The Vikings: Myth vs. Fact - Anglophenia Ep 40

When you think of the Vikings, do you envision savage brutes wielding swords and shields while wearing helmets with pointy horns? Well, part of that is true. To celebrate the Viking invasion of BBC AMERICA with the epic new drama The Last Kingdom, we separate the truth from mere myth. Anglophenia’s Kate Arnell tells the story of the great Danes and how they’ve influenced us even to this day.

[sanjuro]

"We come from the lands of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow..."

[BigHugsFromHell]

As a person of Nordic ancestory, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, that it was all about the "snogging." Even the word itself has a certain draw to it, for a British-ism, calling out to me like a moth to a flame. All the rest, I'm sure, was there just to pass the time in the interim -- between snogs, that is -- and gods be praised, snog we did (with England no less on the snog-list now as it was then). Hell, I'm seeing red just thinking about it. After all, people from the cold, barren North doubtless could use a snuggle, and when you mix in a bit of alcohol with a few swords and a viking outlook, clearly what you're left with is this insatiable, lustful need -- snuggling, snoggling -- viking, snogging. And we also thought up the dwarves. It's like 2+2=4.

* This supplementary lesson brought to you by: Mead! "It's honey liquor you can make in your closet! Put it in your horn, today!"

[benvolio]

I remember learning in history class that Vikings were extremely proud of their facial hair. So much so that calling a Viking man "beardless" was punishable by death.

[multeyemeteor]

I've come sailing all the way across the currents of interwebs from the savage realm of Denmark. My theory is that back then we came to conquer, but stayed for women as lovely as Kate. That voice. Those eyes.

[LiamE]

Native anglo saxons?

No, they were recent invaders too.

[owenlindley]

The Last Kingdom was a excellent series. Thank Goodness for BBC America. Most of my favorite shows here in the States are from BBC AMERICA.

[gilfreundlich]

Some more effects on English language (by no means the only ones):
Important background point: the languages were so similar, that the English and Norse can understand each other. So they did not bother learning the other's language, but spoke their own. This led to the eventual *blending* of the languages (well, the Vikings blended into English), but both sides accommodated for the other.
*) Restoring the "k" sound in the combination "sc" (in English this has already changed to "sh": "scip" -> ship, "scep" -> sheep, etc.).
Thus produced some double-words for the same meaning, such as English "shirt" and Norse "skirt'.
*) Restoring the "g" sound back into "g" (where in English it has changed to a "y" sound); example - "egg" (used to be pronounced "ey"; see William Caxton complaint on how he should spell the English language, late 14 - early 15 hundreds)
*)

[AlliesBeautyandHealthChannel]

Now this is more like the usual Anglophenia stuff. Thumbs up!

[AvailableUsernameTed]

Little know fact: Viking Thorvald Allen Key invented the flat-pack when transporting looted furniture from England back to Sweden to his wife Ikea.

[xwiirastusx]

Godess Freya also gave name to Friday, Freyadagr in Old Scandinavian.

[fatalrobt]

My ancestry on both sides come from Britain, but one side is solely Scottish and English, while the other side is English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish. On the more mixed side--which includes far more than just the British Isles, including Russian, Romanian, Hungarian, Jewish, Ethiopian--I have the Viking ancestry coming from Norway.

[usagi]

I LOVE the legends of the Vikings and their Norse Gods. Thanks for sharing some awesome facts about them!

[Ezzell_]

The vikings settled in Minnesota and had won very few battles since.

[robertgronewold]

Actually, they say that pretty much anyone who is of European ancestry has Royal, Roman and Viking blood in their veins.   It was a fairly small region of land on a whole, there were tons of wars and border changes, and of course people likes to mess around and make children while abroad even back then.

[floramathilda]

So interesting. I'm part English through my Washburn side (my last name), but the earliest know Washburn was a Viking who was actually knighted on the battlefield in 1066 by William the Conqueror. And I have Viking heritage through two other sides of my family.

[Greencoast]

Apparently they also had a major issue with people stealing sweetrolls and taking arrows to the knee. Wait, that's not am I thinking of?

The agle was done from the back, not the chest. And you can find it even in 15th century Catalonia, as done to a peasant, Joan de Canyamars, who tried to kill king Ferdinand.

[SpatialDragon]

Another great show. Always fun to watch.

[paulmiller]

Anglo Saxons were not native. Both the Anglos and Saxons were germanic tribes that invaded Brittan after rome left.

[OrdricGamulson]

Actually the Saxons gave us the days of the week. When they were pagan, they worshipped the same gods, but there were spelling variations due to the linguistic changes between Old Norse, Old English and the common ancestral language:

Tiwesdæg, Wodnesdæg, Þunresdæg, Frigesdæg

The other days were glossed from Latin: Monandæg, Sæturnesdæg und Sunnandæg

Which is different from the Norse: Manadagr, Tisdagr, Odinsdagr, Þorsdagr, Frijadagr, Laugardagr ond Drotinsdagr. Saturday means 'Washing Day' and Sunday means 'Chieftain's Day'.