Viking Sagas

[Morten viking]

The Online Medieval & Classical Library has an english version of Heimskringla: A History of the Norse Kings

Heimskringla

If you like reading about battle and vikings you will love this. The saga of the viking king mentioned under the viking unit (or Varangian Guard) description in MTW can be found here:

Heimskringla: Saga of Harald Hardrade: Part I

The same king was the one who lost the battle of Stamford bridge. There is a great description of the battle at the end of part 2 of his saga

Enjoy

[KukriKhan]

Those will make great background, Morten viking.

Thanks, and welcome to the .Org

[Morten viking]

Quote[/b] ]Those will make great background, Morten viking.

Thanks, and welcome to the .Org

Thanks

The sagas changed my view of the vikings. The vikings are often portayed as savage raiders who burnt, plundered and murdered. The books proves that ,but also shows that they could match anyone else in Europe in military skills and that they even operated in the Mediterranean and North Africa. We even got a crusader (Sigurd the crusader). And this is just the Norwegians. The Danes and the Swedes went their own ways.

[ShadesWolf]

Nice idea

[Cazbol]

I had no idea Heimskringla was available on the net. I'll be bookmarking that page. Thanks for the tip Morten.

[Dimeola]

Most excellent, thx for sharing
Dimeolas

[lonewolf371]

Europeans unfortunately developed a habit that mingled history with falseness and often described any enemies they faced as savage and when they lost they described the enemy as having huge numbers of forces, yet when they won they described the enemy with still a large force to make it sound more honorable and great. The Vikings and Mongols were some of these cases, however Mongols actually were savage in many ways due to the fashion in which they subdued their enemies.

[Sigurd]

Good to see fellow countrymen for a change… thanks for the links m8.
What part of Norway do you consider yourself 'born and bred' in?

[ErikJansen]

Vestlandet, Sigurd

Thanks morten, for the most excellent link


The king's sharp sword lies clean and bright,
Prepared in foreign lands to fight:
Our ravens croak to have their fill,
The wolf howls from the distant hill.
Our brave king is to Russia gone, --
Braver than he on earth there's none;
His sharp sword will carve many feast
To wolf and raven in the East.

[Morten viking]

Trondheim, Sigurd

I love that signature of yours, using the national coat of arms..neat


I'm glad you like it guys. Bit of a change from the dry, political correct stuff you get from today's historians.


Then, said the earl, go now and tell King Harald to get ready
for battle; for never shall the Northmen say with truth that Earl
Toste left King Harald Sigurdson to join his enemy's troops, when
he came to fight west here in England. We shall rather all take
the resolution to die with honour, or to gain England by a
victory.

Earl Toste before the battle of Stamfordbridge

[Cazbol]

Quote[/b] (lonewolf371 @ Mar. 29 2003,23:49)]Europeans unfortunately developed a habit that mingled history with falseness and often described any enemies they faced as savage and when they lost they described the enemy as having huge numbers of forces, yet when they won they described the enemy with still a large force to make it sound more honorable and great. The Vikings and Mongols were some of these cases, however Mongols actually were savage in many ways due to the fashion in which they subdued their enemies.

Believe me, the vikings deserved their reputation for being savage. Although the vikings themselves didn't keep detailed written accounts of their deeds, their decendants did a few generations later.

One example from the Icelandic sagas is the explanation of the nickname barnakarl meaning babies man. This nickname was given to one guy (as a vice) because he was considered exceptionally soft for not wanting to participate in the popular game of tossing toddlers from spear to spear, when attacking villages. Sounds savage enough to me.

[Nowake]

Same as the croatians developed in the bosniac villages in WWII ... so it's not quite antique practice ...

[Sigurd]

So we are actually all from the west side of Norway;

children of the mighty fjords,
descendants of the ‘true’ Vikings,
defiant against the oppressing monarchs of old,
rulers of small earldoms and raiders of the west.
(from toddlers to babyseals )

Odin be your eye and Thor light your way.

[Dîn-Heru]

Haugesund, Rogaland.
Of course we are all the west side of Norway. There are no warriors on the east side of the country.

Anyway, seriously, thanks for posting the link.

[Sir Black Raven]

Interesting reading my norse m8s.
I'm always interested about Norse sagas and i must say that this link kept my fully attention. Well done m8

[smakkz]

extremely cool to see some fellow contry men, and from Vestlandet awesome the vikings was savage yes, but look in other camps. Karl the great baptised 3500 saxon and then beheaded them... sounds kinda brutal, but all is fair in war. and there is a reason that our ancestors took huge chunks of europe and settled in.... large areas of germany, france, england, russia and even in the balkan there are descendants of our once great past... good to see y'all folks

Must Thor smite his hammer on our prime minister

[Gregoshi]

I think half the population of Norway has posted in this thread Your country is certainly well represented here at the Org. The same holds true with Denmark and The Netherlands.

[Morten viking]

Quote[/b] (Gregoshi @ April 10 2003,14:08)]I think half the population of Norway has posted in this thread Your country is certainly well represented here at the Org. The same holds true with Denmark and The Netherlands.

Christianity may have reduced the Norse lust for combat, but it could never entirely eredicate it



MV