World Building Tundras, Vikings, & The North

I'm Frosty, the legendary Syrupmonger
Join the World Building Minecraft Server!
discord.gg/7qdJSgPz3h
Minecraft Server IP- Stoneworks.mcserv.fun
Join the World Building Discord!
discord.gg/f4dEzqv
Join the Legends on Patreon!
www.patreon.com/stoneworks
0:00 - 0:47 Frosty Snowman
0:48 - 2:01 What's a Tundra?
2:02 - 4:33 Tundra Environment
4:34 - 8:00 Climate Science
8:00 - 9:13 Where to put Tundra on your Maps
9:14 - 10:47 Alpine Tundras
10:48 - 11:57 Polar Deserts / Glacial Tundras
11:58 - 17:07 Inuits, Nenets, Scandinavians
17:07 - 18:09 Aurora Borealis
18:10 - 19:59 The Midnight Sun
Similar channels to check out- James Tullos, Hello Future Me, World Building Notes, Artifexian, How to be a Great Game Master, Runesmith, Tale Foundry, Dream, Technoblade, FitMC, HermitCraft, ViggomanPlays
Descriptive tags- Worldbuilding, world building, writing, history, DM, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, culture, society, city, characters, empires, states, countries, borders, map, geography, how to, names, Rome, China, language, novel, writer, GM, art, migrate, character, land, help, creative, stoneworks, plot, story, structure, religion, archaeology, artifact, item, magic, quest, tv, movie, world anvil, campaign, geography, mapmaking, how to, world building, write, novel, help,
This content is made for teens and adults

[@MikaelDryden]

Tundra not feeling interesting enough? My solution in two words: *MAMMOTH STEPPE*

[@YataTheFifteenth]

HOLY SHIT MAMMOTH STEPPE

[@eimhinlynch1517]

Mammoth steppe horde. Mammoth mongol empire

[@PhyreI3ird]

I found that was one of the only cool things in the default Pathfinder game setting. Amid all the generic fantasy tropes they had nomadic badasses in the frozen north who rode with mammoths and shiz. So fucking metal.

[@lmao.3661]

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@purplemosasaurus5987]

Yeah, mammoth steps are so much more interesting. In my fantasy setting, the world is going through an ice age so *EVERYTHING* is a *MAMMOTH* *STEPPE*

[@spencerleava2502]

Just some notes on a few minor mistakes. -the Inuit did not build teepees, they used a similar tent called a tupiq in the summer months. -for winter they used a more permanent shelter in the winter called a qammaq. This may or not be made in a depression/hole, used a stone base, and would use bones for the frame, and a combination of sod, skins, and moss for the walls and roof, and use snow for additional insulation. -the Inuit are not actually native to North America, they are descended from Siberian colonists who wiped out the native population who are now referred to as the Dorset. They arrived in North America in the early medieval age, and arrived in Canada around the same time as the Vikings.

[@Makkis]

Huh, im Canadian and didnt even know half that

[@luke.friesen]

Also, Inuit is plural (they don’t say Inuits) & you started by referring to them in present tense, but switched to past tense (see 12:53). I’m not Inuit, just a Canadian who had an Inuit college buddy, & I’m pretty sure they’re still expert navigators of their tundra (I certainly would feel safer if they’re navigating my expedition 🤓).

[@nicholasjonas2505]

Woah

[@keewin7520]

Boy we're some fast nerds

[@goomar5277]

Hell yeah we are

[@fish9388]

Yeah!

[@Rodrigo_Vega]

Need more biome-themed videos. Here's my suggestion. CAVES. They are in every adventure and are often grossly missunderstood by world-builders and they have so much cool stuff in them that isn't even used. Teach. Us. About. Caves.

[@Evan-ts9bz]

Yeah sex is cool but have you ever mapped the ocean currents to explain why Alaska has a tundra in the southwest?

[@Stoneworks]

Yes, at the cost of sex.

[@Evan-ts9bz]

@@Stoneworks we know.

