History Today - Surviving a Viking Winter

We talk about how Vikings (or Medieval Scandinavians) survived the winter and how that experience impacted their culture and religion! I am joined by James McMullen (AskHistorians flaired user u/EyeStache). He is a Canadian Museologist who also has an MA in Medieval Icelandic Studies from the University of Iceland, and wages an Eternal War against Viking Misinformation. You can watch him scream into the void about vikings, museums, and politics on twitter at @thevikingjim

Check out the rest of my channel for more Total War content including massive battles, warhammer gameplay, and historical documentaries
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[InvictaHistory]

A big thanks to James for once again joining us to talk all things Vikings! What other topics from history or film would you like us to discuss?

[kebman]

South Norwegian winter lasts as short as from December to February. But it's still pretty cold in November and March. In the North of Norway (not counting Svalbard) winter can last from September to May, if you count snow-covered ground as winter. Northerners often call their summer "Two weeks of bad skiing conditions".

[JJLfilm]

Snowball wars is some of the best childhood memories. Fun to hear we share it with our ancestors.

[DUNDARIOUSREDRIPULIN]

Awesome. Just finished The Terror and was thinking about how bad ass the Inuit are for surviving in the Arctic for thousands of years. I mean seriously - out of every climate to live in, they chose the one with no shelter and the biggest bears in the world.

What I am saying is - this was an awesome topic. Thanks for covering it.

[dman]

It’s weird to think this was a halo channel

[randelldarky]

I lived in Alaska for 7 years. The climate tested My abilities at times. I invested in good clothing

[kebman]

*Skis:* You actually get around faster in the winter than in the summer, if you know how to ski. Even the old fashion skis were very fast. Different types of wax were used to prevent back-slip, but also to make the skis glide faster. Samis are also known for using seal fur under their skis, as it makes the skis go forward very fast, but also prevent the skis from slipping backwards.

[jackboomslang]

Fur and wool are actually still today excellent materials for keeping warm in winter..

[jamesnave]

Great video!! More content like this please!!!!🤞 Would love to see you two chatting about feasting halls etc

[kebman]

The Samis, up North in Finnmark, are used to -50˚C in the winter. That's -58˚F. They still go out and still survive. I'm sure the Inuits survive much worse.

[panosa]

Some needs to inform the makers of the video that the Viking era (at maximum between 700 - 1100 BC) saw Scandinavia enjoying the hottest average temperatures in the past fw millenia and that was the reason the population of Scandinavians increased so drastically and that is how the phenomenon of overpopulation led to the phenomenon of Vikings, i.e. Scandinavian men leaving Scandinavia and seeking their luck abroad, either as looters and thieves or as traders and mercenaries. The climate was so hot that they cultivated Mediterranean varieties of wheat and even some wine. Wine remained the major drink throughout Europe (including north Europe) till the mini Ice-Age that kick-started in 1200 and started being felt throughout by 1300s. The whole notion of cold winters and beer drinking red bearded dwarfs sitting next to a fireplace in some medieval pub is a video game invention. We just need to mention that till 1300 there was no frozen North Pole, yep, it was all a sea! Yes winters were still cold in Scandinavia in the Viking era in comparison to winters in the Mediterranean but they were the mildest winters in the history of the place. So Vikings did not suffer. And, most funnily, Vikings DID NOT MAKE IT through what people imagine as the "Viking Winter", i.e. the mini ice age of post-1200s as their lot (i.e. the profession) disappeared right before the onset of that cold era!!! Scandinavians of course continued throughout the mini-ice age weathering it out (and the kingdom of Sweden with some relative success), yet they failed to continue living in Greenland once the cold started. They are people too, they have feelings, they are not robots, none likes to stay at a cold place once there are other options.

[LRGoodGame]

Good job brother. Love the variety and quality of your videos. Thank you for all your hard work

[PewPewPlasmagun]

Not only did you not get much sun during the winter months (in theory you could get a sunny day) but also it is impossible to get UVB in those latitudes even with sunshine.

[stank]

question for James McMullen. Is it not way harder to build and prepare ships in winter instead of in summer ? Also you talk a about a farming season and a winterseason, is the raiding/trading season between those periods or at the same time as the farming season ?

[englear-ak]

Thanks for making awesome content, love watching your videos!

[BerserkerGang]

Really nice. Just had a touch of viking winter at my viking camp on my channel. We gad Julfest at my camp and froze allot^^ thanks for posting. Good info. Happy new year.

[emperordemetrius]

PLS do a video about the MIGHTY EASTERN ROMAN/BYZANTINE EMPIRE!!!

[kebman]

Riksgränsen is *not* the northernmost skiing resort. We have one in Tromsø too, which is over 200 kilometres further North. It's nowhere near as good, however, so I won't blame you if you go to Riksgränsen instead.

[lyreofgilgamesh]

Surviving a scandinavian winter is eaaaasy.




If you're scandinavian that is.

[blasterofmuppets]

I've lived in Norway. -35°C in the winter. Only a tiny bit of daylight. And yes its not a myth. My pee froze before it hit the gound. :-D