“Never before had such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered at the hands of a pagan race, nor was such an assault by sea thought possible... Look at the church of St. Cuthbert, stained with the blood of God's priests and stripped of all its ornaments: the most venerable place in Britain, prey to pagan peoples.” This story, written by Alcuin of York in 793, sums up very well the idea we have about the Vikings, this almost mythical people who today are still very present in popular and cinematic culture (just think of a certain superhero). However, what is the reason for their reputation as a violent people? Were they really so fearsome? How did they train? Why did they become like that? Did you know that there is no historical evidence of the famous horns on the helmets of Viking warriors? Or that the Vikings sold narwhal horns as if they were unicorn horns in continental Europe?
First of all, we begin to have evidence of the Vikings in European chronicles around 800. The records, over the next two centuries, of raids and attacks perpetrated by them range from the territories of present-day France and Spain (going up their rivers towards the interior) passing through the British Isles, the Caspian Sea, Ukraine (where they founded Kievan Rus, the germ of the future Russia) and Constantinople to America itself (remains have been found on Baffin Island, Newfoundland and Greenland).
There are numerous stories and epic sagas about the Vikings, and their authors are diverse (Arab travellers, Byzantines, etc.). In fact, this circumstance gave rise to the work of fiction “The 13th Warrior”, a film starring Antonio Banderas. Although most of these sagas and epic works were written in the 12th and 13th centuries, that is, after the events that had taken place, the Vikings left a deep mark on popular culture due to their extreme violence. This fact is proven archaeologically by the presence of combat weapons in the burials of men and, occasionally, of women (with the consequent debate about the position of women in Viking society).
But how did the Vikings come about? There are various theories about this. However, one theory, supported by archaeological finds, has recently gained ground. Apparently, three centuries before the first recorded attacks by the Vikings, in the mid-6th century, more than three dozen small kingdoms emerged in Scandinavia, fighting for power and territory. In this turbulent context, a series of natural disasters took place, usually associated with two volcanic eruptions, causing a cloud of dust and gas that obscured the sun, causing summer temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere to drop for several years. These circumstances led to major economic and agricultural problems, as well as numerous deaths. For example, it is estimated that 75% of the villages in the Swedish province of Uppland succumbed to hunger and fighting. In fact, researchers believe that the mythological legend of Ragnarök (the end of creation) may have something to do with this circumstance. Taking this into account, we can assume that this context gave rise, after the circumstances were overcome, to a more violent, militarized society, controlled by military leaders surrounded by armed warriors, and where warrior values associated with aggression and bravery triumphed. The distribution of the spoils obtained after each attack was carried out by the military leader based on his ties of loyalty to his closest and bravest warriors.
Military education began at the age of 5 or 6, with training in sports competitions to gain strength, such as weight lifting and wrestling. The veterans trained the younger ones in the use of swords, axes and spears. However, we must not forget that the Viking warrior is a free man, and only they have the right to bear arms. They used a fairly varied typology of weapons: circular shield, Sax and Langseax (knife with Germanic roots between 10 and 50 centimetres in length); spear; bow; etc. However, the most striking of all of them was the battle axe (discarded by the rest of European peoples). The Vikings took advantage of its main advantage: disorienting the enemy unfamiliar with this tool of war. There were three types: light one-handed, throwing, and two-handed. It was a highly valued weapon by this people in a clash of lines (even more than the sword) since it allowed to push aside shields, open the guard and hit hard, so it is not surprising to find richly decorated axes and even with their own name. However, despite these generalities, we must bear in mind that the use of one weapon or another varied depending on the Viking people in question (especially differences are seen between the Viking peoples expanding towards the east and the Black Sea and the Viking peoples of the west towards Greenland and the British Isles).
These strange peoples were prepared from a young age to carry out military raids at any point, landing in shallow areas that were, a priori, difficult to access by sea, thanks to their famous ships, the drakkar. Repeated attacks over the centuries, spreading this violent image of the Viking people encouraged by the existence of the figure of the berserkr soldier. These legendary troops, nicknamed “killer wolves” by an Anglo-Saxon poet, would rush into combat howling as they killed their enemies. Among their skills were supposedly superhuman strength and an uncontrolled thirst for blood that caused them to refuse to protect themselves (which disconcerted the enemy). They fought in small units of 12 members, always on the front line, where the most danger could be found.
But the most curious thing is found in a document written by the Byzantine historian Johannes Skylitzes, describing how the battlefield looked after the battle of 971 between the Scandinavian ruler of kyiv, Sviatoslav, and the Byzantines in Bulgaria. The Vikings were defeated, but the Byzantines were perplexed to discover that there were women among the dead, armed as warriors. Historical studies have shown that there were two types of female warriors: those who were sporadically, in case of emergency, and then returned to their subordinate position in society; and those who were warriors on a regular basis and for long periods of time. In this regard, the question of the controversial (due to lack of real documentary evidence) Lagertha, one of the wives of the famous Ragnar Lothbrook, arises. On the other hand, and although this case or other notable Viking women are not completely reliable, there are still archaeological remains in Scandinavia that associate weapons, such as swords and spears, with women's graves, such as the Oseberg burial ship. It is the most majestic Viking grave ever found, where the mortal remains of two women were found, one about 75 years old, and the other, about 50 years old. The most accepted theory is that one of them was a queen in her own right, buried together with a servant or advisor, and the other woman could be a powerful sorceress. It must be taken into account that magic is considered absolutely fundamental in this society where reality is confused with mythology. In fact, it is not surprising that a figure such as the Valkyrie, so well known to us today, exists in its cultural ideology.
This warrior society is once again evident, as we have already mentioned, in the famous burials (reserved for the elite) on a burning ship. The deceased was placed on the ship with his grave goods shot with a fire arrow to set the ship on fire and cause the cremation of the deceased. This is how Ibn Fadlan, an Arab traveller from the 9th century who came across a Viking funeral procession, describes it: “ The ship of the deceased is taken to land, and abundant precious objects are taken on board. The dead person is dressed in his best clothing and placed on a bed. A slave who has chosen to follow her master in death is sacrificed along with a horse and a hunting dog. The ship is set on fire, with its contents, and a high tomb is erected over the remains.”
In conclusion, we could say that this warrior people, like others in history, emerged in a very specific critical context that required an economic, cultural, political and sociological adaptation that mutated the previous social structures and gave rise to the idiosyncrasy so characteristic of the Vikings as we know them.
Literature
- Pérez Bernabé, Laura : Women in the Viking World . Alicante. University of Alicante.
- Emil Christensen, Arne : The Vikings.
- Espinar Moreno, Manuel; Robles Delgado, Alberto; Abellán Santisteban, José : The Vikings in History, vol. 2. EPCCM Books. Studies number 8. II Viking Culture Conference. Granada. 2015.
- National Geographic History, special issue : Vikings. Lords of the sea and the sword. October. 2020.
