Red pill me on vikings

The last Germanic migration. Great seafarers, traders, and explorers. Raided mostly for the monies.

this

But a thousand year later, africans still havent invented boats

Biggest pussies on history.

Also Dublin

Danes

>Vikings were the only culture that raided their neighbors for wealth and slaves ever

Read a book.

Seafaring Germanic peoples hailing from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Invented the longship and used it to great effect.

They were reknown traders and explorers who reached as far west as modern-day Canada and as far east as to reach the silk-road and do regular business with the Islamic and Arab empires.

They settled in many places, and had effects on lots of cultures including the Rus and the British. They also settled Iceland, the Faroes, and I believe the Orkneys as well. Greenland and Vinland were both temporary and ultimately unsuccessful, but certainly ambitious settlements.

They were most prominent from roughly 750-1100 AD. They were originally Pagan, but gradually Christianized around the middle of this period. At the same time, their society drifted from being very decentralized and democratic, to being dominated by powerful Kings. Shortly after the end of the Viking Age they organized themselves similarly to other European kingdoms.

They had a rich oral tradition, and there are many written accounts of the Sagas- oral histories of powerful families or prominent figures in scandinavian history. However, these sagas make reference to all sorts of supernatural goings-on and embellishments, and so should be considered a secondary source at best.

Viking history in a nutshell.
Ooga booga. We murder and steal from Christians. Ooga booga, make sacrifice to Thor and Odin. Ooga booga, we defeated. Become Christians now.

'Viking' comes from a Danish word meaning pirate. If you asked a Viking-Age scandinavian to what people he'd belonged, in the broadest sense he'd call himself a Norseman, but more likely a Dane, Swede, Norwegian, Icelander, etc... in other words, they didn't call themselves Vikings, unless they were actively raiding.

Raiding and trading is what the Norse are known mostly for, and they were succesful at both. As warriors and armies their efficacy varies: anyone who says they were fearsome and undefeatable warriors is being inaccurate. Anyone who says they were quivering pussies or 'snow-niggers' is as well.

Culturally, they seemed to be very polite and respectful. There's loads of accounts of Christian missionaries travelling through pagan Scandinavia and doing their damndest to antagonize the Norse into martyring them, but for the most part they were well looked after as guests, and tolerated for their strange or assholish behaviors as they were foreigners.

I would highly recommend visiting hurstwic.com/history/text/history.htm for more information. These guys have great articles on a wide variety of topics pertaining to Viking age scandinavia, and if you're interested, are definitely worth reading.

Don't listen to what assholes on Veeky Forums have to say about a historic group or era. Do some research yourself, and formulate your own opinions.

saw a documentary on them.

this is what I got out of it.
actually a cool concept if you think about it.

So according to Homo Erectus and Homo Sapien migration from africa to America. somewhere in the eastern migration there was a split. obvious we know of these peoples populating America while other populated Europe eventually. It wasn't until The vikings so it has been said through evidence and archaeological findings that the Vikings were the first to Get to America and reunite that split. Where Modern Day Humans split and went to America and others went to Europe. It wasn't until this meeting where the Vikings settled in Canada for a short time that there was a full circle of Culture in Humanity finally coming together.

thought it was an interesting point that they made.

also That it was said that the vikings were smart enough not to give their iron to the Natives.
Makes you wonder... if they had?????

If they had, I doubt much would have come of it. Sure, they might *have* iron, but that doesn't mean they instantly gain knowledge of how to produce and work it.

A more interesting alt-history, I think, would be if the Greenland settlement proved sustainable, allowing for Norse colonization of North America. That could have opened the door up to the New World for Europe centuries earlier.

From what I know it wasn't that it was not a sustainable settlement besides the very harsh climate. It was that Colonization of North America was out of the cards due to these particular Vikings not having a large enough population to do so. Another reason was because it wasn't worth their time. sure plenty of fish, fresh water, ideal forests to build settlements, they very well could have. But it would have been a settlement not a kingdom. The Vikings were more interested in Trade rather than conquering lands or expanding across a new land. One they were unaware of how large the land was. two no sense of gold or idea that presented anything where gold might be found rose up. Three they were trading fur mostly, tobacco wasn't even there to be traded. All the essential wealth matters such as gold, tobacco and maze that made colonization in the 15th century and on in America did not present itself. The vikings were simply too few, too poor and not ambitious enough to colonize north America. Should they have discovered Tobacco, perhaps it would have been possible. but i could be wrong, Prove me otherwise.

I don't think I'd be able to, as you raise entirely valid points. Between Iceland, Greenland, and the decentralized population of Scandinavia to begin with, it's not as if the Norsemen were hurting for Lebensraum. Hell, their diaspora from Norway had infinitely more to do with political oppression than it did overpopulation.

I know little of the Political oppression to be fair, but still, if only those vikings found tobacco... with the trade networks they had established..... woah. I cant even fathom what would have happened.

maybe some of the following?

>Arabic Traders desperately try to move north to get closer trade deals with the viking tobacco traders.
>Franks and Anglo's as well as Germanic's cultivate Tobacco in mass to try and corner market. Possibly Italians.
>Crusades maybe are halted or never happen because of the large trade that would be established from the demand for tobacco.
>New desire to travel to America and Colonization is pushed forward by 300 years possibly? give or take 50years.

...

did you know the Irish beat them to it?

...

go on then.

Ogham inscriptions in Virginia

Albani, Duhare

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ireland

cwva.org/wwvrunes/wwvrunes_3.html

>did you know the Irish beat them to it?

Did you know the Soultreans beat them?

I think its safe to assume that the only people who badmouth Vikings are butthurt Christians from Lindisfarne.

>stone age colonists
>suggested evidence

maybe some better proof or sources and I'll give it to you.