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Welcome to "Bonus Dad, Bonus Daughter," a heartwarming and insightful podcast celebrating the unique bond between a stepfather Davey, and his stepdaughter Hannah.
Join them as they explore the joys, challenges, and everyday moments that make this relationship special.
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Featuring candid conversations, personal stories, and many laughs
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Viking Legacy: Myths, Raids, and Forgotten Truths
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Journey back to the age of longships and legendary explorers as we unravel the fascinating truth about Vikings beyond the stereotypical horned helmets and savage raids. In this illuminating father-daughter conversation, we navigate through Norse mythology, battlefield tactics, and the remarkable societal structures that made Viking culture far more progressive than most realize.
Did you know Vikings discovered America centuries before Columbus? Or that their society valued women as equals, with female warriors fighting alongside men? Perhaps most surprising is the evidence of diversity within Viking communities and their reputation for cleanliness when most Europeans rarely bathed. From the infamous blood eagle (which likely never happened) to berserkers who fought with drug-induced fury, we separate historical fact from Hollywood fiction.
The Viking legacy extends far beyond their military conquests. Their linguistic contributions pepper our modern vocabulary, their shipbuilding revolutionized navigation, and their exploration reshaped our understanding of world history. Through colorful stories of Ragnar Lothbrok, Ivar the Boneless, and Leif Erikson, we paint a rich portrait of a people who were not just raiders but poets, traders, and innovators whose influence continues to captivate our imagination a millennium later.
Whether you're fascinated by Norse mythology, curious about historical misconceptions, or simply enjoy our father-daughter dynamic as we discover these revelations together, this episode offers a fresh perspective on a civilization that's been simultaneously glorified and misunderstood. Subscribe now and join our expedition through Viking history – no longship required!
Hello and welcome to Bonus Dad. Bonus Daughter a special father-daughter podcast with me Hannah and me, davy, where we discuss our differences, similarities, share a few laughs and stories. Within our ever-changing and complex world, Each week we will discuss a topic from our own point of view and influences throughout the decades or you could choose one by contacting us via email, instagram, facebook or TikTok links in bio.
Speaker 2:Welcome to another episode of Bonus Dad, bonus Daughter. Today we're talking about Vikings.
Speaker 1:We are indeed Excited, are you?
Speaker 2:Do you know what I've prepared for this episode?
Speaker 1:Nothing.
Speaker 2:Absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing.
Speaker 1:It was so funny last night when because I often write the episodes and then I'll send hannah a message just saying we're gonna do this one, this one and this one. And then last night we were at the beach, I turned around to hannah and I said uh. I said, oh, what episodes we're doing tomorrow?
Speaker 2:and I'll just kind of them off yeah, you reeled them off.
Speaker 1:And then I went have you actually read the what I've written? And you went nope, of course, of course I haven't. No, but it does make it better, because then you kind of go in blind.
Speaker 2:I think my blind reaction is funnier than me being fully prepared about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The only thing I do regret about not looking at them is if I do actually have some knowledge in the area and I'm like wait, I can only just slightly remember this one fact yeah, we should have got viking hats we should have got viking hats you know what I do have what do you have, hannah?
Speaker 2:I have a. This is a bit controversial actually, uh, but for the audio listeners, basically, I've just plonked on the table. It's um, it's a rhino horn goblet with a wooden base to it. But I just want to say that I don't agree with rhino horn farming situation.
Speaker 1:But that was sustainably sourced.
Speaker 2:This was sustainably sourced because it was sourced from a deceased rhino, a rhino that had already died, not that they killed it for its ivory but it was already dead.
Speaker 1:Well, it's not ivory, is it? It's the horn, it's the horn. Sorry, yeah, I'm not on. Rhinoceros' horn is actually hair.
Speaker 2:Hair. Yeah, that's what it is, it's hair. It's hair, really thick hair. Actually it is kind of wispy on the bottom here, but yeah, it's. It's a Viking-style goblet Goblet, I think is yeah, yeah, yeah, yes.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, my ancestors, the Vikings, the Vikings, the Vikings, the group of people that lived in the area of Scandinavia, and we're going to talk a little bit about their society, their beliefs, going to mention a few iconic Vikings, because there are some iconic Vikings Iconic, yes, raids, empires and discoveries are some of the big things that they did. Exciting, going to do some myth busting, because there's quite a lot of facts about Vikings that is actually fiction.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's fake news, which isn't actually true. Going to talk a little bit about Vikings in popular culture as well, and also the Viking legacy. What did the Vikings do for us?
Speaker 2:I see, I see. Yes, I don't know if this is true, but I recently learned that news is an acronym.
Speaker 1:It is.
Speaker 2:For North, east, west and South. What, yeah? And that is because news comes from all around.
