Hurstwic: Religion in the Viking Age

[@rterral]

For those of us who can't afford to go back to school to study history, things like this are so valuable. I've done several Viking lectures through The Learning Company and this is a fresh look with some different perspectives. Thank you so much!

[@faramund9865]

Fuck "school", this stuff is much better

[@chowiedoit]

How do you get stuff through the learning company?

[@michaellowe1039]

@@chowiedoit I don't know about the learning company, maybe he meant www.thegreatcourses.com/ This place has viking and other courses by distinguished lecturers on various subjects.

[@mdencler]

You never had to go to school to study these things in the first place. That's a terrible limitation to impose on yourself. Oh yeah, you're not a victim either, grow up.

[@valdrsvensson4921]

I love the history of my ancestors, but I have always hated lectures. All of yours have my attention at all times. Very well done, and thank you.

[@janepalermo6670]

Beautifully rendered. Intelligent - with not a hint of sensationalism. Refreshing as a Nordic lake.

[@YuckTradingCo]

Man this is an absolutely fantastic lecture. I've seen other videos involving Hurstwic and need to know more about the organization. Really great what they're doing

[@thorleifr]

Andy, to learn more, please visit our website: www.hurstwic.com or connect with us on Facebook: facebook.com/hurstwic/

[@mountain-roots]

​@@thorleifr these videos and lectures helped me out tremendously in my research. Take a look if you have time.

[@Mairiain]

For those looking for the discussion on religion as indicated by the title: He starts talking about it around the 20:00 minute mark.

[@ChubbyCheeseMonkey]

looks like the Allfather himself

[@brujo_millonario]

Let's hope he doesn't lose an eye though! (Anyway some say Odin recovered his missing eye).

[@derekstynes9631]

The All Fadir was Taller!

[@ianwehmeyer1296]

The all father also had abs

[@Nothing2CHere4U]

@Norseman More like an Avatar of, then actual. But I see the endearment you hold, by making such a devoted comparison. Wisdom has many faces, but you see it's glorious countenance before you. skål !!

[@Nothing2CHere4U]

@@derekstynes9631 As the Aesir aged, they would turn to Iðunn, for her life restoring apples. Othin would very much be hunched and diminished at times. Wisdom is a great burden.

[@BLzBob.7268]

I truly appreciate the honesty. It is so refreshing to hear a learned man say . . . "We just don't know", and leaving us to make our own conclusions.

[@osborne9255]

This is excellent. I'm going to watch the whole lot now.

[@howser1961]

Thank you sir, for this eloquent and interesting summary of the religion of my ancestors. Point of interest, the Goðafoss waterfall has great significance in the crossover from the old ways to Christianity as the lawspeaker/chieftain you mentioned, named Thorgeir Ljósvetningagoði (the one who threw his gods into the waterfall), was instrumental in the non-violent transition between the two ways, in the summer of 999. We look back to his wise judgment and resolve still to this day. (But I am sure you are aware if this already :-) I look forward to viewing more of your videos and I will share them with my friends and family. P.S. I am the great grandson of Thorsteinn, son of Ingólfur, son of Arnar - 29 times removed. It was he who founded the first assembly (Þing) in the early settlement of Iceland.

[@derekstynes9631]

I come from the Viking City of Dublin and like most Irish Men I can tell a Good Story! And I can Give the Highest Praise to a Truly exceptional and Knowledgeable Man !

[@MrResearcher122]

Eight minutes in, and I realise this is a powerful lecture. Thanks, for smashing myths, replacing stereotypes, and Christian propaganda with a more convincing story.

[@robbiehoen]

