In the minds of the majority, one of the most prominent heroes of the European Middle Ages is the Vikings. They are credited with conceivable and inconceivable virtues in which the layman hardly distinguishes truth from lies. Get to know the ten major misconceptions about who the Vikings were.
1. The Vikings were exclusively Scandinavians
Although, perhaps, it was they who laid the foundations for the Viking era, soon those robber squads included all those who held their weapons well, were ready to fight for the sake of production, and, at least more or less understood, about what is it about. Estimates of various historians show that the Scandinavian element itself in the Vikings did not exceed 50%. Moreover, some Viking groups were non-Germanic at all.
2. The Vikings were invincible warriors
In fact, their invincibility was manifested mainly when they were able to make a sudden raid. Moreover, the victims of their raids, as a rule, were not too protected, but rich settlements or monasteries. Almost everywhere where organized resistance was offered to them, luck was not so supportive of the Vikings.
3. The Vikings were powerful men of enormous power
In fact, what we know about them indicates that they were incredibly hardy and well trained, but they did not possess any strongman strength or muscle mass of a bodybuilder even when they were dry and hot. Outwardly, they were hardly likely to differ from modern athletes or special forces soldiers.
4. There were many berserkers among the Vikings
In fact, berserkers were rarely Vikings, and in most of the robber friends they were not at all, since the former did not always control the attacks of combat madness. Moreover, the attitude towards berserkers among the Scandinavians was ambiguous in view of their potential danger. Some labels were even proud that they destroyed berserkers, like pests. At the same time, it should be noted that having a berserker on board was beneficial, since such a warrior, released in the front ranks, caused panic in the enemy. The downside was that in a fit of insanity, he could start shredding his own as well.
5. The growth of the Vikings was huge
Archaeological excavations have shown that the average growth of the Scandinavians of the Viking Age ranged from 172 to 176 cm. From the point of view of a resident of Western Europe, this is really huge growth (the average European had about 160-165 cm). For comparison, most residents of modern Europe, including Russians and Ukrainians, have an average height of about 175 cm.
6. The Vikings were the horror of all the surrounding nations
In fact, they scared mostly monks, and even then for the most part they were only in France and sometimes in England. Other peoples treated them much more simply – they defended themselves from them and often successfully. The fact that they were often hired as mercenaries was explained only by the fact that the Vikings had no political ambitions and did not support any of the local clans: Byzantium or Russia could be an example.
7. The Vikings fanatically revered Odin
The religious cults of Scandinavia were not monotheistic and implied the veneration of many gods, and there is reason to believe that among the warriors the cult of the mighty Thor was the most common. Perhaps the more popular cunning god-shaman Odin / Wotan was among the military leaders and berserkers.
8. The Vikings were pathologically aggressive
In fact, European chroniclers and modern mass culture echoing them put them like that. The Viking era was born not of pathological belligerence, but of the overpopulation of the Scandinavian Peninsula, multiplied by the low soil fertility and lack of land for grazing. The Vikings began to make their trips exclusively in search of means of subsistence. As soon as they managed to conquer a particular piece of fertile land, they preferred to abandon the conquests, becoming ordinary European armed landowners. For the same reason, they easily hired everyone who was ready to take them to the service. At the same time, they did not care at all whether the service would be coupled with military operations.
9. The Vikings frenzied themselves by eating fly agaric
Outstanding ecstasy beyond combat was not “caught” by all the Vikings, but only berserkers, and there is no reason to believe that they ate this mushroom. There is no historical evidence that would indicate such a part of their diet, and the experiments of enthusiasts led to dubious results and raised a lot of questions to the surface. Thus, the “fly agaric version” so far refers exclusively to speculation.
10. The Vikings fought with huge double axes and with the same swords
They rarely fought with swords, since this type of weapon was very expensive for most of them. He could afford it mainly for those who already had a high level of income, as well as for those who had already earned considerable wealth during the campaigns. However, by this age, it was too late to retrain on swords from much more common axes and spears, so swords were more likely to be traded and a sign of status than military weapons.
The Vikings actually used two-blade axes, however, they were several times smaller than what can be seen in the films, since it is not only difficult, but also completely ineffective, to swing weapons with a weight of 10-15 kg. The main weapon of the Vikings, as in other peoples, was a spear, sometimes with a very impressive tip, reminiscent of a halberd. By the way, the weight of the swords used by the then Europeans (and the Vikings, in particular) almost never exceeded 1.5 kg.
