Viking Warfare – Myths & Reality

Raiding and Warfare are crucial to our understanding of the Viking age. For a long time, the Vikings were seen as insidious, violent, and bloodthirsty gangs who were plundering and pillaging along the coastlines of Western Europe. Amidst these brutes were berserks shield-maidens, who defeated every enemy with superior weaponry, fighting experience and merciless brutality. These views are based on a combination of contemporary Anglo-Saxon, Frankish and Irish sources as well as Icelandic sagas written down in the 12th and 13th century. On top of that, there is good dash of romanticism. The authors of most of the few surviving historical accounts were enemies and, indeed, victims of the Vikings. This may have led to an exaggerated picture of both the impact and the barbarity of the pagan Viking’s raiding. It was only in the 1960ies and 70ies when historians began to interpret the very sparse and often biased sources more critically and began to draw a picture of a less violent Viking society. In this video w