life, and think they should give peace a chance, then try to start a commune.

[@raimundotorres44]

They/them also use preferred pronouns, go vegan and raid on electric boats, and by raid I mean they go around England screaming in high pitch voices how oppressive the Christians are.

[@rfvtgbzhn]

13:02 the fly agaric is not a magic mushroom. It is a hallucinogen, but the active substances are muscimol and ibotenic acid, while magic mushrooms are mushrooms that contain psilocybin.

[@emom358]

Would love to know about archaeology sites in eastern Europe.

[@xXScissorHandsXx]

A little dab of that basic 1337 caught em slipping @2:31 it was SpectorsUrge = Sp3ct0rsUrg3 😉

[@alexduggan68]

A lot of stuff about Vikings comes up in the novel We Appy Few, which is very funny.

[@jmanj3917]

16:43 So, they were just saying they wanted to go "coving", or sailing/rowing from cove to cove, grabbing whatever they could grab..? Makes sense. I play hockey, but I don't call myself a "hockeyer" whenever I do the hockey. Your explanation is, hands-down, the best explanation I've heard regarding the misunderstood nature of the name Viking. 🙂

[@PaniPunia]

I would appreciate some info about the reneeacting groups featured in this video. First of all - to send cudos. Second - my husband was a part of such group portraying 10th and 11th century Polish warriors, and they look a lot alike (and although I don't specialize in medieval warfare I am a historian, and I specialize in polish medieval history).

[@WiganPaddy]

I really enjoyed this - im fascinated by history

[@jamiebizness1]

Im gonna show this to all my acquaintances that have thors hammer , a side shave and a top knot. Hahaja

[@rustomkanishka]

The recent 'converts' to old Norse faith are really cringe, aren't they?

[@Schmorgus]

@@rustomkanishka There's a reason they're called "cringe vikings" ;) Funniest part, is that the majority comes from America.

[@monkeytennis8861]

They sound insufferable

[@monkeytennis8861]

​@@SchmorgusAmericans? Why, you shock me 😂

[@kristlepickles]

​@@Schmorgus There are plenty of Americans that are intelligent enough to cringe too. We're not all complete idiots. 😅

[@stevestannard6004]

'A war hasn't been fought this badly since Olaf the Hairy high chief of all the vikings ordered fifty thousand battle helmets with the horns on the inside'.

[@RubberToeYT]

Wagner/Victorian influence is huge and I’m glad that recently it os being debunked

[@tombakabones274]

No.5 from somebody who has experienced the effects of hallucinogenics first hand the type of hallucinations you have are based on your mental and emotional state as well as your surroundings so if you are full of anger, hatred or sad and and depressed and are thinking negative thoughts when you start hallucinating your hallucinations will reflect that and it is possible to go into a violent rage as a result this does and has happened to people while they were on hallucinogenic drugs so just because there is no physical evidence of it does not mean it did not happen

[@BrodieB762]

Jag älskar den här kanalen så mycket! Älskar från Sweden! 🇸🇪 Sorry my English not best hopefully comes out right. Vikings were really not taught to much in school here lol and I’m from Uppsala, Sweden where a big deal of the Vikings happened.

[@MrSmithla]

I get the point of the effects of the hallucinatory drugs. However, concluding “it’d be impossible to fight whilst high.” This is merely anecdotal but there’s a MLB pitcher, McDowell???…., who quite freely admits to pitching a complete game in the World Series after dosing himself with/LSD. My point is that while pitching on manicured lawns with an umpire isn’t brutal hand to hand combat. You say you have no evidence of the use of any sort of hallucinatories being used. I know outside chroniclers talk about the shockingly high intake of alcohol in peaceful settings, I have no idea about their alcohol use on campaign but I do recall reading about the sorts of communal, fire pit, night before the battle pump up sessions. Again, no evidence is no evidence but I can imagine a ceremony not simply ingesting the hallucinatory but combining it with singing, dancing, chanting, alcohol use could, together, produce a state where the effects of fear or pre-battle anxiety inside each warrior is drastically reduced and unit cohesion built. It might be more revelatory to start with the end result: a warrior positively EAGER for battle, seemingly thoughtless to any threat. Now, what was available in the environment to produce this collective result? If there are any naturally occurring mood/mind-altering substances. You tell me this was a migration of Scandinavian people. Certainly can’t argue with that but migrant people are, generally, starving and will eat ANYTHING. It would seem that if mood/mind-altering substances were around, somebody’d find them and eat them, even accidentally and folks would notice Magnus prancing around naked. The argument ‘hallucinatories’ wouldn’t be used because you can’t/wont fight on them, I don’t think is well-founded.