Speaker 1:All around the world.
Speaker 2:Except that's not exactly true.
Speaker 1:It's not true.
Speaker 2:It's a myth it is a myth because of the propaganda yes and we don't hear a lot of news from other areas of the world no, we don't. We only hear what they want us to hear yeah, we hear a distorted view yeah, of the news.
Speaker 1:That's one thing that I found interesting when I was in america. Oh was the news yeah because the especially the, the kind of the more local news that they have, because obviously you get CNN and Fox and we can see those, but there's other news channels over there and it's interesting to see, obviously in the UK.
Speaker 2:Florida man dies of mysterious death. Yeah.
Speaker 1:But we have. We have a lot of UK news and, of course, america is a lot more. They have a lot more American news, but it's just interesting to hear their take on some things and and it is just a lot of it is just human nature, because it's just slightly, but you can tell it's when somebody's saying it's coming at it from a slightly different angle. So it's truth, but it's it's opinionated truth as well. It's yeah, it's very yeah. Then what is fact? What is fact? What is the truth? What is the truth.
Speaker 2:What is the truth? What is?
Speaker 1:the truth. What is the truth? Because truth is really only your truth as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So there could be a situation where you believe that it's the truth, but you're looking at it from that angle and somebody's looking at it from another angle. You've done the psychological test of the six and the nine, haven't you?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, essentially, what that is is it's not a psychological test is is to prove a point. It's you, you draw the letter, or draw the letter, you draw the number six and you look at it from this angle and someone looks at it from the other side. You're both right and you're both right, because you can see a nine or you can see a six and the other person can see a nine what.
Speaker 2:What makes a person emotionally clever is that they can determine that the that they're both right and that they've.
Speaker 1:That's it, yeah that is it, yes. That is it, yeah, yes vikings, vikings yes, should we get back onto? Back onto script? So back onto script. So when was the viking age? When was it hannah? It was roughly between um, about 800 ad. It wasa where the vikings, kind of they, started to make themselves known. Yeah, and it ended. The viking age we we say ended in the year 1066 oh, 800 w 1066.
Speaker 1:I knew you were gonna do that oh that is a advert for hastings direct, a british yeah insurance company that does like car insurance, and that was their little jingle we used to sing that all the time, didn't we?
Speaker 2:it's like auto class repair auto class replace and oh yes churchill, churchill oh no direct line yeah so many insurance ones yeah and then now recently it's GoCompare or comparedemiurkadcom.
Speaker 1:They are catchy though, aren't they? They're very catchy, they are catchy, so 1066.
Speaker 2:The washing machines last longer with Calcon.
Speaker 1:Dick hot, we should do an episode of just advert jingles.
Speaker 2:We've done an episode on adverts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we have actually yeah.
Speaker 2:What would that? Be Just jingles, just us singing jingles, just us singing jingles for 40 minutes.
Speaker 1:That'd be cool, wouldn't it? Yeah, so the Back on track. Yeah, so they say the Viking age kind of started really with a raid on Lindisfarne, which was a peaceful monastery on the northeast coast of England. So basically the Vikings came across. Because this is the thing as well. I mean, when I say like being descended from Vikings myself, I like Norse mythology, but when you actually look at it, they weren't very nice people some of them.
Speaker 1:I mean, there's always going to be nice and not nice people in any group of people but basically they, you know they, they created ships, uh boats, and they were amazing long ships, they were amazing sailors and they managed to come across the north sea which, trust me, the north sea it's pretty, pretty choppy and pretty violent, so to come across in a long ship and full of poop and full of poop it is now yeah, it's quite dangerous crossing.
Speaker 1:So they come over and what do they do? They find a monastery northeast of England and they basically raid it.
Speaker 2:Lovely.
Speaker 1:And they kill all of the monks and they desecrate the church and they steal all the stuff and go back to Scandinavia.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 1:So that happened in 793 AD. That's when that happened, and about 200 years later there was a battle called the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Well, it is a famous battle, but the battle that happened after that is much more famous.
Speaker 2:Stamford Bridge is also Chelsea's football stadium. It is indeed. Please carry on, yes.
Speaker 1:And what happened after the Battle of Stamford Bridge was the Battle of Hastings.
Speaker 2:Hence the jingle that you just sang 0800 00 10 66,. Just to remind our listeners.
Speaker 1:That's where Harold was beaten by William the Conqueror, and then we were ruled by the French after that. But interesting fact, William the Conqueror himself was descended from Vikings.
Speaker 2:So he's fighting against himself.
Speaker 1:But no so Harold, who was the one who died at the Battle of Hastings. King Harold, is he the arrow through the eye man? He's the arrow through the eye man. He is, indeed. He had a battle prior to the Battle of hastings, and that was the battle of stanford bridge, and he won that battle so he was just tired when he was at hastings exactly so.
