Fårking Vikings: a rant, written in the middle of the night and not read through.

[eska_rina]

I'm so very tired that the main - if not the only - part of the Scandinavian histories (yes, plurals; why is a discussion for another day) non-Nordic people know about Scandinavia is the Viking period. And normally people don't even really know anything about it - they just believe they do. I get it, I really do. The image of 'the Viking' is very

Comments

[sonourous]

If it makes you feel any better, I've never associated Vikings with Denmark, nor did I know that so many non-Nordic people do! Thanks for writing this post; you taught me something new.

[jaelle_n_gilla]

Same here. I placed them more in Norway, tbh.

Denmark always struck me as a peaceful nation from history lessons, but I knew that somehow they much have come by Faroe and Greenland.

[sonourous]

Oh, I don't think of any particular country when I see/hear the word "Vikings." Maybe Iceland occasionally, if anywhere? But never in the reverse, where I think of Vikings when Iceland (or any other Nordic country) comes up.

[eska_rina]

And Iceland! I had completely forgotten about Iceland! That was a part of the Danish Empire too, but they claimed independence during the Occupation in the 40s.

But actually that part of Danish history isn't so violent. Well. It could be worse. Most of the violence seems to have been focused on the control over the North Sea and border disputes.

[jaelle_n_gilla]

It's funny that always the violent parts of history are the ones that people remember. I think some historian once said: "The best times for a country and its people are always the blank pages in the history books." We remember the crusades, the wars, the revolutions. We don't remember peaceful trading and happy midsummer days.

The nordic countries have Vikings taped to their foreheads, the Irish have Celts and the Germans are stuck with Bavarians in Lederhosen and a Bierseidel *sighs* I'd trade you for the Vikings any time, dear ;-)

[eska_rina]

But Denmark's history is filled with violence! The five billion Denmark-Swedish wars (I just checked: apparently we have been at wars more than 10 times in less than 500 years D: ), the two Schleswig wars, the use of piracy in the Baltic Sea (both against and by Danish monarchs), and so on. The thing is... most of this is heavy political. The Vikings? Sure, there was a lot of politics involved in it, but it's a story you can tell without all the politics. You can't talk about the wars fought about the Kalmar Union without talking about politics, for example.

I'm actually looking at a list of Denmark's military history right now, and it almost looks like we were at war every year from 1434 to 1864. Almost. I think it can almost be argued that the Viking period was our historical peaceful period ;)

But ok, you guys win when it comes to most embarrassing "symbol". Ah, the Bavarians! At least our guys had a fashion sense, even if it only it involved armour :P

[siobhan63]

Vikings - not just part of British history!

But like the others have said, I've never thought Denmark=Vikings. And that site refers to them as "Norse" which most people would associate with Norway.

[eska_rina]

Oh god, no, I know the Vikings aren't "just" a part of British (and Scandinavian) history - you find pretty much Vikings everywhere except Middle-Southern Americas and Asia. Canada, as you point out, Greenland ("Nordboerne"), Russia, North Africa, and so on. The thing is, while the concept of "history" goes back to the Hellenistic period (in a Western European setting), history as we understand it today - as an academic field, which goal is describe and understand the past - is quite new, and is heavily based upon a development in Germany and in England. And what people in general seems to believe they "know" about the Vikings is heavily based upon the (very emotional) British experience of the Vikings - as pirates and "noble savages", at the same time. But the Vikings were not just that - they were traders, explorers, settlers, etc... it was a minority of the Vikings who were pirates and did raids along different coast lines

[electricdruid]

I've always felt that the reason the Vikings are the only part of Scandinavian history I'm familiar with is simply because I'm more interested in ancient cultures than modern ones. Due to the range of Viking exploration and settlement, as well as their contact with the Romans, there simply seems to be more information about them floating around than about other ancient Scandinavian peoples. But the point you make is interesting and I've never thought about it this way. I really never thought about the Vikings in the context of their relationship to Britain until I started watching the show Vikings, to be honest.

[eska_rina]

I got no issue with that - as long, then, that you then actually know things about the Vikings ;) A part of my issue isn't just that people only know about the Vikings, but that what they believe the know/what they believe about the Vikings is based upon just a very little part of the Viking communities: the pirates. I too am way more interested in ancient communities than f.ex. the middle ages and later historical communities, though when it comes to the Nordic region, my interest lies in the communities that pre-dates the Norse communities. So I understand having preference for a specific time period or culture.

I don't think most people think about the Vikings relationship with the British - my claim is that because the Viking period is the part of Scandinavian history that affected the British the most (culturally and especially emotionally), that's the part of Scandinavian history that has been, let's say, made popular due to the British dominance during the "evolution"/creation of the academic field "history".

[lusimeles]

i've never really thought denmark = vikings either. mostly just hamlet... :p (sorry.)

try living in canada though, where your neighbouring country can't even remember that you're a whole separate country most of the time.

seriously though, this was really interesting/educational! i am definitely not super familiar with danish history (very little knowledge of northern european history in general, really - it's not taught in our curriculum), so i ~learned things~.

[eska_rina]

DAMN YOU SHAKESPEARE!!!!!

[lusimeles]

on the bright side, that gif is like the greatest

i keep trying to think of the benefits of that one and really there just ARE NONE unless you count driving across the border for gas/groceries...

[eska_rina]

Well. The members of said neighbourhood country who do know Canada exist can (normally) place it on a map. Well, I hope so, anyway. That might be considered a benefit?

...except maybe not really, now that I think about it. Mmm.