heroic sagas

[Kalle]

How about Egil Skallagrimssons saga, also out of timeframe but immensly good reading.

Maybe some of you also met Egil in mtw-vi?? At least I saw him in there many times, taking heads of everyone who oppose him, sending them to valhalla

What can you learn from the sagas? Well usually historians and students of the sagas are agreeing upon that the actual intrigues of the sagas should be handled with great care, for instance the jomsvikings mentioned above are not really believed to have existed but its hard to write them off aswell. Descriptions of social life and normal events in the sagas are on the other hand viewed upon as good information (basically because there would be no reason to make such things up and they can be found in many of the sagas).

For instance we can come to the conclusion from the sagas that sons from wealthy or important families often went abroad paying visit to the courts in other countries and spending time there. An early form of peregrination one could call it.

Kalle

[Kraxis]

for instance the jomsvikings mentioned above are not really believed to have existed but its hard to write them off aswell.

hehehe...

I actually had them as a subject for my yearspaper (due summer 2004).
The results were interesting. Jomsborg as it is described didn't exist, but you can backtrack the name. Jomsborg-Hynnisburgh-Julin (Jumne)-Wolin...
This makes great sense as the town of Wolin (I actually went there, perfect habour for raiders) was not only a warriortown of great fame (resisted the Poles for a good while alone), but in the time just prior to the Saga the town suddenly saw a great influx of taller people and lots of Nordic items, Danish in particular. The period after the Saga's events saw a rapid decline in these artifacts, and in fact the town was burnt down on three seperate occations by Danish kings for its depredations on the Danish heartlands.
This alone indicates that Danish warriors took up residence in Wolin at the time of the Saga, which also coincides with the next generation of local warriors after the defeat to Poland (somehow the town came under Danish control it seems). Then the battle of Hjørungevåg happened (well around that time) and the power of Wolin declined sharply and it was forced to attack closer to home, meaning Denmark. Apparently the Danish warriors were gone and only locals remained.

The Saga and Saxo's work are remarkably similar, and they are written about the same time. So obviously there was an older 'saga' they drew on, because the step back to Anders Sunesen and Adam of Bremen is too steep (though the line is clear). That lost work is the basics for the Saga as we know it. Before that the town of Wolin was 'merely' allied to Denmark or had a Danish garrison of very capable warriors. It could even have been a royal town as the kings during its accendance seemed to have a special relationship with it, one traveling there to die and another keeping in close contact with them.

The point:
Jomsvikings as Jomsvikings is not correct, but powerful and specifically feared vikings from the town of what seems to be known as Julin-Jumne to the Norse, is very much a reality. The history of the town and the strength of its warriors gave rise to a heroic saga as it had some clearlyfelt impact all the way to Norway. Not bad for a single town.