We’ve often wondered and at times even been asked, “What happened to all the Vikings?” The answer is a simple one. And, to put it plainly, the Vikings were bred out of existence. They settled with the English and went from feared Dane to humble farmer over the course of a few generations. It’s not really that hard to believe, when you think about it. After all, what is there to fight about when there is work to do, food to eat, and beer to drink? What else would anyone need to fight for?
But, there was still a gap in there somewhere, still some nagging feeling that while reasonable, the question didn’t seem answered. Were we looking at it wrong? After all, we have historical records documenting the immigration and settling of the English country side, as well as the lineage of Rolo Lothbrok, brother of Ragnar. It’s not like there is any real question to the fate of the Vikings.
But… what if we were looking at the wrong end of history. Maybe the question isn’t about how the Viking age ended… but, how it started! It was that powerful question led us take another look into the mystical crystal ball of the interwebs and start looking for clues.
But, there was still a gap in there somewhere, still some nagging feeling that while reasonable, the question didn’t seem answered. Were we looking at it wrong? After all, we have historical records documenting the immigration and settling of the English country side, as well as the lineage of Rolo Lothbrok, brother of Ragnar. It’s not like there is any real question to the fate of the Vikings.
But… what if we were looking at the wrong end of history. Maybe the question isn’t about how the Viking age ended… but, how it started! It was that powerful question led us take another look into the mystical crystal ball of the interwebs and start looking for clues.
But, there was still a gap in there somewhere, still some nagging feeling that while reasonable, the question didn’t seem answered. Were we looking at it wrong? After all, we have historical records documenting the immigration and settling of the English country side, as well as the lineage of Rolo Lothbrok, brother of Ragnar. It’s not like there is any real question to the fate of the Vikings.
But… what if we were looking at the wrong end of history. Maybe the question isn’t about how the Viking age ended… but, how it started! It was that powerful question led us take another look into the mystical crystal ball of the interwebs and start looking for clues.
A cursory search of the Google-machine revealed that the Viking age as we currently know it only lasted from approx. 793 – 1066 C.E… and for those of us who suck at math, that means that the Vikings only ruled the seas for at most, 300 – 400 years. That may sound like a long time for an individual lifespan of a single human being, but for an entire civilization? For the emergence of seafaring vessels? For natural selection and environmental pressures to create a self-governing culture of warriors? For the emergence of religion and ritual? No no no… that just didn’t add up for us.
The Vikings were no ‘fly-by-night’ tribe. They were not only wide-spread, but they were good at what they did. They were arguably the pioneers of extended sea travel, far from coastlines. They invented navigations systems with stunning accuracy. They were open to world religions and customs and were prolific traders, from Canada and the Americas, all the way to India and beyond. While their “hay-day” of pillaging may have terrorized Europe for three centuries, there is no way that such a myopic timeframe could hope to encapsulate the sum total of the Viking era.
The Vikings were no ‘fly-by-night’ tribe. They were not only wide-spread, but they were good at what they did. They were arguably the pioneers of extended sea travel, far from coastlines. They invented navigations systems with stunning accuracy. They were open to world religions and customs and were prolific traders, from Canada and the Americas, all the way to India and beyond. While their “hay-day” of pillaging may have terrorized Europe for three centuries, there is no way that such a myopic timeframe could hope to encapsulate the sum total of the Viking era.
The Vikings were no ‘fly-by-night’ tribe. They were not only wide-spread, but they were good at what they did. They were arguably the pioneers of extended sea travel, far from coastlines. They invented navigations systems with stunning accuracy. They were open to world religions and customs and were prolific traders, from Canada and the Americas, all the way to India and beyond. While their “hay-day” of pillaging may have terrorized Europe for three centuries, there is no way that such a myopic timeframe could hope to encapsulate the sum total of the Viking era.
Digging deeper and searching further back than the documented era the sons of Ragnar are recognized for, we began to find all sorts of cool stuff that we had never really thought about before. One was a metallurgic fact that we thought was quite interesting, involving the real difference between iron and bronze…
Did you know that it is bronze is an alloy (mixed metal), made of copper and tin? Iron is just iron, but that isn’t actually what caught our attention about the two metals.