Speaker 1:The argument is is that if he hadn't done the battle of stanford bridge, he could have won the battle against william the conqueror right. His army and harold were knack. They literally fought this battle at Stamford Bridge and then marched from the northeast of England down to Hastings.
Speaker 2:So they were just tired.
Speaker 1:They were knackered, absolutely knackered Jeez. And interestingly, the Viking who they beat and destroyed the Vikings was a guy also called Harold. His name was Harold Haraldson, son of Harold, son of Harold, son of harold. Yeah, yeah, that's where a lot of you it's like when, uh, in in names in vikings you know, like haroldson yeah, smiths and smiths and all of that yeah but then you got the other side, the daughter. Yeah, so, yeah. So my 10th great-grand named Elizabeth Ollastotter.
Speaker 2:So daughter of.
Speaker 1:Ollastotter. So yeah, so the Battle of the Stamford Bridge was actually a very famous battle as well, because there was a. Apparently the bridge was held by one Viking berserker who was basically chopping people left, right and centre.
Speaker 2:It took them ages to kill.
Speaker 1:There's a very, very famous story about this one Viking berserker who basically managed to hold the bridge by himself for ages. What a legend. Yeah, it's just like this massive, great big Viking berserker who's like, come at me and just chopping people left, right and centre.
Speaker 2:Does he have a name?
Speaker 1:He does, but I can't remember it and I didn't.
Speaker 1:actually, when I looked at this, I forgot to look him up but I do know that story um, yeah, so harold harold howlson died actually trying to claim the english throne, and that kind of that was where they said the end of the viking age was. So they come from. The vikings come from scandinavia, which today we know as norway, sweden and denmark. Scandinavia is a very rocky place, deep fjords and dense forests. Now it is a beautiful part of the world and one that I would desperately love to go to, but it's just so expensive. It really really is expensive to go to Norway, denmark and Sweden, but it is beautiful. I mean, I'd love to go kayaking along the fjords. Apparently that's supposed to be absolutely gorgeous.
Speaker 1:But life for the Vikings was very, very hard. The soil was poor and their farming wasn't great. So they decided this is why they decided to leave Scandinavia and see what else was out there and where they could find. And they built these ships and, of course, the nearest country was England. And they raided, they pillaged, they did some raping as well and they basically kind of invaded over these 200 years, but not just England, they went all over the place.
Speaker 2:The berserker you're talking about apparently was Harold. Oh, it was Harold. It was Harold. It was Harold.
Speaker 1:It was Harold, was it?
Speaker 2:But he's named two different things. When I Googled it, it's Harold Godwinson.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Or Harold Heralda.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Harold Heralda.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was the king Harold Heralda. Yeah, harold Herald.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was the king. Sorry, it wasn't Harold Haroldson, it was Harold Heralda. Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Cool, okay, yeah, so he was the guy, but apparently he didn't actually kill that many. It was 40 people.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I still think that's quite a lot though. Yeah, by yourself, by yourself Single-handedly 40 by yourself with a sword and a shield.
Speaker 1:Pretty good going, yeah, so they Good fire. Yeah, so life was hard for the early Vikings. So what did they do? They took to their ships and they decided they would go raiding. So they went because of overpopulation, ambition, political rivalries as well, and, of course, just to try and get some money and some farming land for their, for their people. So that's why they did um. So a little bit about viking society, society, society and their beliefs.
Speaker 1:So you've heard of longhouses no no, longhouse is a massive, massive building which is basically like a great hall. Okay, so when?
Speaker 2:um like communal living then yeah, right.
Speaker 1:So oh no, no, they had their own job. But the great hall was where, where they would celebrate and they would feast, and that would be like the town hall essentially. Yes, it's like our modern day town hall. Right would be the long house, okay, and even even in, even in norse mythology, when they say you know they go to valhalla, you know you dine in odin's great hall in his great I see, I see, yes, is it a status symbol?
Speaker 1:very much so, oh, very much so, and you know each. So they're very true. They were very tribal.
Speaker 2:I was gonna say it might not be actually that status symbol. I guess the tribe status symbol, but it seems like they do communal eating. Yeah, they have their own private places, but I guess communal yeah, but they would have a big feast and they wouldn't.
Speaker 1:That's where. That's where they would go. I wonder if they all brought a dish each like potluck.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, no, I don't know. Mary's bringing the turkey, let's bring the stuff in let's bring in the potato salad. Yeah, yeah did anyone bring any crisps?
Speaker 1:so they, they kind of. You know, these long houses themselves were made of wood. They had moss on them for insulation. Nice, because Scandinavia is freaking cold.
Speaker 2:So they needed moss.