[@PhyreI3ird]

Gets me _plenty_ of action if I'm honest, but sadly nowhere _near_ as much as you get from that Dungeonmaster profile pic

[@Evan-ts9bz]

@@PhyreI3ird it’s all the rage

[@Divinemakyr]

@@Evan-ts9bz This is easily the greatest conversation to have ever occurred within our species' brief history in this universe.

[@burrito6662]

Moss is plenty cool thank you very much

[@stryke5729]

Amiright

[@fdumbass]

Neighbouring city of mine is called Moss

[@dig8634]

@@fdumbass Norwegian I presume then

[@fdumbass]

@@dig8634 Yup, live in Fredrikstad in the southeast

[@Ghilannugs]

Mosses are really interesting and ANY moss slander is punishable by 10 lashes!

[@stewanmaleno]

How dare you, sir! Moss is glorious!

[@kuwi8679]

im a big fan of moss

[@storyspren]

Fun fact: the Finnish word for Aurora is "revontulet", which still carries that old mythological vibe because it literally translates to "fox's fires" Though the fox part is a really old word for a fox, "repo", that I don't think anyone still uses in regular speech.

[@elderscrollsswimmer4833]

Also, pohja can mean bottom or North. Midnight sun shows clear connection. Etelä, South, is derivation of stem ete meaning front. That is, setting the doorway of the teepee like tents called Kota south ward to keep warmth.

[@DaDunge]

You forgot about the Sami, they're a sister culture to the nenets and live pretty much the same way but they live in northern Fennoscandinavia instead of Russia.

[@oddmahttesara773]

I believe he mentioned them in the nomad video

[@haslamabad_]

0:19 you guys dont find moss interesting??? the different types are truly fascinating, especially with how diverse it can be, at my cottage, the moss on one of the islands on the lake is completely different than the moss on the mainland,

[@Arms2]

I agree, I'm a 3d environment artist, and moss environments are my favorite to make! XD

[@nicolobarbato6471]

He actually described a complex concept of ecology, difficult to explain even to university professors as a biom of a game. Dude, that's impressive

[@mgplayzxd3062]

Nice, slight correction the Nenets are Samoyeds not finno-ugric

[@Stoneworks]

Thanks, I'll cut out where I say they're finno-ugric. Idk how I slipped this one up

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Also, Native Alaskans prefer to be called that, as Inuits named the entire region after themselves and the Native Alaskans had no say in the matter over in Canada.

[@mgplayzxd3062]

@Nolan Enos Uralic is the term to include them all.

[@nathanaelsallhageriksson1719]

@Nolan Enos yeah, I was just gonna say that. Finno-urgic is just the larger catagory. Like, indo-european, to germanic, to west germanic, to english.

[@nathanaelsallhageriksson1719]

@Nolan Enos yeah. Either works as an example. I just picked the languege most people here are the most familiar with.

[@InquisitorThomas]

**Unsubscribes** **Duplicates Video a hundred times** **Slowly starts closing out of each tab**

[@lcmiracle]

WOW

[@Stoneworks]

i.stack.imgur.com/LDFiO.gif

[@user-ft3jq5vi2l]

Huh?

[@ChaosLierLen]

I don't get it.

[@YataTheFifteenth]

What if, see, that's what he wanted.

[@Lilas.Duveteux]

Tundras can be interesting to build fantasy civilisation. For exemple, you can deside that elves are unable to digest starch and most folklore give them magic powers that can help plant and animal life, making them a far less destructive species than humans, and they do have equal intelligence. Which means that they could form a refined, sedentary civilization up in the tundra if they can build special structures for fungiculture and their nature healing powers can be used to not deplete sources of lichen. Berries could be either cultivated or gathered around the sites. Raising some kind of land animal and water species would complete the diet.

[@kentario1610]

Huh! As a Latvian it's always really interesting to hear how other nations celebrate midsummer, and the Finns especially do it very similarly to us! Singing, dancing, finding love, bonfires to await the sunrise (because this far South the sun does set, the night is just much shorter), drinking, even Johannes sounds like Jānis/Jāņi. Fascinating!