[@MrSmithla]

My point being ‘used in battle,’ might be ‘used the night before to commune with ancestors and get in the right mindset for battle.’ From popular culture, let’s talk ‘truth serum.’ Now, are there substances that FORCE you to tell the truth, whole truth, nothing but the truth, no half-truths, no misdirection, no deception by omission. That doesn’t exist. However, are there substances that can lower a subject’s defenses, be more trusting of interrogators, reduce the twang of conscience by being wrapped in a snuggly, cocoon of chemically-infused bliss and THEN you might start spouting information. I don’t think there’s a chemical way to make someone ‘braver,’ certainly not stronger or more proficient with their weapon on the eve of battle, but is there a combination of chemicals readily available and communal experiences with comrades that can reduce the effect or incidence of anxiety? I’ve seen ample evidence of both athletes and soldiers performing sub-optimally due to stress and anxiety. It seems an obvious advantage to be the side whose soldiers manage their fear better than their opponents.

[@BlackQback]

Vikings weren't _that_ kind of migrants... Sure, some would settle in the new places, but majority would return home. Also, they took provisions with them on raids, plus could hunt, fish etc. on the way - they didn't go empty handed, begging or relying on NGOs to help them on the way.

[@geiroveeilertsen7112]

4:32 I'm very much a "straight" man, but I must say that Travis Fimmel who portrayed Ragnar Lothbrok in "Vikings" have really beautiful eyes 😇 (and he REALLY fit the role for the series too)

[@mshaw6836]

You're just agreeing with every woman on earth ❤

[@alexferro5026]

Good vid 👌

[@TheEggmaniac]

Im not convinced about your point, that beserkers didnt take magic mushrooms. The magic mushrooms themselves, wouldnt make them go berserk. The warriors who took them would have already psyched themselves up into a rage, and prepared themselves mentally for combat. The mushrooms will only have helped them detach themselves from reality and given them a feeling of euphoria, and possibly stopped them feeling pain. We dont really know if they took magic mushrooms, they may have taken some other herb or mixture of herbs to get that effect. Im sure alcoholic drinks would have been used in combination too. Magic mushrooms would seem like a very easily available source, that would get these effects.

[@tombullish3198]

These historians don't know much about psychedelics, mental states, war prep, alchemical brews and geography, they stick to Canon literature usually. They studied some books in school that were in the curriculum and some other literature they were interested in. They don't understand the broader scope of psychedelics in history even in creation of religions they are present. Psychedelics had a way bigger impact on humanity then most people know and many don't want to know. Even if scientific evidence is lacking, all things considered, the probability they used them in some way, shape or form is pretty high in my opinion. The fact that a lot of their villages and settlements were placed near spots with psychoactive plants and fungi is also a tell tail. The stories about their shamanic traditions is another. Maybe we will find some better evidence someday through morales studies and such. It's true there is no scientific evidence they used it for combat etc, yet there is evidence they used psychedelics in general.

[@TheEggmaniac]

@@tombullish3198I agree. Great explanation. Psycho active substances found in nature have been used by all cultures in the past. They would have come into parts of peoples spiritual lives, from viking era. Even if it was left to just shaman using them, or people using them in special situations, like preparing for a battle, where they could easily be killed.

[@phoenixrising5338]

There apparently was an Arab or Persian man who was a great traveler during the Middle Ages who traveled to many places and then wrote books (scrolls?) about his travels. I don't remember his name but I'm sure you could research it. He apparently became something of a best seller and famous in his home area in his time. One of the places he visited was some part of Scandinavia and he wrote a travelogue about that in Arabic which 100s of years later was finally "discovered" and translated into English and other languages. In it he reports that Scandinavian women are tall, beautiful, light-skinned, fair-haired, very outspoken, extremely assertive, speak up like equals in village council meetings, have property rights, and are leaders. He also reports that they have been known to use weapons and tools that he considers a man's domain, and to perform tasks he considers men's, not women's, work. He's pretty scandalized by most of this, although apparently wouldn't have minded bringing one home as an additional wife but was firmly declined. Apparently they were significantly more independent, had more rights, and were more likely to be leaders and warriors than any women he'd met anywhere else in his travels because he specifically commented on it. That may not have meant all that much considering the culture he came from but he felt it significant enough to include in his description of his travels. I read all this in a history book at some point. Read a lot, so no longer remember which one. It was a history book about things going on in the Arab world during the Middle Ages that westerners know nothing about because we never teach the history of that part of the world.

[@Bridgercraft]

I think you're probably talking about Ahmad ibn Fadlan. You have to take a lot of what he says with a pinch of salt, as a Muslim he was probably playing down a lot of what he saw as heathen practises. Also, the "vikings" he met and observed were Varangian or Rus rather than in Scandanavia, so some of their culture was probably influenced by the Slavic peoples they intermingled with in the generations after they left Sweden.