Speaker 1:They needed moss, they used moss for insulation, big fire, and that was essentially where the Jarls lived as well. So the viking viking society was kind of layered. They had they had the yarls, which were the, the noble leaders, the warriors and the landowners, and then you had the carls, which were the craftsmen, the traders and the farmers first, second and third class. Yeah, yeah exactly, and then you had the thralls or the thralls, or the thralls, and the thralls were essentially slaves.
Speaker 2:Because thralls in. Like any gaming mythology, lore is normally like you're your dirt on the floor, henchmen, yeah that are easy kills yeah exactly, exactly that yeah so, yeah, um, as I say, yeah, they, they, very, very steeped in this mythology.
Speaker 1:They uh didn't believe in one god. They believed in lots of gods, yeah, as much as quite a few um civilizations did at that time. Um, you had odin, who was the all-father, who was, it would essentially be the god. And then odin, you had thor loki, you know all all. Freya, the goddess of love and war, was freya. Um loki was the trickster god, thor was with, with mjolnir, the the hammer you would really enjoy.
Speaker 2:There's a ride at blackpool pleasure beach that you definitely won't get wet on, um, but it's sit in a boat and you go around and it talks about all of the all of the viking lore and you go to viking heaven, you go to valhalla, you go to valhalla.
Speaker 1:Well, there's see, viking heaven this is. This is a. This is one of those little bits of fiction where Viking heaven is Valhalla. Yes, valhalla is the place where the warriors go. If you died in battle. You go to Valhalla and that's where you feast with Odin and you fight every day. But there are also other heavens.
Speaker 2:That's cool. Because, that's not really. In Christian culture there's only one heaven. One hell isn't there.
Speaker 1:Whereas they've got multiple heavens and presumably multiple hells as well yeah, I mean we, we and different realms of existence yeah, we call it in north mythology, if you think of so, where the world where we live, they call it midgard. That's where we are. We are midgard, and you've also then got valhalla, and do you know what? But a lot of the names actually escaped me at the moment. But there's other heavens where people will go to. I mean even the Aurora Borealis, because you can see that in Scandinavia they believed that to be the gateway to the heavens.
Speaker 2:The.
Speaker 1:Bifrost. That's exactly what they believed that to be. They also saw the world as a great tree, the Yggdrasil, which you would have seen, that tree, you know that image. Tree of life, the tree of life, exactly exactly that.
Speaker 2:I think I have necklaces with the tree of life and all sorts of things.
Speaker 1:With you know, the roots being in the darkness and the branches in the heavens.
Speaker 2:Do you think the green man featured?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I think the green man features Absolutely and of course Fenrir yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And you've got the Midgard serpent, which is the yeah, the serpent, the Jorg Wunder.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's yeah, so that's kind of what they, what they kind of believed in.
Speaker 2:They gods, but they but what I liked about norse norse mythology is that the gods are flawed. Yes, that's nice. In greek mythology, they're all well, other than one which I mentioned in a podcast episode.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, they're all perfect yeah perfect um attractive beings yeah, I mean loki's a loki's a bugger. Yeah, you know, he's a little. He's a little bit of a bugger. Thor as well. You know, thor actually isn't that intelligent in Norse mythology.
Speaker 2:He's not the sharpest tool in the box. They don't make him awfully intelligent in Avengers either actually no, he's not.
Speaker 1:The sharpest tool in the box is Arthur. No, I mean Odin as well. Odin's like the Allfather, he's a bit nasty, he has his moments. But there's a book called the Poetic Header which is what describes a lot of the Norse mythology stories. A little bit about the Poetic Header it was actually discovered in Iceland, Again similar to the Bible and some of the other things, where the stories get passed down word of mouth and then they finally get written down into a book, so they would have been distorted over time.
Speaker 2:I see, I see yeah um.
Speaker 1:The Poetic Edda is an excellent book. It's really, really good. I read that last. I read that in um when we went to Florida last time oh, okay yeah, I read the Poetic Edda, so let's do. What do you know of any Vikings, hannah? Because I've just realised I've been gabbling on for ages.
Speaker 2:I actually don't other than like Thor as a god.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:If you count Thor. Yeah, I can't really think of a famous Viking.
Speaker 1:Have you ever heard the name Ragnar Lothbrok?
Speaker 2:No, tell me all about it so ragnar lothbrok is uh.
Speaker 1:So I just say, we actually don't think he existed okay a fictional guy well, we think he might be.
Speaker 1:No, he's a guy, he's a guy. We actually think that ragnar lothbrok might have been three or four different vikings that the stories have kind of molded into one. Yeah, yeah, over time, yeah, he said, you know, he was said to have led raids on france, england. He was also the father of some very famous vikings that we do know existed. So we don't know that, but we also. He died in. He was killed by the King of England in a pit of snakes. Ragnar Lothbrok Okay, what a way to go. Exactly, exactly. But also the story goes that he did have the respect of a lot of the English kings as well, and he was a very good negotiator.
