War, Peace and Gender in the Viking Age- Hidden Messages in Old Norse Myths pt.23

[nordicpatriot]

It is interesting that what is said to have especially enraged the Danes were that Gunhild, the sister of Sven Forkbeard, was killed. If a woman can have a man killed for a slap in the face, just imagine what could happen if she was killed - and furthermore if she was a member of a royal family. Then the 'fury of the Norsemen' were surely to be activated... :)

[nordicpatriot]

Excellent video. If you are right when saying that the women had such high status in the Nordic countries, then it could explain part of the motivation of the (danish) viking invasion of England after 1002 AD, the year of the infamous Sct.Brice Day massacre, where the English king Ethelred the Unready tried to kill all Danes living in England.

[RolloOfTheNorth]

Love this video :D

[SentientRaven]

Fascinating stuff! Thanks!

[teufelstaub]

I don't know if there is a direct linguistic correlation,but the Russians have long brewed a fermented rye or beet based beveridge called Kvass.It's quite nutritious,full of vitamins and is much like the old meads...filling,inspiring and tasty.

[CelticValdyr]

Wonderful video and great exploration into greed, jealousy and hatred - the banes of joy and peace. The need to survive is king though and much of the raiding was really a grab for land and resources as neighbor crowded neighbor. The mention of the bow in female graves was interesting. Might explain the fading of Ullr in the stories as he too was associated with the bow (Yew Dales), but as the iron age noble-warrior society grew dominant, axe and sword had higher reverence.

[Vidarskald]

For example, look at the ease with which we Americans start wars all around the world. Does anyone really think we would be at war every couple of years, like clockwork, if we actually had to walk right up to our "enemies" and hack them to death? Much easier to kill people with Tomahawk missiles. : (

[Vidarskald]

Great video as always. I only bring this up because we don't have perfect records of the killings that took place during the Viking era but I wouldn't be surprised if those days were actually more peaceful than our modern era. When I've been in places where everyone was armed and you knew harm could befall you if you acted like a jerk people generally behaved very well. I think the anonymity of big cities and the ease of killing from a distance has made this a more violent age.

[LadyoftheLabyrinth]

@Vidarskald Yes, agree. As you point out, these people had to engage directly in battle - usually with people who could match them in strength and eqiupment, which required a considerable degree of courage that modern soldiers probably cannot imagine...and which, despite the terrible violence that happened in that era, cannot compare to the immense massacres, often of civilians and children, (often executed from a safe distance) caused by modern warfare.

[Vidarskald]

It's my understanding that many tribes in sub-Saharan Africa today also have this arrangement where the mother's brother is more likely the father figure to her children. This makes perfect sense in society where women are more sexually promiscuous (let's say "openly promiscuous") and you don't know for certain who the father is. You always know who your siblings are.

[1010bree]

Diana/ artemis the hunter had bow and arrow, also brighid in celtic is the fiery arrow

[1010bree]

Baldur is a sun god, polarities of wisdom and understanding god and goddess on the tree of life in qaballah

[LadyoftheLabyrinth]

@1010bree Hi! Sorry, but that is wrong. That Baldr is a sun god is a modern misconception with no basis in the Norse/Germanic sources at all. The sun is a goddess, always referred to as "her" and "she", described as a sister, (birth-giving)mother, wife and maiden, and rankes among the goddesses by Snorri. Both the noun for "sun" in the Germanic/Nordic languages and the mythology of the sun in absolutely all the sources give absolute evidence for a female sun.The moon, however, is masculine.

[BretCoreysFilms]

I was shocked to learn anthing at all.... And even more shocked it was an actual event in ancient history.... You seem to know a lot, so I thought maybe you would have some more insights about it.

[BretCoreysFilms]

Hay, I know this may sound crazy..... But I had a dream last night about a thunder god a body of water and 3 stones and it seemed so in depth and real of a dream I googled what I could remember in my dream.... So with that info it led me to a story about thor that I never knew before. What do you know about the 3 stones & his fishing trip?

[DandJ1998]

Excellent video, as always. You've just answered many of the questions that I had about the Viking culture. Thanks!

[LadyoftheLabyrinth]

@BowToMySkill You may want to check out some of my articles or notes on these subjects, links are now pasted into the description of this video.

[LadyoftheLabyrinth]

@BowToMySkill Hi! No one knows if that is true, but we do know that ancestral worship was common and that many clans counted their descendancy from deities. Snorri and Saxo who wrote in the beginning of the 13th century both claimed that the pagan gods were in fact human ancestors that had been deified by their descendants. They may have based this on legendary tradition or on a wish to present the pagan gods as human beings of no threat to the "real" religion of the church. Or both.

[Francesko263]

Also in italian we have the word "baldo" and "baldanzoso" which means "self-confident, strong, frank, full of courage".

[LadyoftheLabyrinth]

@Francesko263 Definitely related! :)

[MrVicaxe]

do you think the the warriors followers of Othin saw blood as a important part of there believes, the unwise man thinks that he ay will live, if from fighting he flees, but the ails and aches of old age dog him though spears have spared him. all men die, cowards die a thousand deaths a braveman only once . done the wulf skin . bewell

[LadyoftheLabyrinth]

@MrVicaxe I think that fearlessness and ability to respond courageously to any situation was the essential issue here, as well as a typical warrior ideology pointing out that even if you die peacefully because of a cowardly life you are not necessarily happier and that to die with honor is better than to live without honour. The valkyrias (more than Odin) are often described as literally hungry for blood and possessing a burning desire for fresh corpses, the dead is "wed" to these fates.

[LadyoftheLabyrinth]

@MrVicaxe Hi, I just pasted in links to the sites where I have recently posted articles and notes that touch these subjects. Be Well too.:)

[Burrakuroze]

Thank you. I've been so looking forward to the continuation of this series. Keep making them please!! :)