I don't agree. It confirms christian stories; it just provides a different perspective. The final thing he says is a great example: A christian would describe a man who begat masterful poetry, and the power to recognize an enemy. but he got this from "demons", and as payment these demons took his most precious thing from him: his son. This is exactly what christians still, to this day, view as the characteristics of demons. That's what they still acuse artists off: the greatest of which do in fact turn to drugs and sink into depression and die, mostly by their own hand. I see this a lot aswell in modern heathens who describe themselves as having a very intimate connection with the gods. One of the best known of those people in my country felt Odin connect with her when she askedsomething from him. She collapsed and instantly descended into deep depressions that she still suffers from, and her body completely shut down almost that same day, and she is still bound to a wheeledchair. She describes Odin as talking to her so much that it often drives her insane. Again: tShe asked something from this god/demon, and he made her pay an enormous price. this is described by both christians and heathens, so they are not "propaganda" or lies, they are just something that a christian says (and a lot of heathens aswell) is simply not nessesary. You can achieve it by yourself through hard work and dedications and making sacrifices that YOU CHOOSE YOURSELF. It is this reasons that christians concider the old gods "demons" because these demons are completely self-serving, greedy, and don't care about the wellbeing of anther, which is the root of evil. So again: not christian propaganda because they are being described by both christians and heathens.

[@torstenscott7571]

You're 100% right about Christian propaganda. They had to destroy even the accurate memory of the Native European worldview in order to promote their nonsensical Abrahamic death cult.

[@RD-dy7pp]

@@robbiehoen Sounds very Christian to me!

[@robbiehoen]

@@RD-dy7pp What sounds christian?

[@rivercrystal2511]

@@robbiehoen your POV on odinism. He is calling you christian and i honestly would not argue.

[@NoctLightCloud]

I wished we would've covered Vikings in school here in Austria. Thank you very much!

[@Navlelo33]

I just discovered this video/lecture and i'd like to express my thanks for sharing your insight in these interesting topics myself. Just as the icelandic, I myself am interested in my heritage and how people lived and thought thousand years ago. Thanks!

[@Krucek6666]

Kudos for bringing up the Egil's saga my favourite one. Plus I live in Borgarnes for almost 2 years now so I'm lucky enough to visit Skallagrimur mound almost everyday. Plus Egil's settlement Borg is nearby. But I just wanted to say thank You for this lecture and a huge piece about Iceland and poetry.

[@halvardscarvan4932]

Aye hate that Aye got here so late, Aye must say that this is so fucking fascinating

[@saoirserosenstock8144]

This guy is really interesting

[@Charizard006]

My ancestral history was lost through the christianization of those before me. I finally decided I was gonna find out where I came from and let me tell you, I may be in america but it feels good to be home :)

[@chrishelstrom812]

i believe in Norse beliefs my grandpa and father used to tell me about this stuff as a child... they did their best to keep knowledge of our ancestry but alot was lost other then what they knew thank you for uploading these videos and "ta hand om bröderna av oden."

[@Whatever65759]

Such a pity we know hardly anything about Viking Religion. I am a Hindu from far-away India who is both fascinated and revolted by Viking temerity and cruelty, and can't help finding similarities between our cultures: Polytheism, cremation, epics and Mythology; all these of course co-incidental as our cultures never met... or did they? Viking legacy lives on : human/women rights, 12-member jury, modern Democracy. Isn't Queen Elizabeth a direct descendent of Vikings through William of Normandy? When the British left India in 1947, they left us a Viking inspired legacy of Government, democracy, judicial independence and fair play which endures to this day. We Indians have no issues adopting Democracy which is in line with our Hindu beliefs of open-mindedness and acceptance of the highest ideals of other cultures. Unlike Vikings however, we reverted back to our religion, rituals, and customs after almost 1000 years of Muslim and British rule, as we Hindus are more comfortable sharing a strong and personal relationship with our Goddesses & Gods, than with a perpetually-angry monotheist male God. But that's another story...

[@mistersharpe4375]

According to the study of linguistics, the languages of old-norse and sanskrit can be considered cousins, both descended from vastly older language we call Proto-Indo-European. This tells us that these similarities you can see between Hinduism and Norse Paganism (as well as Latin and Greek mythology amongst others) are not coincidental at all, but indicative of shared origin. Of course this doesn't preclude these religions taking on aspects from non-Indo-European cultures, hence why Odin is believed to be a god brought over from central eurasia into Germania, bringing with him shamanistic and animistic practices, making the germanic-norse religion rather unique in that regards.

[@davidcrocker9544]

, yes yes.That is an other store.A together! North( Die going forward) not peace too all.

[@Nothing2CHere4U]

Odin/Villi/Vi - Brhama/Vishnu/Shiva. (All Male) But before you cast aspersions at the "perpetually-angry monotheist male God.", let us not forget that "traditional" Kali worship is awash in blood and child sacrifice.