Speaker 2:But he seemed to be well-travelled, so maybe he is four different people.
Speaker 1:That's what they think. They think he was. He's done a lot in a short space of time. There is a TV show called Vikings on. I can't remember if it's on the streaming service which basically tells I wonder what that's about? Yeah well, it tells the story of Ragnar Lothbrok and also Ragnar's sons, bjorn Ironside and also Ivar the Boneless, and I can't remember the other ones but there's now poor, like three poor vikings that are not getting the credit that they deserve exactly, exactly, exactly these deeds.
Speaker 1:Yeah, uh, so there was either the boneless, yeah, so his son his son was supposed to be the son of ragnar. He was, so he did exist, and he led the great heathen army that invaded england. He was, uh, very ruthless in battle, and he was a brilliant strategist. What? Was buddhica buddhica's queen of the iceni. She was way before she's not viking, then no no, no, she was uh Iceni, she was from here, she was from.
Speaker 2:Norfolk Okay, carry on.
Speaker 1:So yeah, the reason why he was called either the boneless up for debate. Some people think that he was actually disabled, so he couldn't walk properly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because he didn't have any bones in his legs.
Speaker 1:Well, he did. But yeah, boneless suggests to me like almost like heartless yeah like as in I don't know, it was more of a no, but with a remover of bones not not, he had removed bones, if that makes sense but no, he was more. He was more physically, physically disabled rather than yeah, uh, so he is. So either is his strategy, his battles, and he won a lot of wars in Ivor.
Speaker 2:So if he's a strategist, maybe he wasn't actively physically fighting in these battles.
Speaker 1:Well, Perhaps he just led them. In the TV show Vikings you actually see Ivor and they go and battle him and they actually portray him that he is in like a carriage, or he's on a horse or he's.
Speaker 2:Right. So yeah, his upper body is all there yeah, got it exactly he'd be really good at like wheelchair basketball yes, got it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so one of the other famous I know this one what leaf erickson? Yeah, come on, leaf lettuce, sorry what, sorry, what, what go on there, what. So what do you know about Leif Erikson?
Speaker 2:So there used to be a TV show on the BBC called Horrible Histories.
Speaker 1:Oh yes, I love Horrible Histories.
Speaker 2:And it's not the Horrible Histories you're actually thinking of. So this was the cartoon version before. Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And there was this skit that they did where they wanted to get on this guy's ship and it was leaf's ship and he said come on leaf lettuce, because lettuce, lettuce leaf, yeah, um, and that's all I know about him.
Speaker 2:I know that he boated, he done boats, he sailed, he did, he did.
Speaker 1:So his name is leaf erickson, so, which means he's son of eric yeah he's actually and this isn't in this list but Leif's dad was Erik the Red, who was another famous Viking, and he discovered Greenland, erik the Red. The reason why he went to Greenland is because he was actually banished from Scandinavia for being a little bit of a naughty boy, so he then created his own how naughty, yeah, he's a bit naughty Killing and stuff and pillaging and killing and leaf was his son, but leaf is actually slightly more famous than eric because leaf was the one who discovered america oh it wasn't christopher columbus that's what I was just about to say nope leaf erickson found a land called Vinland, which they wrote called Vinland for Gin.
Speaker 2:Wine.
Speaker 1:Vin, but I don't know. I don't know what the translation would have been. It's called Vinland and that was actually North America. So he sailed from Greenland, he went that way and discovered America centuries before Christopher Columbus did. Oh my gosh, yeah, christopher.
Speaker 2:Columbus did. Oh my gosh, yeah, Christopher Columbus is like credited for Well.
Speaker 1:I mean you could argue, because he does find it's Canada that he finds.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So he gets to Canada and of course he and there is evidence of Viking settlements and also you know throughout that time, the ancestry of people from Vikings from Canada as well. So, yeah, so it wasn't Christopher Columbus that discovered America, it was actually Leif Erikson.
Speaker 2:So did Leif Erikson leave the Native Americans alone, or were they not there at this stage?
Speaker 1:They were there, they had to be right. Yeah, they were there. There is actually evidence that he did integrate. Oh. So I mean there would have been battles, there would have been fighting there would have been battles. There would have been fights. Of course there was, there would have been, but the evidence suggests that they actually lived in harmony together good yes hi, we found your country.
Speaker 2:Is it okay if some of us come over, can we?
Speaker 1:just pop through customs. Yeah, I've got nothing to declare. You know, uh, I've been to duty, I've got a couple of bottles, but that's it Not bringing anything naughty. Yeah, yeah. So that's it. And then, of course, the other famous Viking we've got is Harold Harald. Yeah, actually, hannah. Do you know what it does say here? He fell at Stamford Bridge in 1066. His dream of the English crown shattered, chattered.