[@tommyxbones5126]

I'd say that Viking is a blanket term such as Indian or Celt, if you look at American Indians there were many different tribes Apaches to Sioux & hundreds more with a shared ancestry & culture but still different - same as Celtic tribes & I'm thinking Vikings probably had a largely shared ancestry, religion & culture - even methods of warfare & opportunistic 'raid or trade' practises stayed until they chose to farm & build towns. Just my tuppence worth but I'm sure each tribe/warband had a name they must have been fiercely proud of , even if it was just named after their leader .

[@ellen4956]

Native American nations still exist, so it might be a good idea to revise the idea of a past-tense where they're concerned. I think the idea that they had a shared culture makes a lot of sense; It was likely more culture than heritage.

[@Sgt.chickens]

The Norse aren't like the Native Americans. They kept a lot of records as did the people they came into contact with. While I'm surentheybhad individual groups. The old Norse Kindoms were often Linked as one and had one general purpose. They aren't exactly mysterious

[@johnnywatson4000]

the people were called danes not vikings.

[@tommyxbones5126]

I wasn't comparing vikings to American tribes - obviously the tribes were practically in the stone age, it was the term vikings I was questioning - in England you had Mercians, Cumbrians ,men of Wessex etc even in Australia there were/are 200 different nations of aboriginal tribes. I just found it hard to swallow that whether you were a Dane under Cnut or a Norwegian under Bloodaxe or whoever they would all say " yeah I'm a viking" - it follows human nature to want to stand out from the others. And I'm sorry for referring to American tribesmen in the past tense.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Nice video about vikings.

[@kryyptyyk]

I love you guys debunking peoples silly obsessions with insanity. Love it. :) Keep it up!

[@YouChwb]

Please explain the logic are you using to draw to this conclusion.

[@JerseyPaul90]

I’m gutted that Ragnar wasn’t real as I loved his portrayal in the TV show. But there must have been some aspect of “Ragnar” that was real, his sons wouldn’t have called themselves the sons of Ragnar if Ragnar wasn’t a real person, or they’d be the sons of (insert name) instead.

[@tombullish3198]

He is likely based on real heroes such as Regineri / Reginherus and maybe some other heroes. It is still not impossible that he existed actually. Hence the sons exist and the name Ragnarsson is a very old Scandinavian name. Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan Ragnarsson and Bjorn Ironside are all genuine figures in history. So is Rollo the grandfather of Normandy's William the Conquerer. Ragnar is likely a conflation of Reginherus and Ragnall and some Icelandic Saga.

[@blubbson]

The "sons" existed, but they might not actually have had the same father. "Ragnar" as in the alleged father of the Ragnarssons might not have been one single person in reality.

[@hetschipVeronica]

about drug use... I think we have seen drug use in 20th century African conflicts (like the Simba in Congo) that seems to have influenced behavior, making warriors more aggressive and daring. Would it be possible that Vikings used similar stimulants?

[@katherinecollins4685]

Great video

[@jarrodbright5231]

I'm glad you addressed in one of the examples (women fighters) that it may have happened occasionally but wasn't a common thing. I'd say that with many of these myths - and I'm talking about historical myths in general - that this is often the case. Sure there was probably a few times it happened but the vast majority of the time it didn't happen.

[@UkrainianPaulie]

No 12. Every modern media depiction of Norsemen is they wore leather pants and woven leather clothing. No armor, helmets, mail etc. A real Norsemen wore baggy woolen trousers, leg wrappings and wool shirts. Love how in "Vikings" they wore no armor, yet they defeated armies clad in mail and helms.

[@stevedavy2878]

This is the point I was making in my comment, that current TV and Movie Makers are more interested in selling historical figures to an audience than trying to portray reality, As good as it was the TV Series " The Musketeers" portrayed them as leather clad bikers, so they looked like Chippendales not the Kings Guard.

[@Twerkulies]

Well are you gonna place your money on someone whose been fighting and training their entire lives whose wearing little to no armor, or some guy with little to no combat experience that only has basic military training. It's like putting a teen who just got their license up against a professional race car driver.

[@MorganChaos]

@@Twerkulies I think you're underestimating how much armor does for you.

[@Bridgercraft]

@@Twerkulies You're making the same mistake that most of these tv shows make; assuming that Vikings were the only people who trained and knew how to fight properly. Watch "Vikings" or "The last kingdom" and you'd think the Anglo Saxon armies were made up of inexperienced, weak, untrained idiots who basically fall down dead as soon as a Viking warrior breathes near them. This couldn't be further from the truth.

[@hannibalb8276]

@@stevedavy2878"This is the point I was making in my comment, that current TV and Movie Makers are more interested in selling historical figures to an audience than trying to portray reality" Well if you pay attention to the episode, you'll notice that the ancient people's were all guilty of this as well. Seems like it's just.. human nature to want to lionize previous generations and create great heros out of otherwise normal men, or men that never actually existed.

