James Burke : Connections³, Episode 8 : "Fire From The Sky" (HQ), 1 of 5

[morelhunters]

dang james 0:53 :)

[sotul1]

This was a brilliant documentary series ,I watched it first time around. J. Burke incurred big problems in his career after this. People don't like to hear that most of our histories technically speaking were a bunch of connections brought around by necessity rather than invention. He was ahead of his time but like most people who are he was ridiculed by the scientists because he made them look like cogs in a machine.

Well done J.Burke.

[ornleifs]

As an Icelander it´s fun to see good old Burke in the homeland.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Hehe... I think he says something like "hey, this job isn't all tropical beaches!" or something along those lines (which is usually where he has to go to get the next [cough cough...] *vital* bit of data ;))

[Jcolinsol]

I am curious, as an Icelander, what is your opinion of the idea that Iceland had an Anarchic period until 930 CE?

[ornleifs]

Well it is thought that Iceland was settled by Viking from Norway around 870 and it took some time for laws and society to organise itself, but I must admit I´m no expert in Icelands history I´m much more fascinated by the history of England, japan and India - Ha Ha :-)

[Jcolinsol]

Interesting. Ryan Faulk has suggested that up until 930CE there was no compulsory institution in Iceland, people voluntarily associated with various chieftains, which would make it a form of Anarchy. When Christianity became the official religion, they instituted tithe and it collapsed into statism.

But, as an outsider, I wouldn't want to be unduly revising history. heh.

[ornleifs]

I think this is basically right. The old Icelandic Sagas like Njáls Saga and Egils Saga are full of stories from this period.