Speaker 2:Yes, ra in 1066, his dream of the English crown shattered Raids, raids, raids, empires and discovery. Let's go.
Speaker 1:Let's raid. The first big raid was at Lindisfarne, as we said, that was in English. That's where we kind of really get introduced to the Vikings on our English shores. Vikings are here, we're killing, we're stabby, stabby, steely, steely, nasty, nasty.
Speaker 2:Did they just want to conquer? Was that the situation? They just wanted rulership?
Speaker 1:No, they just Was it fun, I don't know. No, as I said, they were overpopulated.
Speaker 2:They needed more space.
Speaker 1:Basically, it was a fight over resources. Right, that's what it was. And you, you know the riches in the monastery, the silver, all of that, and there's a plane going overhead. Oh, that's okay, and so that's what. That's essentially why they did it, because they then took it back to scandinavia. Then, about 50 years later, the uh, they actually raided france whoa paris yeah, they actually the whole fleet of vikings sailed up the river in france and they besieged the city of paris good lord and, if I remember rightly, because it isn't here and I might, I might get this wrong okay so don't shoot me.
Speaker 1:I actually think the french paid them off, so basically, take our silver leave our short, leave us alone, don't kill us. And they actually went away with a lot of money nice then in 866, 866, that's when Ivor the Boneless, yeah, invaded England. Great Heathen Army he led the Great Heathen Army and they invaded. They took York, which is why York is very steeped in Viking now. Yep, and they invaded, they took York, which is why York is very steeped in Viking now. And they carved out the Danelaw in England.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:And they basically started settling into England. Then in 911 in Normandy, the Viking leader Rollo becomes a Duke. So he became Duke of Normandy, okay, and his ancestor down was William the Conqueror.
Speaker 2:Got it so, Rollo. Yeah, William was related to.
Speaker 1:Rollo. Now in the story Vikings, Rollo is actually Ragnar Lothbrok's brother. Yeah, so, but I think that's bullshit.
Speaker 2:Right, okay, that's bullshit.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so then Rollo's team then becomes Normans. So you can see there's a lot of Viking influence all around Europe. They actually even invaded Africa at one point as well Did they. Yeah, they went absolutely everywhere.
Speaker 2:Unsuccessfully. That's a massive continent as well. They would have done well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they did, and also the Middle East.
Speaker 2:There's Vikings in the Middle East. Really, they went absolutely everywhere. How they managed to cope with the heat, I do not know. The sun never sets on the Viking invasion?
Speaker 1:No, they were all over the show In Ireland. You know they invaded Ireland. You know a lot of Irish is Well, they were quite into their invading weren't they? They really were. Yeah, they really really were.
Speaker 2:Maybe that's where the Brits got their sort of idea for the British Empire.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and of course they were the first.
Speaker 2:They took a Leif Erikson out of their book.
Speaker 1:Oh dear Lord, Wow, Hannah. So yeah, they were also the first Europeans in North America, Crazy From Leif. So if you actually do watch Vikings, it is quite an interesting series but obviously historically accurate. Not so much Dram. Historically accurate Not so much, but they do actually finish off with Leaf getting to America.
Speaker 2:Come on, Leaf, let us to America.
Speaker 1:Uber is. The other is Ragnar's other son, so Uber.
Speaker 2:Did he get a five star rating?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I am full of them today, you really are you really are.
Speaker 1:I want fat. So what, what, what, how? What do you know about vikings? What? What sort of facts or myths have you heard about them?
Speaker 2:well, having not read that page, um scrolling back down, um I know about the horned helmets situation. What, what, what is it that's?
Speaker 1:I know that's fiction. Yeah, about the horned helmets situation. What, what, what is it?
Speaker 2:I know that's I know that's fiction yeah I've never had horned helmets. I like to think that they did have some sort of armor. That looks cool, though, because I must have got that from somewhere, but it had to been metal as well. There's got to be some metal armor.
Speaker 1:They would. I think they would probably would have had bits of metal but it's main it would have mainly been leather because they wouldn't have had full plate mail armor no, I guess it would have been, it would have been very lightweight because they're very quick off the land.
Speaker 2:I guess as well they're very quick, but other than that I don't really know much about about them really okay. Um, yeah, the long ships I know had always had like some sort of thing carved on them on the front yeah, the front, yeah, and the shields along the sides, yeah, yeah, and they would transport lots of lots of people.
Speaker 1:They were, I mean, they were very good at navigating using the front. Yeah, the front, yeah, and the shields along the sides, yeah, yeah, and they would transport lots of lots of people. They were, I mean, they were very good at navigating using the stars yeah you know they were they were brilliant they were.