[@khaleesi8266]

As an American, I'd like to point out something. No one is actually going around celebrating or even talking about vikings in any capacity, not even on Oct. 9th. This is certainly not considered a national holiday at all. I mean, Columbus Day is still a thing ffs. Most Americans have never even heard of Leif Erikson. 😂

[@hjorleifurgujonsson7039]

One misconception. Most likely did no longships ever came to Iceland, bur knörr or knerrir in plural. They lay differently in the ocean and have different strengths, stability in rough ocean vs. speed and ease of landing. The Scandinavians were surrounded by the Baltic sea, calm sea similar to the Mediterranean, the north Atlantic ocean and countless large rivers throughout Europe. There superpower was in there boats and ships, specialized in multiple roles, not unlike most famous naval powers in history. The longship, an incredible tool of war was the most important but not the only one

[@christallon184]

St Brendan the navigator was a irish monk who sailed to Iceland Greenland and possibly America before the Vikings ever did it was the story of Brendan that potentially inspired the Vikings to sale further west

[@rumblinstone7332]

berserkers: henbane, it was henbane. Of course you go crazy if you are forced to take muscaria in locked rooms. But the effects of henbane seems to fit pretty well to a berserk state. Including the incapability of distinguish friend from foe.

[@magnusgranskau7487]

yes, but dont we all also just now someone who is crazy enough that if they were put back in that situation they could be a berserker. its not that hard to łmagine for me. its a lot of crazy guys out there with or without drugs. and combine that with a real belief that they would go to valhall if they died in battle.

[@metanoian965]

@ 15' 19" _ Block Colours on a small featureless map = misleading = misinforming = wrong impression = deceptive. Not to be taken literally. Just maybe there were mountains rivers forests swamps locals not welcoming to uninvited guests which made exploration difficult. Perhaps the creative cartographer was inebriated

[@iangreenhalgh9280]

Bezerkers taking Muscimol from Amanita Muscarita isn't far fetched to me, psychedelics like that give you an intense focus on what you are doing. Also, there are other warrior cultures that we know for sure used psychedelic drugs in battle - the Zulus and Xhosa for example, their warriors carried beffalo horns roudn their necks containing powders that they would snort before battle. These powders were prepared by witch doctors and analysis of horns found on battlefields shows they contained a variety of substances including cannabis and mushrooms

[@jamcgowan1095]

“Look at the way they were dressed! They were asking for it!”

[@jamcgowan1095]

Not acceptable then, not acceptable now.

[@firingallcylinders2949]

Still, society should encourage modesty in general

[@gobbledygook5000]

​@@jamcgowan1095how is it not acceptable? Half the country wants to vote for a proven assaulter of women who bragged about it on tape; and those same people are big fans of a certain news network where the head of that network was a proven assaulter along with its biggest star... Seems like it's pretty acceptable to those hypocrites

[@user-hf1pg2ey6l]

In all the Scandinavian excavations did anyone ever find a horned helmet? If Lothbrok's sons were well known in history then one would assume Ragnar was a real person. His brother became King of Normandy, deriving from the word Northmen.

[@matthoward7645]

His brother as in Rollo from the tv show..........🙃🙃🙃🙃

[@user-hf1pg2ey6l]

@@matthoward7645 Yes it was. He is quite famous in France still!

[@matthoward7645]

@@user-hf1pg2ey6l none of the people that possibly were 'ragnar' were related to Rollo but Rollo is a very interesting character. That fabrication and the floki friendship are xomplelty false none of them loved at the same times Rollo possibly knew the guy Ragnar is based on but that would be all still incredible a Norseman become the Lord of somewhere in France and their line conquers England same with I believe was Sicily Norsementzl just for wat they want I swear 🤣🤷🏼‍♂️🤣

[@user-hf1pg2ey6l]

@@matthoward7645 He was made of Duke of Normandy by Charles The Simple. His real name was Hrolfr, and he's mentioned in Norse, Danish, and Icelandic sagas.

[@pheart2381]

There are no existing horned helmets.

[@pikachuichooseyou4273]

Good to see that the Ragnar conundrum is being talked about. Personally I don't belive he was one single real person.

[@jarrodbright5231]

About as real a single person as King Arthur. In fact it's a pretty good analogy as King Arthur is a fictional amalgamation of at least 3 different people born centuries apart.

[@scifoncra6376]

Psychadelics can definitely mess you up. But you'd need some crazy dosage and strain to do it.

[@Schmorgus]

The only actually known source of a burried "Shield maiden", was proven to be a woman from the regions of modern day Poland, based on the finds in her grave. Lagertha was completely made up for the show Vikings (loosely based on a fictional woman from Norway, written by Saxo Grammaticus, a Danish christian, in the 12th century), there's no written sources of her ever actually existing.

[@TheThizzelle]

Speaking as someone whose done mushrooms, you absolutely could take them before battle and it would be like fighting with the Valkyries on your side for real.

