WHICH of these symbols are REALLY VIKING???

Okay, I will be honest. One thing I hate the most is the amount of misinformation available online. Googling "Viking symbols" gives you literally anything but actual Viking Age symbols. In this video I will go through an overview image of symbols claiming to be "Viking" and explain which ones are and which ones aren't (Hint, there are only 2 historically accurate ones...)
If you enjoyed this video, feel free to click the like button and leave a comment down below! Subscribe to my channel for more Viking, queer history, pagan and transgender-related content!
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[@queerpagan]

How good is your "viking symbol" knowledge? Are there any symbols on this list that surprised you? Let me know!

[@Egg_thing]

Great video! I love this type of content cause finding good information on a lot of pagan/historical symbolism gets really hard when so many search results are clogged up with misinfo like this graphic. I'd also appreciate it if you included some sources or further reading on the topic maybe? Also on a different note you're really handsome and I like your fish earring

[@queerpagan]

Thank you! I made this video exactly because I saw how easily available the wrong information is and how hard it is to find something factually correct... If I recall correctly I show the book Viking Art by James Graham-Campbell in the video, which is a good overview of Viking Age art and symbolism. I have not looked into articles about the use of inaccurate symbols, but since I am planning further research on this topic I will come back to you if I find something useful! And thanks for the compliments! I really like my fish earrings too hehe ☺️

[@xThalos666]

Lovely video! Sadly there's a bunch of sad kids in the comments talking shit for no reason. Keep up the good work! :)

[@queerpagan]

Thank you! Honesty, most of the replies to this video are pretty positive, I'm surprised 😅

[@sarahallegra6239]

This was great and very informative! Thanks!!

[@queerpagan]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!!!

[@TheKrispyfort]

The Raven symbol reminds me of something I started drawing as a young teen while daydreaming in class 😅

[@queerpagan]

Woah, cool! Honestly looks like a fun thing to doodle

[@ReeseGegax]

Thanks for the interesting information. I did find you for the queer videos as you might remember, but this does interest me a bit. My grandmothers maiden name was Cochran and I’d like to learn about the Norse and Scottish heritage.

[@queerpagan]

How cool that you have some Norse and Scottish heritage! I have a decent amount of Celtic ancestry too, yet still drawn more to the north apparently 😅 Don't worry, I will definitely be making more queer content in the future, if there's anything in particular you want to see from me, let me know!

[@ReeseGegax]

@@queerpagan hahaha you do you bro. I enjoy it all.

[@pagancrew]

@@queerpagan On the note of more queer content, I'd be interested in queer readings of the Norse mythology. I haven't researched that at all myself, yet, so I wonder what sources already exist, if any.

[@queerpagan]

@@pagancrew oh yes that one is definitely on my list for potential future videos! There's definitely some scholarship regarding queer views of Norse Mythology and the Viking Age, which I am more than happy to go through. In the meantime, I can reccomend the Vikings Are Gay! podcast :) open.spotify.com/show/3BSe1rRuJrJcOCLBISxwco?si=8lVM7X1aTuKPDWV0WfiTew

[@pagancrew]

@@queerpagan Thank you so much!

[@pagancrew]

Quite a sideways question, but your footnote on berserkers mentions Odin as the supreme Norse deity; I remember reading or possibly hearing somewhere that the supreme (as in 'most commonly worshipped', not in terms of a pantheon hierarchy) deity would have been Thor until the time of christianisation introduced notions of a more Mediterranean order with a Zeus equivalent at the top, as it were. I'm afraid I really can't remember the source and never dug further myself. Have you come across any similar theories? I'd also be curious to see a video on the evolution of notions of that pantheon, if that's a topic that would be of interest to you. And thank you for yet another great video!

[@queerpagan]

Hi! you are correct that Thor seems to be the most commonly worshipped deity, as the god of the "commoners" in a way. In the segment about berserkers Odin is called the supreme deity because the berserkers and other people who took on animal forms are thought to have been Odin worshippers. Odin as a deity was more linked to the elite, as he was connected to wisdom, poetry, ritual drinking. Things that were not the biggest concerns for the common farmer per se. But you're absolutely right that views of the old norse pantheon have been influenced by the classic pantheon, even the word "pantheon" can not always be used to describe the worldview of Viking Age Scandinavians, since realistically deities were worshipped regionally and there was no one consinstent pantheon. The information we have today is heavily influenced by Christian writers with a knowledge of Hellenic and Roman gods, so interpreratio romana is used (comparing Norse gods to Roman gods) but that could indeed be a whole other video, thanks for the suggestion! And I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@pagancrew]

@@queerpagan Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this, it does make sense in the context of berserkers as an elite. And yes - that the easiest collective noun for me to use is 'pantheon' rather indicates my own understanding of a set of deities, which definitely should not be taken as universal. Food for thought, for sure.