Speaker 1:They were brilliant navigators, absolutely amazing navigators. Um, because they were, I mean, they would think back then. They were. They were basically sailing all over the world. They knew what they were doing. They really did. Have you ever heard of something called the blood eagle? No right now the blood eagle is described. It is. It's described in the poetic edda as well uh, but there's no evidence that it actually happened, and that I quite like that, the fact that they don't think it actually ever happened, because the blood eagle is awful.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:So what they would do or what the story goes, it's the worst punishment you can give someone, gosh, and thinking about Vikings, they're quite brutal as they are. What the blood eagle was is they would hang them up out. Yep, they would remove their back and they would pull their lungs out through their back. I know, I know, like an eagle.
Speaker 2:But would they still be alive?
Speaker 1:I don't know, but why yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's like taking the crucifixion like one step further isn't it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, they would still be alive while they did it.
Speaker 2:Oh, how.
Speaker 1:Like the hung, drunk and quartered situation like it's a very similar thing to that. Oh yeah, but that. Thankfully there's no evidence that it was ever performed. But the blood eagle was, was, was has been described in sagas eek.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't like that.
Speaker 1:So yeah, you're right, we don't think they had horned helmets and the blood eagle.
Speaker 2:We don't think it actually happened berserkers, however yes, frenzied warriors, that's how I only know about berserkers is through um borders gate yeah, yeah, yeah, berserkers I assume where the language of berserk comes from.
Speaker 1:Oh, he went, berserk, he went mad exactly that you know crazy frenzied that is exactly, and that's one of the things that the vikings have given us. They've given us a lot language yeah, uh, so berserkers that now they were crazed warriors and you know, you saw a berserker come running towards you. It was like the boss battle yeah, you know that's essentially what it was.
Speaker 1:These these guys were, yes, wow, but they don't quite know how they would get them to that rage. So some believe that they were actually drugs. It was drugs, yeah, it was drugs, and I think there was a lot of drugs on the land yeah, mushrooms, that type of thing yeah psychoactive substances or ritual. But maybe they psyched themselves up into that range as well, they don't know which route it was, but these berserkers were apparently.
Speaker 2:My money's on drugs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my money's on drugs, a bit of both. Maybe, A bit of both. You know, pop a couple of mushrooms, pop a couple of gummies, have a little bit of a rich talk.
Speaker 2:That's like Vin. No, what's it called? Who's that famous football? Yeah, he's like. He's a proper like geezer yeah what's his name? He's English. Oh, what's his name? Not Vin Diesel? Oh my god, I can't remember.
Speaker 1:I can picture his face so clearly.
Speaker 2:I literally saw the movie the other day. I can't remember, but I can just imagine him being like the hype man of the squad yeah you're going out there. You're going out there for blood.
Speaker 1:And off they go, Wind them up and off they go, yeah yeah. But you know, one of the again, this is a little bit of a myth about Vikings is that they were all warriors. They weren't. Oh, they weren't all warriors. I mean, they were mostly farmers, was what they were. But don't get me wrong, the warriors were hard as nails and the other thing as well, which you will like, they had much respect for women. They had a lot of respect for women.
Speaker 2:You should respect women.
Speaker 1:Yes, and also women were warriors. Yes, they would go to war. They were shield maidens, see that's the thing.
Speaker 2:Like we are okay, like women don't have the same body strength as a man. You know I'm thinking gender comparatively here, but we've still got some skill. It's like having a netball match, which is okay, a female-dominated sport. But hear me out, you've got the tall people who are generally like the goal defense, goal attack, you know shooting, etc. But you've got the small people on the side. They're the wingers because they're fast and agile. Yeah, and women can be fast and agile, whereas the men can be the, but I think it's a winning combination. But but you know, in western culture, oh no, women, women are weak and meek and mild, or you know, it's just so silly.
Speaker 1:Like we've got our own, uh, oh yeah, the shield maidens were tough as nails yeah, we've got our own.
Speaker 2:Uh, what's it called strengths?
Speaker 1:yeah, in the world yeah, it may not be strength, but we've got strengths you know um good on vikings, yeah but so no, because they actually and they didn't see women as inferior yeah me. They saw them as equals. Obviously they did have slaves. You know they did have slaves, but they were all Of all genders presumably Of all genders, yeah. But also they were. But the other thing is now I don't know how true this is, but they were deemed not to be racist as well.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:So they did kind of incorporate a lot of pull people into their culture of different races. There's evidence of African Vikings, african Vikings, african, you know, coming from Africa, so cool and actually integrating with Viking society and themselves becoming.