[@daddyleon]

13:19 woaw, WOAW!! show it more than 1 second please! To my western eyes, this looks almost extraterrestrial yet also so undesrtandable. This is so awesome and fascinating!

[@benrex7775]

I somehow missed this when watching. Thanks. This is really interesting.

[@daddyleon]

@@benrex7775 I'd hope it help someone see something awesome :)

[@mimikal7548]

Yesss! I love the geomorphology of tundras and it was a shame I couldn't really find any videos on it. Note: pingos, patterned ground, and palsas are inherently tundra features caused by the annual melting and refreezing of permafrost, but kettle lakes are formed during glaciation. Therefore, if your world did not have any ice ages during the previous 50,000 years or so, then the kettle lakes will most likely not be present.

[@samuellaakso7012]

Did not expect so much Finland in this video. You made me so happy Stoneworks. Greetings from Finland.

[@CrimsonFox36]

Can we get a video of you dissecting the geographical/topographical nightmare that is Louisiana? The bridge that goes right through a lake The town that exists on a razor-thin spit of land The river that just keeps going despite numerous opportunities to end

[@prometheuszero9]

Another interesting thing about Iceland is that once upon a time, it wasn't quite as barren-looking. It was actually forested quite well in places, but over the centuries the Icelandic people basically removed every tree on the island for building materials or fuel. That sort of thing could be interesting to weave into the history of an analagous, fictional island society.

[@HAL-oj4jb]

Krummholz is a german word that means "crooked wood"

[@LoremIpsum905]

🙏

[@fdumbass]

Aye cool shit, loved the vid. Wouldn't really say Scandinavians are have a lot of tundra though, unless you mean the more northern parts where the Sami live. Edit: this is coming from a Norwegian dude btw

[@DaDunge]

Northern norway the Subarctic islands Iceland and the settlements on greenland all qualify.

[@fdumbass]

@@DaDunge Iceland and Greenland aren't Scandinavian though. By sub-arctic islands I'm guessing you mean Svalbard, which I don't know much about other than that it has a tiny population and was settled around 1400 or something by Russians. But yeah, that one might very well qualify.

[@DaDunge]

​@@fdumbass The subarctic islands are The Orkeneys, the shetlands and the Faroe islands. Svalbard and Jan Mayen are Artic not subarctic. And yes but we weren't talking about Scandinavia the geographical area we were talking about the Scandinavians, by which he clearly meant the Norse.

[@fdumbass]

@@DaDunge I assume that if he'd meant Norse he'd have used the name. Besides, we're discussing terrain, so using the Nose ethnicity as opposed to Scandinavian will just complicate things, it would mean having to include the settlers in Ukraine, England and France. This would obviously be ludicrous to include in a discussion on tundras. I'm open to the idea that he was mixing Scandinavian with Nordic though, since that's something few foreigners know the difference between.

[@DaDunge]

@@fdumbass He's an englishspeaker, they always use Scandinavian for Norse or Nordic. No we are talking about which peoples who settled Tundra terrain and yes the norse did. They also settled loads of other types of places but they did settle areas so far north that it is above the tree line. The island groups I mentioned all have very few trees if any. And it's obvious we're talking peoples because he said Scandinavians Nenets and Inuits and Nenets and Inuits are peoples not geographical areas.

[@suakeli]

Great video! 1 nitpick though: the midsummer fest is "Juhannus" with U, even though it's named after the guy called "Johannes".

[@pt9940]

I'm loving the sudden Ranger's Apprentice book cover.

[@republicradio431]

would be interesting if the best trade rute in the entire continent was the top of the mountains because of tunels and small plains in the top

[@cuccohaHA]

funny because in the world I'm making the mountain people use the mountains as their main city because it allows for good insulation as well as protection from the dangerous creatures living in the cliffs like the Dragon-Eagle (a giant eagle with around an 18 foot wingspan and sometimes eats people). They also use the little valleys and plateaus to protect their goats and reindeer.