Digging deeper and searching further back than the documented era the sons of Ragnar are recognized for, we began to find all sorts of cool stuff that we had never really thought about before. One was a metallurgic fact that we thought was quite interesting, involving the real difference between iron and bronze…
Digging deeper and searching further back than the documented era the sons of Ragnar are recognized for, we began to find all sorts of cool stuff that we had never really thought about before. One was a metallurgic fact that we thought was quite interesting, involving the real difference between iron and bronze…
Did you know that it is bronze is an alloy (mixed metal), made of copper and tin? Iron is just iron, but that isn’t actually what caught our attention about the two metals.
Did you know that it is bronze is an alloy (mixed metal), made of copper and tin? Iron is just iron, but that isn’t actually what caught our attention about the two metals.
Historically, we know that the Bronze Age came before the Iron Age, and the Iron Age dominated like a boss! …or so we think. Iron can’t hold an edge as sharp as bronze, and depending on the other metals in the alloy, some bronzes can even be harder than mild steel (give “architectural bronze” a look). The only real advantage of iron once it was ‘discovered’ is that there was so much of it lying around the Earth, that mass production of metals quickly became possible. It was likely the 1st time in history that the factory mentality of “quantity over quality” really started having an impact on human culture.
There were some other benefits to iron though, depending on how you look at it. To start a fire, it takes a flint and an iron to strike against. This doesn’t really work with bronze, because it is a non-ferrous metal, and doesn’t generate a spark (that’s why bomb disposal units use bronze knives for defusing). So, in a sense, bronze blades were pretty far ahead of their time. They were sharper, harder, and more appropriate for highly sensitive, technical tasks.
There were some other benefits to iron though, depending on how you look at it. To start a fire, it takes a flint and an iron to strike against. This doesn’t really work with bronze, because it is a non-ferrous metal, and doesn’t generate a spark (that’s why bomb disposal units use bronze knives for defusing). So, in a sense, bronze blades were pretty far ahead of their time. They were sharper, harder, and more appropriate for highly sensitive, technical tasks.
There were some other benefits to iron though, depending on how you look at it. To start a fire, it takes a flint and an iron to strike against. This doesn’t really work with bronze, because it is a non-ferrous metal, and doesn’t generate a spark (that’s why bomb disposal units use bronze knives for defusing). So, in a sense, bronze blades were pretty far ahead of their time. They were sharper, harder, and more appropriate for highly sensitive, technical tasks.
Looking at bronze as being able to hold a sharper edge than iron, we began to look at bronze razors, and while there are some modern bronze razors available for sale, we quickly started finding image results of some interesting artifacts. Looking through dozens of photos and links to museums and private collections, we found a plethora of images and drawings of bronze razors bearing the likeness of Viking ships, Sun Signs, Drakkar heads, great beasts, etc.
Looking at bronze as being able to hold a sharper edge than iron, we began to look at bronze razors, and while there are some modern bronze razors available for sale, we quickly started finding image results of some interesting artifacts. Looking through dozens of photos and links to museums and private collections, we found a plethora of images and drawings of bronze razors bearing the likeness of Viking ships, Sun Signs, Drakkar heads, great beasts, etc.
Looking at bronze as being able to hold a sharper edge than iron, we began to look at bronze razors, and while there are some modern bronze razors available for sale, we quickly started finding image results of some interesting artifacts. Looking through dozens of photos and links to museums and private collections, we found a plethora of images and drawings of bronze razors bearing the likeness of Viking ships, Sun Signs, Drakkar heads, great beasts, etc.
Honestly, we had never seen anything like these before, but the connection to our hunt for the history of the Vikings seemed pretty obvious. It also verified that while the great warriors’ tales may not date back as far as these bronze razors due, most certainly the seafaring warrior culture does.
Looking at the images captured on a dozen or so museum-quality Scandinavian bronze razors sent us down an incredible rabbit hole of image links and click-bait. It was a perilous journey, but one we happily undertook for the sake of our readers.
Image after image, the totems and token images of sprawling drakkar and ocean coastlines began to merge and shift into more and more stylized forms. Once clear depictions of identifiable figures became muddied signs and symbols, representative of thoughts and emotions. Rough stone began to replace the fine bronze casts, and fine details were all but lost to deep red ochre.
