The Farmen: Viking Merchants and Their Economy

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The Vikings have mostly been remembered for being fearsome pirates and warriors. However, their wanderlust and yearning for adventure often manifested itself in more peaceful forms. If you saw the approaching sails of a Viking ship, they were just as likely to be merchants, as they were pirates. The Saga of Egil Skallagrimsson spoke of a King, who sometimes travelled as a viking, sometimes as a trader. His name was "Björn Farman".
The title of "Farman" had as much weight and prestige as Viking. Whilst "Viking" was attributed to powerful pirates or warriors, so too was "Farmathr" only bestowed upon the most reputable of seafaring merchants. As we saw in the example of King Björn Farman, it was sometimes granted as a name.
Sources
Gunnlaug Ormtungas Saga
Gisle Surssons Saga
Bandamanna Saga
Farmän, bönder och gotländskt borgerskap - Dick Wase
Ship and Society - Gunilla Larsson
www.lansstyrelsen.se/gotland/...
Image Sources
Av Pymouss - Eget arbete, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
0:00 Introduction
1:43 The Viking Economy
4:15 Farmen Ships
7:38 The Farmen on Gotland
11:27 Downfall
13:17 Outro
#vikings #history #vikingage

[@SshadykK]

criminally underrated channel

[@MrGunnar69]

A video about the Gotland civil war would be interesting.

[@nikobellic570]

This channel is a hidden gem!

[@PresidentBarry]

Another great video from Baltic Empire!

[@CausticPuffin]

Using Morrowind music as background?!? Is this how honor the Sixth house and the tribe unmourned?

[@balticempire7244]

With Dagoth Ur's help I will save Morrowind from the Empire's cultural, economic and political influence, and push back against Redguard immigration.

[@insertyournamehere4328]

3:53 Ah, I suddenly remember that Herman Melville described how the whaler _Pequod_ -which was the protagonist Ismael’s boarding ship and main stage of the story- was shared by owners in such a manner in his novel, Moby-Dick. Hm, quite long-lasting tradition seems to be?

[@balticempire7244]

Yeah, it persisted throughout the middle ages and age of sail. The Romans and Greeks were given a lot of credit but most of modern western civilization is Germanic in origin

[@paulfelkner6749]

True, I would add Northern Italian "duchies" as a considerable contribution to modern Western civilization.

[@arthurratti9834]

Man your content is gold

[@SamtheIrishexan]

Thats a good question, did any other civilizations practice the share system. I know the Byzantines did, possibly learned from the vikings! I dont think the classical Greeks or Romans did because they had a strong class system. But it feels to me that unless they were planned economies, if there was any free trade really, it would be a natural system for people to become merchants if they were allowed to leave their immediate area at all. That would be the biggest limiting factor is distance and time involved would rule out most lower class, and the risks were very high.

[@rexkraft_]

really awesome content

[@user-qk4gk1sw9n]

что бы мы делали без викингов они двигатели прогресса какое желание всё познавать это удивительно

[@BlueBaron3339]

The soundtracck sounds like something from The Elder Scrolls video game series. Loved the video though!

[@larsfinlay7325]

the craziest thing about their seafaring to me is that some of the captains navigating were operating based on directions they heard from an experienced captain. oral reporting was the only way to express how to get from place to place since neither cartography nor literacy were particularly common at the time. jag har aldrig haft sex

[@cooolbigguy]

This is my third video of yours I watched and I just realized it's the same guy as the pirates channel

[@janetmackinnon3411]

Thank you---this channel is always interesting.

[@husbandsonfollowerleader9133]

I didn't know that Viking was a title separate from just the average Norse people. This changes how I think about the culture fundamentally. I would be interested in knowing more about that distinction, and what the common folk thought about them.

[@thePyiott]

What you describe is very similar to how people of rural Scandinavia is today, although probably less violent. A word used to describe a male ideal in rural Norway today is staut. It roughly translates to stout but describes inner qualities as well not just superficial. To be staut is to stand tall, to be proud but not boasting. Ready to face the hardships of work and nature. To me it seems like this ideal have existed in Norway for at least a thousand years.

[@julianshepherd2038]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 I call them thieving gits

[@henkstersmacro-world]

👍👍👍

[@andrejmucic5003]

Informative...so far. Thanks

[@SimioSupremo]

Thank you for using morrowind music 😊

[@kinasek]

Thank you very much for this interesting video. However, there is not enough focus on the emergence of the Hanseatic League. Was it developed by Germen or by Farmen/Norsemen who (economically) colonized northern Germany? Also, the role of slavery in the Viking economy as well as the later impact of Christianization on the economic organization of their society could be further explained.

[@1rober2]

Interesting channel, thank you. However it is very difficult for a hearing disabled person to understand this heavy icelandic accent and sometimes I got lost. Unfortunately. Still you deserve a thumbs 👍

[@tarjei99]

Madr meant person, not man. It didn't mean man until after 1500.

[@themuffinman001]

iceland has narwhal and walrus ivory...they made heaps!

[@andrewlerdard-dickson5201]

Vidhfadhimir....Wide Fathomer !

[@BigpapamoneymanMVPtypebeat]

Wouldn’t kill to just say Canada/Newfoundland along w Vinland, instead of North America if your gonna name other specific countrys and region names 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@j.e.3276]

"Kogge" in english sounds very wrong 😂

[@truba4087]

It's so much incorrect call people of Rus - russians. russia appear after half thousand years

[@wiwysova]

Tbh lost all interest when mentioned they were mostly christians