[@benrex7775]

The night above the arctic circle is not dark and scary. It is brighter than the dark further south. One of the reasons might be because the sun is closer to the horizon all the time. But one reason which is definitely true is that all the ground is white and sparkly. And that makes everything brighter. I'm a Swiss guy who made an exchange semester in Finland from August to December. And when I came back home in December the days felt way brighter and the nights felt darker. Also the air and plants in around middle/south Finland felt exactly the same as the swiss alps in the altitude of around 1500 meters above sea level in Switzerland. And I can confirm that if you travel from Helsinki to the North Cape, it is pretty similar to a hike from 1500 MASL to 2500 MASL in the alps. It's just slower and you don't have a nice view. But it is interesting to be hiking around what feels above the tree line and behind the next hill you see the sea where you expect some trees :) And on the week of midsummer even cities like Helsinki are empty in Finland. I haven't personally experienced it, but almost everyone goes to their huts in the north. One thing that is also interesting to know is that in the north part of Norway _(and perhaps the entire Scandinavia)_ people put candles and other lights into their windows during winter. I think it is to show warmth and human presence in the long and cold winter nights. Fun fact: Do you know how you know if you are on Finnish ground or on Norwegian ground when you encounter a hut in nature? When the hut is at a lake then it is Finland, because of the sauna and when the hut is on top of a hill then it is Norway because of the view.

[@daddyleon]

So many [old] Runescape images, idk it makes me feel some nostalgia from when I still liked the game so much.

[@jaywaii3187]

Ah, excellent timing. I've been planning on developing the tundra area for my fantasy world.

[@schnoz2372]

This is a really well made video. This had to take a lot of work and its appreciated. I got to learn some new things about tundras and your friend's balls

[@someguycamping9972]

My only gripe is the music gets too loud at some points.

[@introspectiver1787]

The fact that the peoples found ways to live in these environments is amazing!

[@nathanaelsallhageriksson1719]

I live in sweden, and when ever I travell north, the mosquitos get insane. I have a relative who lives in the country side, they have even more. Once, I got there with 3 mosquito bites, stayed for 2h, and left with 26.

[@jubmelahtes]

We have a joke here in northern Norway "Here the mosquitos are so big that they have to stand on their knees to suck you"

[@thewingedserpent5823]

Mountaines regions and features are called alpine because english is a germanic language with a lot of romance language influence. The latin word for the alps is alpes. It would be weirder if english used a japanese derived word

[@vigilantsycamore8750]

The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness books (set in stone age Scandinavia, 6000 years ago) actually have several different interpretations of the Northern Lights The one that comes up most often, because it's the one believed by the Forest clans and the main characters are from the Forest clans, is that the lights are the First Tree, which is involved in both the creation myth and the afterlife The clans of the Far North don't exactly see a lot of trees, so instead they believe the lights are the fires their ancestors light to keep warm And the Otter Clan lives on a lake, so they see it as a cosmic reed bed that shelters the spirits of the ancestors All different interpretations that depend on the environment that the people who believe it live in (and the way that cultures are shaped by their environment and how this leads to differences is actually a big theme of the books), although each belief has some connection to the afterlife

[@0theblackdragon]

Need more biome videos, these are by far my fav, keep going man, love your work

[@rangerstedfast]

Whoa "Ranger's Apprentice" shows up here! And my favorite book in the series, no less

[@tsaageotrimm]

Fascinating video. I like how detailed it is.

[@lingoteen]

Jack. You are my hero cuz I am now making the tundra civilization in my world building project. Now I know what to do

[@dylanthechillinvillain2488]

Ooooh nice Stoney, good vid, would watch again.

[@__-jt4tv]

Here in Birmingham we've got Warstone Lane. Originally Hoarstone (as in Hoar frost), the big old rock got dropped off during the Glacier's retreat and was subsequently utilised as a boundary marker between Warwickshire and Staffordshire. It now sits on a plinth in the Jewellery Quarter Cemetry .. Just a fun little bit of Tundra-adjacent IRL worldbuilding!

[@ScarfaceHR]

Mate, your channel deserves much more love I'm gonna rework the shit out of my RPG world following your advice

[@manduul.bakhdal]

Europe likes to think it’s the entire world, says an American

[@ChaosLierLen]

Europe ignores. America subsumes.

