Alona A.

Harrison, Christian Franks, and Jenna Burghart

Mrs. Brown

Senior English

31 January, 2017

Vikings: More Than Myths

Vikings are commonly seen today in documentaries, on television, and glorified in

movies. Despite what people have depicted them as, Vikings are nothing like what people show

or see them as. Under research of discovered remains people now know what their life was like.

Their remains tell stories about the past and the Norse Mythology they believed in. Most of their

daily life was driven by strength, given by their beliefs, making them warriors and masters of the

ocean and the land. With all this information that had been discovered since they disappeared, it

makes one wonder; what were the Vikings like?

Vikings have been regarded as oafs For hundreds of years after their bloody appearance

at the end of the 8th century A.D.,...will ( Lemonick and Dorfman, The Amazing Vikings).

Interestingly enough, most Norse were not Vikings "The term Viking... refers properly only to

men who went on raids. All Vikings were Norse, but not all Norse were Vikings-- and those who

were did their viking only part time. And while rape and pillage were part of the agenda, they

were a small part of Norse life" ( Lemonick and Dorfman, The Amazing Vikings). Most Norse

people who were "... blue-eyed, blond or reddish- haired people who originated in what is now

Scandinavia were primarily farmers and herdsmen" ( Lemonick and Dorfman, The Amazing

Vikings). The Norse people had short summers so they grew grains and vegetables, but they

relied heavily on their livestock, which consisted of: pigs, goats, sheep, and cows. During the

day, Norse women would cook, clean, sew and iron. The men, while not farming, smelted ore to
make tools and cookware out of it. One of the most important aspects of the Norse people was

their ability to make some of the best ships of the time. The Norse's ship building skills led to

many of the historic parts of Norse culture.

There's no doubt that Vikings were important when it came to conquering. Originally,

Vikings traveled because they were agriculturalists and traders searching for new, fertile land.

During this time they did not conquer purposefully. It was said the they found a much easier

way to acquire luxury goods (Lemonick and Dorfman, The Amazing Vikings). At this time, the

conquering began. When raidingVikings would not just come and go, but would come and settle

the land. When doing this culture spread to areas such as Newfoundland, Denmark, Norway and,

Sweden. Conquering these areas helped create lands that are inhabited today. Some climates did

not promote growing which thus led the Vikings to leave that land with nothing but destruction.

The importance of these legends is the spread of culture and mythology to the land in which the

explored, conquered and traded on.

Norse culture helped shape and pave the way for their mythology. For the Vikings, it was

less a collection of myths, but rather a religion. Norse Mythology developed from a set of

religious stories that the Vikings had spread over time. Concepts of these stories include

Yggdrasil, The World Tree, Asgard, Home of the Aesir Gods and lfheimr, Home of the elves.

The Norse people also have concepts parallel to modern day religions and concepts. Hel,

Madgard, and Asgard parallel modern day Hell, Purgatory and, Heaven. Characters of these

stories include Odin, Thor, Freya and Loki. These are seen as Gods to Norse Mythology. While

there are many more these are widely known today. When Christianity was introduced, those

who followed the Norse religion were pegged as Heathens. The use of these Gods and realms

have influenced modern movie, literature and games.

 In conclusion, the Vikings have more to their history than meets the eye. Vikings were

not only pillagers, but farmers, craftsmen, and religious people. Viking influence stretched

farther than just their native soil. The Vikings shipbuilding, trading, governing ability, and legacy

have been influential in building the modern world. On top of all of this, Vikings are still

prevalent in todays society due to their history and it's not uncommon to find Viking influence in

tv and weighting today.

 Works Cited

Crossley-Holland, Kevin. "Introduction." Introduction. The Norse Myths. New

York: Pantheon, 1980. N. pag. Print.

Dorfman, Michael D. Lemonick; Andrea. "The Amazing Vikings." Time. Time

Inc., 30 Apr. 2000. Web. 23 Jan. 2017.

Norse / Germanic Mythology: Ragnarok. Norse / Germanic Mythology:

Ragnarok. Youtube, 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 31 Jan. 2017. <https://.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=GqeDwZgsP1M&feature=youtu.be>.