We had stumbled upon hundreds of Bronze Age petroglyphs!
Looking at the images captured on a dozen or so museum-quality Scandinavian bronze razors sent us down an incredible rabbit hole of image links and click-bait. It was a perilous journey, but one we happily undertook for the sake of our readers.
Image after image, the totems and token images of sprawling drakkar and ocean coastlines began to merge and shift into more and more stylized forms. Once clear depictions of identifiable figures became muddied signs and symbols, representative of thoughts and emotions. Rough stone began to replace the fine bronze casts, and fine details were all but lost to deep red ochre.
We had stumbled upon hundreds of Bronze Age petroglyphs!
Looking at the images captured on a dozen or so museum-quality Scandinavian bronze razors sent us down an incredible rabbit hole of image links and click-bait. It was a perilous journey, but one we happily undertook for the sake of our readers.
Image after image, the totems and token images of sprawling drakkar and ocean coastlines began to merge and shift into more and more stylized forms. Once clear depictions of identifiable figures became muddied signs and symbols, representative of thoughts and emotions. Rough stone began to replace the fine bronze casts, and fine details were all but lost to deep red ochre.
We had stumbled upon hundreds of Bronze Age petroglyphs!
Without having wasted at least few semesters in anthropology courses, you may not be familiar with the term “petroglyph,” but it basically means ‘marked in stone’. “Petra” is taken from the Greek word for stone and “glyph” is the same one as in hieroglyphics, and it means “mark” or “symbol”. But all that aside, we found what would appear at first glance to be Viking petroglyphs, carved into granite and countless other types of stone, all over the frozen north!
Actually reading the articles attached to the images we were finding (or at least the titles), we realized that the art we were finding carved into these stone faces were not being credited to “Vikings.” However, they were acknowledged to be (mostly) of Scandiavian origin, but not to the Vikings. And this seemed to be largely due to the age of the glyphs themselves.
As we said before, the Vikings (as we know them) were only around about 1,000 years ago, and for a very short time. In contrast, these rock-drawings were dated as far back as approx. 1,000 B.C.E., making them over 3,000 years old. Again, those bad at math, I’m going to throw you a bone here. That means that these VERY Viking reminiscent petroglyphs depicting huge dragon-headed 50-man ships of warriors with round shields and battle axes, were carved into the earth 2,000 years BEFORE the Vikings were ever supposed to have existed. That’s just insane! HOW!?
As we said before, the Vikings (as we know them) were only around about 1,000 years ago, and for a very short time. In contrast, these rock-drawings were dated as far back as approx. 1,000 B.C.E., making them over 3,000 years old. Again, those bad at math, I’m going to throw you a bone here. That means that these VERY Viking reminiscent petroglyphs depicting huge dragon-headed 50-man ships of warriors with round shields and battle axes, were carved into the earth 2,000 years BEFORE the Vikings were ever supposed to have existed. That’s just insane! HOW!?
As we said before, the Vikings (as we know them) were only around about 1,000 years ago, and for a very short time. In contrast, these rock-drawings were dated as far back as approx. 1,000 B.C.E., making them over 3,000 years old. Again, those bad at math, I’m going to throw you a bone here. That means that these VERY Viking reminiscent petroglyphs depicting huge dragon-headed 50-man ships of warriors with round shields and battle axes, were carved into the earth 2,000 years BEFORE the Vikings were ever supposed to have existed. That’s just insane! HOW!?
We knew the age, but we needed to know where these glyphs were located in order to draw any real conclusions as to whether these images depicted Vikings, or as some state, merely spiritual representations of gods and vessels meant for transporting spirits to the afterlife.
We do know that at least in the more recently documented history of the Vikings, that they had settlements in many areas in the north, and that they traveled and traded as far west as Canada, so if these images depicted Vikings, we’d expect to see these Bronze-Age carvings in many, if not all of those locations as well. And as we expected, they were all over the place!
Oslo, Tanumshede, Litsleby, Unerslos, Fossum, Balken, Vitlycke, Aspeberget, etc. Nearly a dozen sights across Sweden bore similarly etched stones with engravings of warriors, ships, and astrological symbols, but the Peterborough sight in North America was by far the most interesting. We have recently found a few large-scale trading outposts the Vikings established in Canada, but we really hadn’t found anything as incredible as this!