[@nicholasrose8173]

Maybe the sons of ragnar used it as if they were the sons of a god or a superhero in this case. Like saying the sons of superman

[@Siegbert85]

Charlemagne didn't declare himself emperor of the Franks but of the Romans. That act famously started what would become know as the Holy Roman Empire.

[@christallon184]

How come knowone ever talks about the amount of hemp the Vikings used for the likes of rope and sales huge amounts of viking graves were they have continually found hemp seeds ?

[@erniesbiscuits8691]

I'm a medieval historian and I call them the Dark Ages all the time.

[@henningmogensen9144]

viking schould be pronaunced veking. The word 'vi' means a holy place, a place of worship. And king is the guardian of the place. vi in danish goes into 'vie' - marry. The king part is more of a mystery but my understanding of the word meaning someone that lead in the battle, making shure to win or die in the process. More of a servant than a ruler.

[@terryjohnson5579]

My opinion after studying eveything i can find. Ragnar himself may be a myth but im sure there was a warlord of similar standing. If nothing else the Great Heathen Army was said to be led by brothers getting vengeance. Theyre father was somebody.

[@princeblackelf4265]

I think the one thing on here that sent me for a loop here is that Leif Ericson probably was fictional. That really is something thats a bit hard to process.

[@tombullish3198]

Probably real. Most historians educated on this topic agree Leif Erikson existed.

[@tristanconnolly5675]

Nice.

[@diannehardwick950]

Why is the mystery of how they got to Newfoundland SOOOOO mysterious? Parallel sailing.

[@RavenRebels]

Hey there! It's a common misconception that Vikings wore horned helmets. In reality, this idea likely stems from the rich symbolism of horns in Norse mythology, where they often appear on figures and creatures like Odin's ravens or Sleipnir. Let's appreciate the fascinating connection between Norse mythology and horned symbolism! Space hugs! 🧡

[@xSavedSoulx]

Many people still hold the belief that Vikings used to shave the sides of their hair.

[@barryellison1272]

My sister recently had a DNA test, and the result shows that we as a family are 90% Viking ( plus 4% Neanderthal, 4% Pirate and 2% unknown species) my surname Ellison apparently means 'son of Ellis').

[@ILoveYou-rv3pd]

As someone who has done a lot of shrooms, I 100% agree that I would be even more useless than normal in hand to hand combat while on shrooms.

[@luminoustarisma]

Considering that very same red and white mushroom is still common here in Sweden and it is a know. Toxic mushroom. Basically, it is the first mushroom you learn as a child not to pick because it is so easily recognisable. I remember I also heard that when I was young, but I could not for the life of me understand how anyone could consume it and live. It would be quite the opposite of berserk

[@hoegild1]

Oh come on! You state that Ragnar didnt kill a dragon.. Offcourse not, we have no dragons in Denmark, only Lindworms- and that is what he killed. In later times we used specially trained bulls to do the job, and today Lindworms is a protected species (and quite rare).

[@kiliynpattison5551]

I think Ragnar lothbrok comes from Halfdan, and his exploits embelished.

[@Vanadisir]

Making the fabric and clothes is a power pay if you stop doing it and everyone goes naked. Cloth was a form of currency, very important to the economy, not just for family warmth.

[@MorganChaos]

I would argue that the presence of female warriors in the sagas does prove that this was at least not unbelievable to the Norse, and therefore they at least recognized that women COULD make good warriors, even if they didn't do so commonly -- I do think there were a few shieldmaidens around, even if rare enough that most people would never personally meet one. Probably more common for wealthier women, too. In the later seasons, as the wife of an earl and then another earl and then an earl herself, Lagertha would have had plenty of people to do her weaving and homemaking for her. As for Vikings questions, I want to hear theories on how exactly Ivar got that name, Boneless. The two most boring theories are that he was impotent and that it's a mistranslation from "Hated" (the latter of which seems really unlikely to me). I saw a documentary making an argument that he had dwarfism or osteogenesis imperfecta (the theory that the TV show went with), but are there any others, and any evidence in one direction or another?

[@blubbson]

Tales of women warriors (Amazons) appear among the ancient Greeks as well and they frequently displayed more or less modern day Taliban levels of misogyny. The fact that there were legends about it says basically nothing about how accepted or common it would actually have been in society.

[@mellow2879]

"And braggart named Ragnar was boastful no mooore, when he's ugly red head rolled around on the floor"

[@adarmus4768]

They did like to sing about spam.

[@sushanart]

😆❤️👍

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

"Can I have eggs and spam without the spam?" "Iirrghs!"

[@stevedavy2878]

No11 - they didnt have silly new age hair cuts, dreadlocks and designer beards like they came off a 2024 fashion catwalk either, pretentious nonsense. If i see the evidence, I will apologise

[@sammcgregor5455]

Except they were well known for exceptional personal grooming, so it's probably less far off the mark than you seem to think

[@peterflynn9123]

They did file their teeth ....