[@Nothing2CHere4U]

@@oldone1234 "you people"? Hey, I'm not the one putting powders on my head, clowns indeed.

[@Nothing2CHere4U]

@@oldone1234 all religions are red herrings for why certain people choose to persecute other people. Evil is as Evil does.

[@vikingwolf4328]

I love this, please make more educational videos like this.

[@JuhaAaltonen]

More of these lectures on youtube.

[@lucioinnocenzo2328]

Juha Aaltonen why all pagans focus on Vikings instead of Romans and Greeks?

[@colec.6477]

Lucio Innocenzo Viking were kickass

[@faustianluminary4456]

@@lucioinnocenzo2328 There are numerous varieties of Pagans, "Germanic," "Celtic," "Hellenic," "Slavic," even "Egyptian," among others. Most people focus on what is ethnically significant, and familiar for them, i.e. the religions/cultures of their ancestors. Find what interests you, I'm sure there are similarly like-minded individuals out there.

[@joannajett2524]

@@lucioinnocenzo2328 Don't worry, many pagans do worship the Greek and Roman deities.

[@chuckray6930]

Meh... he started off by saying nobody knows for sure...

[@AlexaMadeiras]

Beautifull and interestin Video !!! Thabk you for your special time to share this video !!! The Gods protect you all !!

[@freyjahelm4892]

I'm spending today cleaning and listening to your lectures. I stumbled on to you, I do not know who you are but it would be wonderful for you to lecture at Decorah' s Nordic fest, or driftless college in southern Wisconsin.

[@vishwa5254]

I came here after watching Vikings series what really made me curious about Viking religion is that its similarities with hindu religion. In Hindu religion sacrifices of goats bafellow chickens( that too violently like ripping apart goat from bare mouth and drinking its blood) are still today practiced in little villages in India. this practice varies from village to village to different gods. we too worship many gods. (human sacrifices (child pregnant lady) also takes place in ancient India)

[@chinmoyghosh5427]

Vedic dharma has nothing in common with norse religion....what r u talking about is paganism practised by tribes in India.....hindu society became corrupted over the ages hence reformers like raja ram mohan roy and guru nanak sprung up to save dharma.....and last of all dharma is what united India and still repeated attempts at conversion we still remain at large unlike the norse faith ......

[@vishwa5254]

@@chinmoyghosh5427 sorry dude i never said vedic. it is actually dravidian culture. some aryan invaded our country started vedic. vedic dharm is worst i hate it. i am comparing nords sacrifice with south indian local god's sacrifice.

[@BlazeLeeDragon]

17:45 I just now noticed watching this again that William looks similar to Snorri. :) I really like this video and glad it was brought back to my attention to watch again. Such a rich resource of knowledge. thank you for sharing.

[@faramund9865]

I feel home when I hear these stories... When talking about the serpent killed in the Rhine for example, I was literally born next to the Rhine... I'm happy :)

[@svetovanabozenstvi]

Amazing speaker

[@norsemannewswest8133]

Great lecture.

[@miguelb2421]

I really enjoyed this video and what you had to say found it both interesting and informative.

[@SunsetStarship]

Great video! Thanks for the upload.

[@fordgrl460]

Glad to have found this channel

[@sirbattlecat]

Thank you for a very nice presentation. For those who might be interested in the myths, I recommend you check out the old Danish cartoon, and comics, (I presume they're subtitled) Valhalla.

[@theadventuresofkingpersius5961]

This is awesome.. Very insightful

[@brujo_millonario]

There's a Norwegian historian lady I don't remember her name; she has videos here on youtube. She says the first viking raids were performed because new converted Christians didn't want to make business with heathens anymore. So trade was replaced with raiding. Then other raids followed which had nothing to do with that. She also says most Norsemen were NOT raiders.

[@fiddibelow]

Not just didn't do business they straight up decapitated Norwegians Swedes and Danes if they could

[@joannajett2524]

If you find this lady's name/channel, would you please tell us? That sounds like something I'd want to watch, and I'm probably not the only one.

[@thomascockill4006]

Nw this would make sense.very possible as people will not steal or fight if there is an alternative, survival is placed above wealth and material goods unless your a nutcase so to believe they were bands of traders suddenly turned savage raiders overnight for no reason like history tells us makes a lot less sense than what your Norwegian historian proposes. Much respect to her. Great post.