The Algonquin peoples native to the areas surrounding the Petersborough site have been credited with the artistic petroglyphs found in mass on the face of the crystalline limestone slabs scattered about the area, but was that credit really justly given? As it turns out, two distinct patterns of carvings can be made out in the single rock face. Many belonging to the Algonquin, but some much older that they were copied from.
Oslo, Tanumshede, Litsleby, Unerslos, Fossum, Balken, Vitlycke, Aspeberget, etc. Nearly a dozen sights across Sweden bore similarly etched stones with engravings of warriors, ships, and astrological symbols, but the Peterborough sight in North America was by far the most interesting. We have recently found a few large-scale trading outposts the Vikings established in Canada, but we really hadn’t found anything as incredible as this!
Oslo, Tanumshede, Litsleby, Unerslos, Fossum, Balken, Vitlycke, Aspeberget, etc. Nearly a dozen sights across Sweden bore similarly etched stones with engravings of warriors, ships, and astrological symbols, but the Peterborough sight in North America was by far the most interesting. We have recently found a few large-scale trading outposts the Vikings established in Canada, but we really hadn’t found anything as incredible as this!
The Algonquin peoples native to the areas surrounding the Petersborough site have been credited with the artistic petroglyphs found in mass on the face of the crystalline limestone slabs scattered about the area, but was that credit really justly given? As it turns out, two distinct patterns of carvings can be made out in the single rock face. Many belonging to the Algonquin, but some much older that they were copied from.
The styles of carvings in the Canadian site at Petersborough are similar, but there is no way that the Algonquin could have produced the exact Sun and Moon gods and other celestial symbols used by the Scandinavians all over the world. Nor could they have ever been expose to or produced the Proto-Tifinagh (a Berber North-African writing system). Scandinavian use of this writing system was not only found here at the Peterborough site in Canada, but also in North-Africa, and in Italy.
The Algonquin peoples native to the areas surrounding the Petersborough site have been credited with the artistic petroglyphs found in mass on the face of the crystalline limestone slabs scattered about the area, but was that credit really justly given? As it turns out, two distinct patterns of carvings can be made out in the single rock face. Many belonging to the Algonquin, but some much older that they were copied from.
“Woden-Iithi, of Ringerike the great king, instructed that runes be engraved. A ship he took. ‘In honor of Gungir’ was its name. For ingot-copper of excellent quality came the king, by way of trial.” (translation by Barry Fell – Epigrapher & Archaeologist)
If the above is true, and the Algonquin peoples didn’t miraculously produce a North-African dialect from the literal other side of the world, then it means the Norse had (adopted) a written language prior to the invention of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. It also means that the Scandinavian peoples must have had extensive trading in North-Africa, in order to not only become familiar with their writing system, but to adopt it and use it as their own.
If the above is true, and the Algonquin peoples didn’t miraculously produce a North-African dialect from the literal other side of the world, then it means the Norse had (adopted) a written language prior to the invention of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. It also means that the Scandinavian peoples must have had extensive trading in North-Africa, in order to not only become familiar with their writing system, but to adopt it and use it as their own.
If the above is true, and the Algonquin peoples didn’t miraculously produce a North-African dialect from the literal other side of the world, then it means the Norse had (adopted) a written language prior to the invention of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. It also means that the Scandinavian peoples must have had extensive trading in North-Africa, in order to not only become familiar with their writing system, but to adopt it and use it as their own.
Looking at the two alphabets, it isn’t a big leap to consider that Proto-Tifinagh (origin of the Moroccan alphabet) could have functioned as the basis for the invention of runic writing. The blocky and tight characteristics of the letters, to include Z, Y, H, L, T, N, while not bearing the same sounds in Elder Futhark, are remarkably similar in form. Likely the Vikings just reduced the 33 characters of the Berber alphabet to the sounds they actually used in their own spoken language and invented symbols for sounds the Berbers did not have. An additional consideration is how the ancient Moroccan writing system could be used horizontally as well as vertically, much like the runic system invented by the Vikings nearly two centuries later.