[@stevedavy2878]

@@peterflynn9123 Yep, not really a smart move

[@jdghok]

These modern viking shows with all that pc modern crap aren't worth watching, black lady jarls and their sheildmaidens nonsense and guys with undercuts and poser beards with tattooed heads etc, it just makes a mockery of history 🙄

[@MrSmithla]

@@sammcgregor5455Who was the Muslim scholar that visited them and chronicled their more ‘peaceful’ activities. Isn’t know he mentioned how big they were. I could have sworn he mentioned long hair because most folks in the Middle East kept the hair on their heads short for some sort of bugs/health reason. I could have sworn that he wrote that they absolutely stunk from some sort of ‘bear-grease’ concoction to keep the bugs away or something that they slathered all over themselves. I do recall him going on and on about being big, aggressive, naked…. His Muslim sensibilities were shocked by the nakedness and drinking. I recall that, specifically

[@battlejitney2197]

Love this episode. So tired of the trendy over-saturation of all things “Viking”.

[@thoso1973]

Ivar the Boneless was specifically called Ivar Ragnarsson according to a French source from the time, meaning that Ivar was fathered by a man named Ragnar.

[@norwaybaba3381]

There's a lot of The Sagas that have been proven to be true. At least in The Kings Sagas of Norway also known as Heimskringla!

[@1971mav]

Or he gave himself the name of a mythical person. Did you actually listen to what was said or did you hear what you wanted to hear?

[@thoso1973]

@@1971mav I didn't say that his father was Ragner Lothbrook, did I? I said he was fathered by a man named Ragnar, if the French source is trustworthy. This info came via Jeanette Varberg, archeologist and one of Europe's most prominent experts on the Vikings and author of several books on the subject. I've attended one of her lectures.

[@timesthree5757]

No I actually think Ragnar was real. But, as is usually the case his stories got so stretched that it is s hard to know what is and isn't true.

[@PaniPunia]

They for sure used mushrooms, or herbs, and they did things, but it was shamans, rituals, pain relief rather than unhinged rage. For this one socialising and some tricks would be enough, especially if you have a group of motivated young men (hormones are a bitch, I know that much).

[@jeannestein5448]

As a child, I thought it was called The Dark Ages because of all the (k)nights !🤣

[@jaythewolf]

I'm surprised that number 1 was the horned helmets... It's 2024, I thought we were past this. Ppl don't really still believe that.... Do they? 🤔

[@variationghost]

See comment below...

[@DinJaevel]

Sometimes I am astounded at the readiness of, in this case, the narrator, but both archaeologists and scientist to in one breath say they have no real clue how the norse people traversed vast waters and then saying that this and that has no evidence in history and then making a lengthy chain of possibilities as a proof. Siting a podcast as a source isn't really proving a well founded fact either, but alas who am I to question these people? The only thing I am quite certain of is that how society 1000 years ago worked is a very hard thing to establish. Especially of a different religion and culture, that has very few written contemporary records.

[@DinJaevel]

I am not questioning any of the mentioned myths in the show, but I just find it really funny, that things written of in the sagas, can be readily dismissed as we have no proof of it and there was never any equal occurrences in the christian chronicles. Cultures was vastly different over way shorter distances than today.

[@blubbson]

@@DinJaevel Old Norse was still mutually intelligible with Old English at the time of the Viking invasions of Britain, so I doubt the cultural differences were that vast.

[@DinJaevel]

@@blubbson no because there were no differences in womens standing in society, hygiene, norse faith vs christianity, conducting businesses, thralls, training for combat, I would say that on the contrary that the differences in many fields were vast.

[@jdghok]

You could fight on mushrooms, trust me lol

[@Mma-basement-215]

True im pretty sure they weren't hipsters your definitely right.. they might as well have them drink latte from Starbucks LoL

[@TraitofSiNN727]

good to know about my ancestors...

[@ellen4956]

There were earlier cultures that did wear horned helmets, even as far back as the so-called sea peoples at the end of the Bronze Age. So it wasn't only later in German opera. It's also possible that since they'd been raiding places they would have picked up some horned helmets from a battle they won. That doesn't mean they all wore them of course but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of some of them wearing them. They all made their own or got them in battle so there were likely a variety of types.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

If I remember correctly, those horned helmets from the bronze age were most likely worn by priest in rituals, not on the battlefield. And due to the the huge gap of time between the dating of those helmets and the Viking's appearance I find it highly unlikely for them to pick them up on a battle field.

[@Schmorgus]

Have to point out, that sources written by contemporary christians/arabs, should be classed as questionable, since they twisted a lot of things to fit their hate against other religions.