[@l337pwnage]

Well, if there were longer writings, you can be sure the christians destroyed all they could find. My guess is another problem is if you are going to have long writings, they would have to somehow be stored and protected from the harsh weather. Anyone who lives in a cold climate knows how much frost damages structures every year. It would be quite annoying and time consuming to maintain structures every year to attempt to house and maintain fragile writings.

[@priestessoftheancientflame4232]

Well done lecture!

[@Dyrlingur]

I like your video. Thanks from Iceland. Do wish to inform you though the reason for why my forefathers did not write more on runes has been explained. The reason is because they had to write it on objects that you show in your video. Like you explain. As soon as they got "inc and paper" they started writing. Something that was not possible with stones, bones, trees and so on, which they wrote runes on. Had nothing to do with nothing other than space. Cant write books on stones. Great video, like it a lot. I am so thankful to you.

[@joannajett2524]

Plus, imagine the hard work of carving that much writing, even if you had the space. Writing on paper doesn't require as much muscle.

[@shanekonarson]

BTW Hurstwik , very good lecture, tusen Takk ! Thank you very much for your efforts

[@Raventooth]

Great lecture. I want that hoodie!

[@basslvck]

Thank You very much for doing this ... Skoal !

[@sinsemiliasam14]

right before I found this lecture I was listening to another video on Vikings and norsemen and it was just painting them as bloodthirsty barbarians with no regard to human life, of course that's not true from things I've read so this is a really nice lecture with actual facts and information much respect thanks

[@doordasher1381]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaK3dGmHep58ndUsi=b5OwvfDAZB13BiyU

[@wilsonthewarrior]

I love these lectures :D

[@Jehovanisodivine]

This was an amazing lecture wowww thank you

[@gorillaguerillaDK]

I'm a bit disapointed that you didn't mention that when it comes to fallen warriors, then Freyja gets to choose half of them first and bring them to Fólkvangr, and Óðinn gets the rest.....

[@joannajett2524]

Yep, that's often forgotten, it seems. People always say the greatest honour would be to end up in Valhalla, but since Freyja gets first pick, wouldn't Folkvangr be an even greater honour?

[@martinan22]

Populations expand to the food limit. Raiders would have tended to be younger sons. Also, during the viking age these seakings evolved, viking chiefs without land with large retinues. Some became so powerful they went back to scandinavia and made themselves kings, upsetting the entire political system in scandinavia.

[@derinden15]

21:09 Ancient Greeks also believed that there were first Titans . Gods were created after them and they overthrew the titans. There was also a time of golden age when people lived in harmony and didn't have to work to feed themselves.

[@beersmurff]

No wonder. Most european religions stem from the same source. The Proto-Indo-european religion. So many similarities in all the religions. Christianaity, Judism, Roman mythology, Greek mythology, Nordic mythology etc. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_religion

[@thomascockill4006]

@@beersmurff do the research for yourself before you believe such fanciful bullshit claims with no evidence

[@christophermiller5467]

I think a lot of the saga descriptions of paganism have been backed up with archaeology, like the sacred arm ring in temples etc... Adam of Bremen's account is also being proven true through archaeology. Ibn Fadlan is also being taken as believable by scholarly consensus now.

[@artv.9989]

the lecturer looks like a viking

[@oddicocidic]

don't think so. I've heard that Vikings had short hair

[@cal9132]

Peter Henriksen lmao #NotallVikings

[@st.patrick3247]

Art It gives him credibility.

[@marquelethenstrom1103]

The One Known As Art How do you know? How many 9th-century Norse have you met?

[@colec.6477]

Peter Henriksen maybe but I'm pretty sure they had long hair, it was always cold and it probably gave off a animalistic look intimidation tactics

[@RenanL.S.]