[@tsaageotrimm]

Rich coming from an American, true.

[@mollof7893]

Ironic lmao

[@ac4941]

Good stuff as always. Would love to see a similar video on bogs/fens and related cultures

[@Stoneworks]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHmsmaCQpsyKopo

[@Josh-ye9ol]

Minotaur, the master race.

[@charlesv5h975]

Fascinating

[@superlauth]

Currently living in Greenland, and this was so informative

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Really good comprehensive video! I have been working on a campaign setting that's pretty much late medeval high fantasy Californa the size of Europe that has an artic area just above it. And this video gave me some things to think about what the artic terrain will be and I think my original idea of Tiga still works. Also, it has a world edge type mountains range going on that are snow-capped so now I know to think of them as now in terms of animals. And what airship bases might be like as the setting is about to be invaded by a steampunk nation from over them.

[@niklaskieler8674]

Damn, i'm so happy the algorythm intruduced me to this channel.

[@cabotage7932]

I'm from Alaska. We have legit rainforests in some areas like Girdwood. One of my favorite places to go hiking in the summer as it's cool (65 ish) enough to counteract overheating... and it's fucking beautiful

[@El-s]

The king is back

[@lightsweping955]

this is a great video

[@ButcherofPolishHighlands]

Remember brothers, never use helmet with horns on battle, this is unpractical. People from Skandinavia (and not only them) were use horned helmets for rituals (:

[@ferero6642]

Thanks im gonna worldbuild now

[@g.s.8393]

Nice video.

[@noonergooner2820]

very cool

[@alehaim]

As a Finn I noticed a small mistake. The midnight summer holiday thingy is not called Juhannes, but Juhannus

[@violetevergarden5160]

Norwegian here, the sami oftened feard the northern lights. They would try to stay inside when it happens as it was a sign of bad omen and could kidnap or kill you.

[@matiasdeya5330]

"...so many god-damn bugs! AAAARH It's like a Bethesda game!" LMAO You sir, are hilarious 🤣 liked and subscribed!

[@hfrmartin]

nice intro, stoneworks.

[@daddyleon]

15:20 uh-ow, now I'm afraid of Chinese going on a viking...

[@paddlesaddlelad1881]

its already happening. they go to vietnam to find love (but dont quote me on that)

[@DaDunge]

Don't worry what he said about why the vikings went raising is complete and utter BS. Most vikings weren't even raiders, and slaves they bought or captured weren't brought back to Scandinavia they were sold in Byzantium or the muslim world. There is almost no evidence of large scale use of slavery in scandinavia. And the genetic evidence does not support the idea that loads of women were brought in from elsewhere. To this day Scandinavia suffers from bad genetic diversity.

[@TocsTheWanderer]

@@DaDunge Exactly. There was no single main reason for the increase of Scandinavians venturing out at that time, but a combination of several. Here are the 2 that seem most credible to me. 1: The weather had been warming slightly, which lead to an increase of available food and thus an increase in population, and not enough land to go around. Some went out and raided and/or traded to amass wealth so they could buy what land there was in their homeland, others went out and settled/conquered/colonized other lands. 2: There was an increase in hostility towards the non-Christian people of northern and central Europe by the Catholic kingdoms in the late 8th and early 9th century, at least partially spurred on by the actions/attitudes of Charlemagne and his descendants. This included the invasion of the kingdom of Saxony and massacre of Saxon men that refused to convert, and also many Frankish and Anglo-Saxon merchants refusing to trade with the Scandinavians unless they converted. The response was that if they couldn't get what they wanted through peaceful trade, they'd get it through raid and conquest.

[@DaDunge]

@@TocsTheWanderer Not only Charlemagne and his descendants his grandfather, Charles Martel, also conquered the pagan kingdom of Frisia.

[@MusicFangTeaLover]

First time watching Promising channel

[@maxcovey457]

FINALLY

[@WolfWalrus]

I ran a Pathfinder game in a tundra environment a while back. I kind of regret how I handled it and am now tempted to give it another try...