[@qp9vp]

The tv show vikings and to a lesser extent the last kingdom have done both good and bad things for viking history. A lot of people are interested in vikings now. But too many seems to believe that the shows are based on facts and that things happened as they are in the show. As for the warrior women. In atleast one of those graves that have been found there are have been clear signs on the skeleton of a warrior. If I recall correctly it was both the cause of death but also of physical strains. And it was a quite big woman too. For the time. Anyway, with modern feminism integrated in all research fields and especially in the media. Well one finding easily translates to a generalization that female warriors were common.

[@blubbson]

You won't find any serious researcher in the field (feminist or non-feminist) who'd argue that female warriors were anything other than very rare at best. It's 100% a media creation. Sure, there were probably exceptions - there are many recorded historical instances of individual women fighting as soldiers in wars, after all - but the key word here is exception.

[@Siegbert85]

Never heard the alleged myth of a "Viking empire". Are you making stuff up now?

[@jmanj3917]

24:33 Yeah, well... Good luck with That!..Lolol That is wholly counter to the current Narrative, so let's see how long it takes until you're canceled or whatever...smh

[@lukasjohns1287]

basically the biggest myth is that they where called Vikings. a Viking is the word for a Raid not the people itself. so let´s start there maybee.

[@valkeryie5650]

Pure opinion

[@tateranus4365]

on myth 9, women have fought in nearly every war in human history, often they would cross dress and claim to be male, for every one we know was doing that there are probably dozens we don't (and probably never will) know about.

[@blubbson]

This is true, but the key point here is that as far as we know, they basically always had to hide their sex (as you yourself point out), which goes to show that their presence would not have been acceptable to the men around them. An openly female Viking warrior like Lagartha is basically pure fantasy, because she would never have been accepted in that society. That doesn't mean women never picked up weapons if the circumstances demanded it, and there are in fact instances in the Sagas where women do just that, often in order to mock cowardly men, basically a "look, if a woman like me can pick up a sword and fight, what does that make you?" kind of deal. Freydis in the Saga of Erik the Red is a good example.

[@jmanj3917]

12:25 ...you would be lucky to pick up an axe, and Not question the universe... Lmfao... Didn't you just say that you Weren't an expert on hallucinogenic drugs..? 🤣

[@mikalasimpson7789]

So am i a viking or Turkish. I'm pale skinned, grey eyes with red hair. Boris Johnson putts me off.

[@pheart2381]

I wouldn't describe BJ as red haired.

[@danieltait6180]

Also it is known that vikingr never sold their slaves

[@leonidfro8302]

Horned helmets again, really? "Viking Empire" is a form of speech, nobody means that there's was an empire of vikings. Also, who told this guy that #9 is a thing? It's a myth together with dragons and mages.

[@Sergiodeus172]

22:38 l am in no case an expert or a "Vinkingologist" yeah l know thats not real word, but correct me if lm wrong, all that thing about making cloths and sails they could also been bought or stolen abroad in any of the previous mentioned raids and "business trips" just saying... Plus if lm a Viking a would not like to use sails made by women xD

[@Sgt.chickens]

Vikings had no reason not to use a woman made sail lmao

[@Sergiodeus172]

really? what about not getting stray in the muddle of the ocean? xD

[@luminoustarisma]

I think we can be fairly certain that the women helped clothing, a man would likely do only a few raids over his lifetime, not nearly good enough to clothe his family and friends for the amount of years in between. And as the video mentions, in female graves tools for clothing and sewing are common. And the art of making clothing stems from earlier than the Viking age. And also the norms in the sagas are also seen making threads and the staff of a völva (Viking equivalent of witch or seer), also had a staff which likely originated as a cloth making tool, as seen by some of their designs. And though some women may have gone with the raids, in particular raids targeted to conquests and settlement, another thing often found in female Vikings graves are keys. While I have not found sources for it, there are suggestions these keys could be symbols for the keys to the house and women in general were in charge of the housework. And she would not be alone. I’d expect all the children would be expected to work. You could also have trails (slaves) doing some of the work. And I’d highly doubt if there were enough women they would help each other out. Women worked, unless you were a noble in a much later century, or when housewives have a thing. But during the Viking age, I’d be surprised if you didn’t do your share of the work. Keep in mind, it gets cold here so you’d likely farm and prepare food during the summer months and then spend the darker winter months making clothes and things you needed when spring came

[@Sergiodeus172]

@@luminoustarisma tldr

[@Siegbert85]

If there actually had been female Viking warriors you can be sure Christian sources would have mentioned them. That would have been another easy point to stress their otherness with.

[@jwspeakermre5968]

So the sons of Ragnar are real but the father isn't that's utter garbage and makes no sense.