Your lectures are always so well organized and explanatory, I love the vikings since I were a kid. I have been studing more them recently for two projects of mine, ans RPG campaing and a story, and these videos have been being incredibly helpful and fascinating. Here is the playlist I have been doing: kzbin.info/aero/PLIyEt4zG9ElScp01uchJDkET0Bop5_kPg

[@YvonneEriksen]

The woman 37:37 is Aud the Deep-Minded (Auðr djúpúðga Ketilsdóttir), my 42. granmother - perhaps. She had three crosses erected at Krossholar. The father of Snurri Sturlason, Sturla Thordarson, was ninth generation living at Hvammur, Dölum, counting from Aud.

[@bigchief70]

great video

[@ericekblom5651]

The painting you see is called midvinterblot.

[@Americanm100]

Even though I am appreciative of this man and his efforts, I feel there were many details left out of these stories, because they were told so briefly. He hits the nail on the head numerous times, but there is some definitive misinterpretation that I can see of his story explanations. One of the parts that the Americans miss so much are the way that the stories are told, that is the key to their magic, is the way they are presented, not so much as smeared across a page to derive quick facts about life. The myths are life itself.... and they should be thoroughly enjoyed that way, not only examined.

[@CarlosSanchez-my7zg]

He went into a good amount of details about the specific way they wrote them so they could be remembered better by having built in checks.

[@jammydodger222Xxd]

I agree, the way he spoke about thor and Loki's journey to jotunheim for example seemed quite misleading. He failed to mention that thor did manage to lower the sea level which was an incredible feat, he did manage to almost defeat old age which should have been impossible, and he managed to lift a section of jormungandr which is an incredible feat. He also destroyed an entire mountain that had been disguised as the giant guide's head, the guide that later turned out to be treacherous king of the giants. Loki managed to consume a feast as fast as fire that he thought was a giant. And the servant (who's name I forget) was almost able to keep pace with a thought disguised as a giant child. To me that story goes to show more about the value and honour in rising to a challenge honestly versus the dishonor and cowardice of cheating which is what the giant did. I don't think the story was intended to make thor look stupid

[@ericbles]

Thank you

[@martinan22]

The poems were not memorized exactly, i dont think. They hade standard phrases, the narrative, rythm. A tale would use different words each time. The kennings are often used to follow the alliteration. SeaStead is alliterated, Boat is not.

[@774CISCO]

thank you that was great

[@lexagriffin3220]

Great vídeo

[@M_Bamboozled]

Iceland has a population of around 300,000 but has more authors and publishes more books per head of population than anywhere else in the world. I wonder if their love of stories and poetry has a Celtic influence. A great number of Icelanders were Irish, Scots and British, sometimes slaves given freedom and setting up new lives for themselves. Melkorka is a fine example in Laxdæla saga. I think this mix of Celtic and Nordic made Iceland unique. And both cultures believed in elves of some kind.

[@vladvalo]

Well done

[@fesimco4339]

I never understood the story of Loki causing earthquakes; I've lived in Sweden and for over 15 years. In all that time we experienced one small quake. I don't imagine they were any more frequent a thousand years ago.

[@painterpainting7056]

VERY INTERESTING

[@iminmymojo7903]

There’s a black dot on that whiteboard and I keep thinking that is something on my screen 😂

[@Snowwarrior]

great lecture

[@felixberglund2988]

Another challenge Thor got from the giants was to eat faster then a giant that represented fire it self

[@oddicocidic]

the story i heard was that Loke got that challenge

[@joannajett2524]

Right, I forgot about that one.

[@nacholibreri]

Wonderful lecture! Please clarify- are you using “heathen” and “pagan” interchangeably?

[@thorleifr]

Yes, please excuse me, but when I gave the presentation, I was not careful in my choice of words.

[@joannajett2524]

@@thorleifr Well to be fair, in French, we only have one word for both.

[@garytucker8696]

Midgard serpent looks like Zmei Slavic folklore dragon serpent.thank you for sharing.

[@geiregholmfossaberg7302]

Jól is celebrated in Faroe Islands 🇫🇴 Denmark and Norway 🇳🇴 today

[@ericekblom5651]

We use runes here on Åland Island. We call them bomärken.

[@teodorhansensandbakk5571]

Can you prove that they used the D/T sound in old times here in Norway and Iceland?

[@brooksworkman7632]

Thank You.

[@saintwabbajack]

Really interesting

[@tsfcancerman]

my thoughts on this is that its nature and forces of nature, that the gods only got male/female shape/form just to let the kids understand it easier. cause most celebration and offerings was done to nature and animals.