[@mysteryman2392]

Nice video. Also Frostmarch best tundra nation

[@travishunt2083]

Nice

[@Nerales_]

15:06 Nice boat

[@IkkezzUsedEmber]

Was that your voice in the beginning? My god that sounded different

[@maddog5284]

I guess you could say I grew up in a tundra in the Scottish Highlands. Only difference is that it's like the tundra was always in the summer.

[@DanateDMC]

Last time I was this early was never. Because I never got so quickly to a video.

[@TheGlader2]

oh my gosh that music was from Elder Scrolls Arena!

[@bluewatson4341]

Yes my dudes

[@ericromano8078]

I didn't even realize you had any sort of accent until you pointed it out. For comparison if you're interested, I'm in the Midwest in the US.

[@efjay3183]

Another choice cut of content 😋

[@Sugoie]

Stay frosty

[@thetimetravelingfbi7626]

Wasn't Scandinavia warmer during the viking era and middle ages because of the medieval warm period

[@40dayfreetrial70]

2 Stoneworks videos in a week. Is this Christmas?

[@snow-in4zp]

You should do a video on domesticated animals and how different they can become based on where they are in the fantasy land.

[@EnRandomSten]

ayy it's just like home! because it is!

[@Cykaima]

Hey stoneworks, if you see this, I have a dnd setting where a part of the continent was magically cut off from all rainfall and any kind of precipitation, with the exception of one massive, month long season of torrential rain every year. Can you offer any insight on how this may effect the northern tundra in this region, loosely? Directly north of this region is a very tall mountain range that suffers the same curse, and north of that is arctic desert.

[@molonlabe5090]

Tfw your home state is his go to for glacier activity examples

[@Undrave]

Inuits legend say that if you whistle while the aurora borealis is showing, tbhe northern wind will CHOP YOUR HEAD OFF!

[@halsgren985]

It would be cool if much of this was actually implemented in the MC servers themselves. Realistic latitude-based biomes and biome specific plant growth and such.

[@Stoneworks]

Icy nips, Spicy nips, Warmer nips, Colder nips. images.heb.com/is/image/HEBGrocery/001807859 Join the World Building Minecraft Server! discord.gg/7qdJSgPz3h Minecraft Server IP- Stoneworks.mcserv.fun Join the World Building Discord! discord.gg/f4dEzqv Join the Legends on Patreon! www.patreon.com/stoneworks

[@jesterssketchbook]

that is the smartest thing anybody has ever said... ever

[@opalaa5874]

Moss is hella interesting

[@Scarabola]

5:27 RIP Caspian Sea

[@conormccann2850]

Do you think you will ever make a video on tropical biomes, like tropical rainforests/jungles?

[@greasher926]

You should’ve mentioned the pomors of the White Sea, they built special ships that could navigate Ivey waters en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_(boat) en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomors

[@josephpauze3920]

i dunno why you dont have more subs

[@revealz95]

Yo, straight up

[@kuwi8679]

agreed

[@fenixmeaney6170]

Moss IS interesting!

[@jacobbrock6631]

Tundras are cool as hell

[@mercaius]

See now I'm at a crossroads. Because I like subscribing. But I also like inducing electric shocks.

[@mrguy9283]

What about the boreal forest! They’re super cool!

[@grapejuicehorror]

Fucking sick bro

[@Tulin258]

My entire world is just ice, tundra and a band of plains at the equator

[@Grason20]

Fun fact: According to Köppen climate classification, polar deserts are not considered tundra.

[@haydenmaines5905]

17:32 where did you get that map of Skyrim and why is The Pale called Whiteshore?

[@Yabca]

Why would it flip in the Southern Hemisphere? Wind direction is also usually westerlies in the Southern Hemisphere.

[@leonartu3756]

I am personally offended that you said That you MUST include the aurora in a tundra religion but you didnt say anything about Circle rainbows

[@phylippezimmermannpaquin2062]

did a whole country get named after a troll...this is amazing