This early literacy of the Scandinavian sailors and traders is another reason that credit is not being given to the Vikings themselves, despite all other evidences and indicators.
Speaking of aaaaaaaall the additional evidence just hanging out there in the wind for all to see, on particular “piece” is an 8-foot tall rendering of the ‘Spear God’ or by another name, “the King of the Gods,” which is an obvious tribute to Odinn and all of his…. Ummm… glory. We’ve got be honest, it is pretty hard to deny that a god with such a weapon could be anyone other than Odinn.
Speaking of aaaaaaaall the additional evidence just hanging out there in the wind for all to see, on particular “piece” is an 8-foot tall rendering of the ‘Spear God’ or by another name, “the King of the Gods,” which is an obvious tribute to Odinn and all of his…. Ummm… glory. We’ve got be honest, it is pretty hard to deny that a god with such a weapon could be anyone other than Odinn.
Speaking of aaaaaaaall the additional evidence just hanging out there in the wind for all to see, on particular “piece” is an 8-foot tall rendering of the ‘Spear God’ or by another name, “the King of the Gods,” which is an obvious tribute to Odinn and all of his…. Ummm… glory. We’ve got be honest, it is pretty hard to deny that a god with such a weapon could be anyone other than Odinn.
Ok, but enough with the jokes. We have gods and goddesses, trade routes, written attestations to ships being named for Norse gods and serving Norse kings. There are the ships themselves in traditional style with the iconic Drakkar at the prow. There are warriors depicted with round cross-marked buckler-style shields and battle axes. There are depictions of reindeer and sheep.
Can anyone really say that these people who sailed the same routes on the same seas, traded the same goods, and for all intents and purposes had the same traditions and customs… is there any real reason anyone would deny that these “early Scandinavians” weren’t the Vikings? I mean other than just not wanting to believe that there were people sailing the open ocean over 3,000 years ago? There was culture of people going “viking” (meaning to go away on the sea for a time) and developing a globalized world economy, farming, fighting, etc. Can we call them Vikings?
Ok, but enough with the jokes. We have gods and goddesses, trade routes, written attestations to ships being named for Norse gods and serving Norse kings. There are the ships themselves in traditional style with the iconic Drakkar at the prow. There are warriors depicted with round cross-marked buckler-style shields and battle axes. There are depictions of reindeer and sheep.
Can anyone really say that these people who sailed the same routes on the same seas, traded the same goods, and for all intents and purposes had the same traditions and customs… is there any real reason anyone would deny that these “early Scandinavians” weren’t the Vikings? I mean other than just not wanting to believe that there were people sailing the open ocean over 3,000 years ago? There was culture of people going “viking” (meaning to go away on the sea for a time) and developing a globalized world economy, farming, fighting, etc. Can we call them Vikings?
Ok, but enough with the jokes. We have gods and goddesses, trade routes, written attestations to ships being named for Norse gods and serving Norse kings. There are the ships themselves in traditional style with the iconic Drakkar at the prow. There are warriors depicted with round cross-marked buckler-style shields and battle axes. There are depictions of reindeer and sheep.
Can anyone really say that these people who sailed the same routes on the same seas, traded the same goods, and for all intents and purposes had the same traditions and customs… is there any real reason anyone would deny that these “early Scandinavians” weren’t the Vikings? I mean other than just not wanting to believe that there were people sailing the open ocean over 3,000 years ago? There was culture of people going “viking” (meaning to go away on the sea for a time) and developing a globalized world economy, farming, fighting, etc. Can we call them Vikings?
All of this really makes us wonder… Personally, we do believe that these ‘early Scandinavians’ were the same people as the Vikings of the year 700 – 1,100 C.E. But, what we wonder about isn’t who they are, but what made them change, if anything changed for them at all. The more recent version of the Vikings saw war and conflict, blood and gold, conquest and honor as their passage into Valhalla, but was it always that way? Did the Vikings change to be more warlike from a more trade-based people? Was there a split somewhere, some great dividing of kingdoms that cause one to become known throughout history for their valor in combat, while the other calmly developed in peace? Maybe we will find out some day.
Live long and live strong my Modern Vikings.
Sincerely,
Dr. Cody J. Dees
Resident Viking,
Norse Tradesman