[@MareaRayneOleander]

This is all great info to know if one plans on tapping into their ancestry that may be viking!

[@queerpagan]

Well, if someone is to look into their ancestry, DNA test sites like to brand Scandinavian DNA as "Viking", but it's more likely that your ancestors were farmers or fishers, not Vikings 😅 it's always good to stay alert for misinformation! Of course, if you do have some Scandinavian ancestry, it's good to know which symbols belong to that culture and which don't! ☺️

[@TheKrispyfort]

Sit you next to my son, Liam, and my dad at your common age and anyone would be forgiven for thinking "triplets".

[@queerpagan]

Oh really? How lovely! I rarely meet people who look similar to me, except my family from my dad's side. Everyone looks like a slightly different version of the same person😅

[@EzioHanitore]

Looking at my horns of odin tattoo i got when i was 19 in dismay right now 😭

[@queerpagan]

Ahh don't worry about it man, now you can tell people you know it's not actually historically accurate! Tattoos we get as teens are not always the most researched ones, that's totally fine 😅 it's still a cool symbol!

[@gregajohnson1985]

Massive applause to you, for not referring to "The Vikings" as a people, but as a time period. Viking is a verb. Viking is something they did, not who they were. Thank you many times for not making that modern fallacy. So many times, things are mistaken, without an honest look into the actual science of history. There is nothing wrong with art, and inspired anachronistic appreciation, as long as we know that, that is what they are. Skol!

[@queerpagan]

Exactly! I find it very important to separate "vikings" and "the Viking Age" because like you said, it's something they did, and not everyone during the time period did that! There's so much beautiful art from the time period, so it's disappointing to see how much that is associated with the Viking Age does not come from it at all.... that does not make it any less cool or valid, but let's not call it Viking if it isn't!

[@phillipmitchell2254]

I think I was your 666th subscriber 😌

[@queerpagan]

Yooo yes you are! Congratulations! (And thanks for subscribing of course❤️)

[@caythorgrimson]

the raven of that design was on oure banner before we got oure flag the dannebrog hey from denmark

[@queerpagan]

Yes that's true! There's also coins with that banner on it instead of just the raven! Really nice :)

[@caythorgrimson]

@@queerpagan this us before christianety the dane we are odin boys the swea frei

[@EmilReiko]

Was not really a banner, it was a hærmærke, shrouded in a fuckton of animist-totemist beliefs. It didnt embedded any national or ethnic identity…. Neither did dannebroge before the end of the medieval era, it was just the fieldmark of the king

[@jankarieben1071]

SKÅL cousin! 🏳️‍⚧️🍻❤️

[@ruxandstuff6622]

Why do we call it Vikings if it’s just an activity and not just translated to raiding or pillaging

[@queerpagan]

"Vikings" is not an activity, "viking" is. There are multiple definitions of what the word could mean, but it has already been used in the Viking Age to describe these people from Scandinavia. In academia, people are actually trying to step away from the term "viking " and use other descriptors like "Late Iron Age Scandinavians". But the word Viking has become so ingrained in popular culture that I don't think we can change how these people are called so easily.

[@Atzy]

Probably because the people who wrote about them first kept getting raided and pillaged

[@ruxandstuff6622]

@@Atzy I guess man

[@jishani1]

45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%! 45%!

[@queerpagan]

What?

[@Egg_thing]

@@queerpagan it's a transphobic dogwhistle, usually written as 40% but they can't even seem to get that right lol

[@cmin3783]

@@Egg_thing what does it refer to?

[@queerpagan]

I'm not sure I'm right on this one because I didn't know this either but after googling I believe it refers to... unaliving rates amongst trans people

[@cmin3783]

@@queerpagan oh ok, i was thinking detransition rates (which would we a blatant lie but not like they'd care)