[@OmmerSyssel]

tsfcancerman No proof of that.. Worshipping was done in nature but hardly any rune stones picture anything than humans with horses, ships & weapons.. Stop mixing your holy Gaia romantic with the vikings

[@anandrahangdale5214]

Ancient Aryan Religions would also make a great video

[@kemonoyama2084]

If you understand what the Giants are and you understand what Yggdrasil is. You will understand why the Gods created the "first " man and Woman, LOL, out of Tree Trunks by the river...and what that really means...you will understand the whole rest of the story, the first war, all of it...but you first have to understand the story of the Gods. Great Video!

[@rorysullivan5694]

How about the gods as archetypes? Were our ancestors more intellectually and spiritual sophisticated than previously imagined and were jungian before Jung? I think literal interpretation of religion is a very Abrahamic mindset.

[@t.d.w.maverick5727]

Hey shout out to the Runes🔮💝😃

[@volmarrwyrd]

Hmm, the name of the place, Hofstadhir points to it being a place with a temple since the Viking word Hof means temple. Stadhir means place. So the name of the town means temple place!

[@garytucker5748]

Oxe blood mixed with clay to create a floor water proof and ceremonial foundation.

[@stevenkelly4974]

does this guy not produce content anymore?

[@thorleifr]

Sadly, Hurstwic's public programs (such as this lecture series) are on hiatus due to covid, so no new videos.

[@JesusChrist8451]

Oh hell yeah

[@simontjuh64]

So.... What do we call this religion?

[@TacDyne]

"They wrote in Post It note form"... Jesus Christ! Medieval Twitter!

[@kevinhansson2177]

no no no... don't say that name. Replace it with the phrase "by Odins beard" ;D XD

[@mr-x7689]

"medieval twitter" wrong. Viking age was from ca 750 to ca 1066. Medieval era ca 1050 to ca 1500 depending on where in Europe you deside to put the starting point and ending point.

[@steelstanding8005]

It was the Irish slaves that was doing their wrighting, they where skilled in the art from the monestarys. Used spesificly for saga writing. If you look at the dna of Iceland today, its a mix of old celt and norse

[@OmmerSyssel]

Steel Standing Well DNA tell ca 70-80% Scottish genes was female & likewise men from Scandinavia. I'm not sure kidnapped women were chosen being writers according to the natural status of women those days..

[@TheJarlDen]

This is all good speculation for some of the things we dont know, while being supported by sound facts that we currently do have.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

"with his honour intact and enhanced." XD #StealingIsForSissys. #WarriorsDoEverythingToTheFace. i love it...

[@johnbeardshall2898]

ancient northmen and German have the same religion with the saxons raiding hundreds of years before the vikings

[@stuart940]

he looks like snorri sturluson

[@BlackHermit]

"an ancient checksum to detect errors" haha ;)

[@HappyQuailsLC]

It sounds like the Gods were representative of human aspirations, afterall wouldn't every human of their time prefer to be a God? And these lessons show how humans will not attain that status, no matter how hard they try. Such as how they will never be immortal, as in how "old age brings every mortal to their knees".

[@mudge2191]

What is the name of the poem he mentions at the end?

[@thorleifr]

Sonatorrek. It is in chapter 78 of Egils saga. I am sorry that I did not put the name on the screen - usually I do that when editing these lectures.

[@mudge2191]

@@thorleifr Thank you! Thank you for your lectures. I think I've watched everything on your channel. - best of luck, from Ontario

[@vickyrowe393]

What is he banging on about u can travel from asygarth to Midgard from Yorkshire

[@nordmanruss]

Very interesting but not knowing that rus were the slavish people from nower days russia(wich a surprise)is funny🤣In one of the oldest text called povesti vremenich let stands much about that,allso the vikings knew the gardarica(now russia)and their kings very well. The Swea (Sweeds)were group of scandinavik people like the Vareger or Varjagi in russian language.

[@DowntownSound1]

21:44 He says " ALL THE GIANTS TODAY "......

[@valdrskeggjoar5972]

Heill og Sæll! I just wish to say þǫkk for making this subject more clear for me!