[@MrWeedWacky]

We didn't wear horned helmets, we drank from horns! Magic mushrooms were far more likely used in ceremonies and mixed into mead during religious events. Women fighters may not have been commonplace as such, but they did exist, though they were more likely defending the home when large parts of the male population were away from home, and compared to the Christian countries armies, they were infinitely more common, because they would have had NO women fighting at all. This video speaks of the gender norms and traditions of medieval period, but that is in relation to the Christian gender norms and traditions, which you can't extrapolate to the Norse culture.

[@pekkaolavipiskunen4660]

Fucking Know takes some psychedelicks and go to fight ridicilious to Even though i think THEY take little bit that Time moonshine like to Day people got More "BALLS and NOT sense 😂?!!!

[@TorvusVae]

It's kind of hard to take your myth busting seriously when your second "myth" is something that is broadly accepted in the rest of scholarship about the Viking age and the history of the Great Heathen Army. Saying Ragnar was probably not real because some of the stories about him are fanciful is akin to saying Alexander wasn't real because some of the stories about him were probably made up.

[@yungjoemighty879]

Post sources

[@Sgt.chickens]

No. Ragnar is a bunch of loose stories that can't be verified, Alexander is one of the greatest most important figures in ancient history and we can be certain he exists.

[@mikahina3909]

We do t know if Ragnar is an amalgamation of various people either

[@qp9vp]

Yeah I've listened to quite a few nordic historians that say the same as in the video.

[@RenaissanceMan29]

I think if you are going to call the "Enlightenment", the Enlightenment, you better have a dark age.

[@johnstenhouse7960]

"Germanic culture"shows celtic helmet

[@metanoian965]

Naturally, every West egotist in the superior West wants their family tree to include Nordic, hence Viking lol, progenitors. Nice deceptive infantile feelies. So it is unthinkable for those who are only fed with West propaganda drivel to think that there were 'other' unacceptable "different" unrelated peoples who were also pirates and merchants. These raided Nordic - Viking - settlements Wendowie - West Slavic tribes East of the Elbe river. Vindar, Vender, Venaja, Vene Venea = Rus Slavia. Perhaps these "vikings" settled with their ilk in Kievan Rus ? Intuitive conclusion ? Rus = Ruch [r oo h] = moving quickly Wends - are now not Germanic apparently

[@MathiasSegerlund]

there are some graves of females that have gotten a warrior grave. So there were at least some female warriors

[@mustplay7212]

hm that doesnt equate warrior necessarily. could mean they were praised as high nobles of their days. Vikings were not egiliatarian people, we do know that, so the possibility of women warriors are not very high. Especially as common occurences.

[@jonnyueland7790]

As an Norwegian you have 2 thing that are not correct. Yes some vikings had horn on there helmets, we think this was the leaders. An Yes there was woman warriors, this has been proven now.

[@mustplay7212]

no it hasnt haha. its still in debates. its not been agreed by everyone.

[@blubbson]

I'm not sure why you think that being a Norwegian alive today makes you qualified to speak about what happened 1000 years ago, compared to actual historians who have actually studied the period. Not to mention the fact that Scandinavian historians are saying the same things as this guy.

[@pancho1993]

Could he be any more pretentious?

[@jamcgowan1095]

Thank you for acknowledging the burial of swords with female skeletons. You say that there is no evidence that the women used the swords-but I’d say that’s survival bias. To say we have *loads* of evidence from when people went viking is overstatement. And what we do have was preserved within a mainly patriarchal/patriarchally-framed European society. It’s also possible that these female skeletons belonged to hat we would call now trans men. Or some form of two-spirit, as in several First Nations societies. It could even be argued (perhaps scantily) that the bear sarks were a form of two-spirit, or perceived as having a bear spirit inside a human body. We simply don’t know. But it would not be in the interest of a predominantly cis, Christianised patriarchy to preserve myths of warrior women or women who “became men.” Look how they attacked Joan of Arc, many years after the Viking era. (And when she did take back women’s clothes, she suffered “violences”-which in French comes from violer, to violate-in other words, sexual violence,) Enough female-presenting deities, however, testify to the link of those presenting as female (Freya, Ishtar, Astoreth, Athena, E.g.) with war, and would make it unlikely they didn’t have *any* female-presenting adherents. There are many ironies of literature preserved in the Christian church. For example, the preservation of a lot of magical lore.

[@matthoward7645]

Why U even need to write cis mental sneaking the dumbest non needed thing

[@Sgt.chickens]

It's common for women to fight. Infact the early Norse Probably died at the hands of Celtic women warriors plenty of times. I doubt being trans is tied to it as female warriors were common in all ancient pre cultures.

[@blubbson]

As someone else pointed out in another comment, if women warriors had been even remotely common with the Vikings, this would certainly have been mentioned by Christian sources of the time to point out how exotic and weird they were in comparison with the Christian parts of Europe. It wouldn't have been hidden or repressed at the time, it would have been held up as evidence for how un-Christian or barbaric they were.

[@bertreynolds8146]

Bro gonna be cancelled by the feminists