[@zahoin8186]

Cool cool cool

[@freeinformation9869]

6:00 Thanks for sharing, but ... he is skipping the Viking activities in a rather careless way. For about 300 years much af France and The British Isles were ruthlessly terrorized by huge Viking raids of Northmen. It was almost an anual summertime event and huge numbers of people were brutally killed, maimed, raped, expelled, robbed, extorted and enslaved even. Yes, this was only part of what the Norse were about, but it cannot be dismissed. It was brutal and it was continuous and unrelenting. And no, not every man had to farm. A huge amount of slaves were put to work on farms and larger constructions, so the Jarls and Karls had time to Viking. Slavery was a very essential part of the Norse society. Yes other contemporary people and cultures in Europe were equally ruthless in their own way and yes, there are many other more humane and sympathetic aspects of the Norse culture worth considering, but the two issues of Viking raids and Thralls cannot be dismissed, they were very prominent.

[@freeinformation9869]

Well, as this is about Vikings, and I know quite a bit about Vikings, it is pretty obvious that I wrote about Vikings. And you misunderstood my errant. I wasn't ranting, I was correcting wrong or missing information. If you want ranting, there are a billion other places where you can find that. About Christians, about Communists, about Conservatives, about Gay people, About Catholics, about Muslims, about Hindoos, about meat-eaters, about everything you could ever think of. And more.

[@christianlance9506]

Free Information also though around this time frame many of the world was well barbaric so In retrospect it wasn't uncommon just a horrible part of living thank goodness it's not exactly like that lol

[@100ironclaw]

I have a question. Does Hurstwic have any stance or position about non-Scandinavian asatru practitioners? (Btw, I am African-American)

[@thorleifr]

Simple answer: no. If you have a curiosity about the these ancient beliefs, we don't care if you're Scandinavian or Martian. We hope that these video presentations will allow you to learn more and help stoke that curiosity.

[@100ironclaw]

thorleifr That's is an answer I can do well with. I am looking over your website and it's fascinating. I have another quickie if you don't mind, but this is tailored for heathens who hold a particular perspective on the Gods. If you believe that the Gods "exist", however that word would apply to Them, independent of my revering Them then I am wondering is it possible to have a profound religious experience about the Gods?

[@thorleifr]

One has the sense that in the Viking age (and probably before), knowledge of the gods and goddesses and their stories was widespread, and there was at least some degree of uniformity in the stories across the northern lands. Yet how one interacted with the gods (and the other supernatural creatures) was very much a personal choice that varied from time to time, from land to land, and from person to person. That seems like good advice today, as well. Make the experience be what you will.

[@luxonlex4453]

Haroun Said, Hmmm,... I feel that you do not need the approval of another to validate what rings as truth in your heart, yet I cannot speak for Hurstwic. While you are African American in this life, you may have been Nordic in a previous life. Just as in the times of antiquity, religions, culture and customs have been exchanged the world over for thousands of years. You will not be the first auslander to practice Åsatru who does not have a current gynecological connection to the northern lands,... I'm sure you will not be the last.

[@logat1847]

You can worship them but you really won’t connect with them. Worship your ancestral Gods, look up Orishas very neat stuff

[@joeturner1597]

This is truly fascinating. I am intrigued by the similarities with Greek, Canaanite and Sumerian belief systems. The trees from which people were made for instance. These are the trees of life and knowledge, depicted in images of Asherah who is Freja/Aphrodite or Venus. It all must come from an original source.

[@scottmckenzie4635]

Runic and the Ogham alphabet are believed by many, to be inspired by the branches of trees.

[@garytucker5748]

Stunning the animals brain,alows the heart to continue to pump the blood from the animal,they didnt want the blood in the flesh,kosha killing.

[@warwatch]

Imagine that freezing rain when on the ship at sea no cover from rain

[@OmmerSyssel]

Chris Watson Exactly.. As well as following sea, wind through fog & snow navigating on instinct & uncertain signs. No heat & effective shield being wet to the skin roving /sailing day after day

[@shanekonarson]

I might be wrong but i have read that it was warmer during the Viking age ! Still they would have been in the elements for most of their days ! They would have been super Hardy Folk ! Lives would have been short lived and many children were bore ! Better days in one way and unfair in many other ways ! I think we go back to living this way when all the resources run out namely OIL !