Speaker 2:Vikings. It's just not what you picture. When you picture a Viking, you wouldn't, picture someone of African descent, I suppose, but that's so cool. Yeah, good on the Vikings.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:When did it all go downhill then?
Speaker 1:1066, back to Stamford Bridge.
Speaker 2:So William the Conqueror is a massive racist? Is that what we're saying?
Speaker 1:No, it wasn't William the Conqueror.
Speaker 2:Oh, no Sorry.
Speaker 1:Harold is a. He was just protecting his throne against other Harold, so they were massive traders.
Speaker 2:Very popular name back then, wasn't?
Speaker 1:it, it was.
Speaker 2:Just like Harry is today, I suppose, do you?
Speaker 1:know what actually? Because a lot of Vikings. You talk about names, viking names. Okay, so you've got like Leif Erikson.
Speaker 2:Yeah, don't have Leif very often Harold Haraldson.
Speaker 1:Yeah, ivor the boneless, but either ragneson there's his was his name bjorn ironside. Ragneson uber. Ragneson ragnar lothbrok, who was ragnar's dad, so it's not ragnar olafson or it's ragnar lothbrok was his name.
Speaker 2:Maybe lothbrok was where he was from that sounds like a place name.
Speaker 1:It does, doesn't it? Maybe he didn't have parentage, yeah, or maybe he changed his name from parentage originally it was supposed to be from a place called Kattegat, oh well, but it was king, because Ragnar was king of Vikings.
Speaker 2:It's interesting, yeah maybe he got to choose his last name? Yeah, it could have, or it means something different in I. I don't know.
Speaker 1:But they were massive traders, you know, and they did link the Baltic to the Baghdad, all the way, you know, because of their pillaging. They then set up trading posts and they were traders as well. Very cool, so yeah, popular culture.
Speaker 2:Way. Popular culture Vikings Vikings in popular culture.
Speaker 1:So it was actually Wagner, Wagner, the guy who wrote the operas yes who came up with the horned helmets?
Speaker 2:ah, he's the culprit he's the one I think I see a lot of viking culture when I go to castles or if I go to, if I visit things and there's there's activities for the children. Normally it's swords, shields and helmets yeah yeah, helmets. Often that's where I see Vikings a lot. They bring it into children's I don't know, into the child realm. For example, there's a roller coaster park in Birmingham called Drayton Manor and there's a Viking area.
Speaker 2:It's a theme. I don't know why children are exposed to that. I'm not really sure, because I was taught about Vikings at a young age as well and I guess it's kind of just a fun history lesson, I suppose, or people can make it fun. So that's where I'm most exposed to. It is, you know, children's, I guess, activities and things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, places.
Speaker 2:I go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, you think I mean Vikings. We're talking what a thousand years ago?
Speaker 2:I guess it's quite modern history.
Speaker 1:We still talk about them as a culture. You know they're still quite a big culture. Oh, actually that's one point. Did I send you that video?
Speaker 2:What video?
Speaker 1:Video in America of the axe throwing.
Speaker 2:Yes, you did.
Speaker 1:Did you see that? Yeah, that was of the axe throwing.
Speaker 2:Yes, you did you see that? Yeah, that was pretty good, yeah, the first one you absolutely spooned, and then the rest, like you were some sort of like professional axe thrower because they were all in the middle.
Speaker 1:That was mad yeah, well, the first, because I had to get away the first one, you absolutely spooned it, like it went.
Speaker 2:It just went above the board and you're like, oh and then. And then, like the other ones, you just absolutely nailed. And then, like your walk away wasn't I would have like cheered or something. You were just like so smug. You're like look what I just did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, no, because I was getting the weight of the axis. So when I, when I threw it the first, the through, the first one, yeah, it just went and it went over yeah, I think I killed a bird. Yeah, but yeah, you're right. The second one boom, bullseye straight in.
Speaker 2:I was like oh my god, you done three, four I did five in total. Five in total four on the board, yeah, one over the top, yeah, yeah, pretty good but did you hear what your mum said on the on the on the video?
Speaker 1:no, she went. That's how we catch our food in england.
Speaker 2:Good god yeah why do we let her out the house?
Speaker 1:I don't know, because that was um.
Speaker 1:That was a renaissance fair we were at ren fair yeah which I must admit, I must admit while we were there, because, uh, they were doing it as as english and they're all putting on english accents, which don't get me wrong, we're good. But you know, and I think I did, I think I did it consciously, subconsciously, where I started talking a little bit louder on purpose, so people could hear that I was actually English. But we went with my cousins, robin and Jorge, and, yeah, we had such a great time.
Speaker 2:Nice, nice, good fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I did archery as well.
Speaker 2:Nice Archery as well. Yeah, that's cool, very cool.
Speaker 1:The first arrow went straight in the.
Speaker 2:Oh did it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the other four.
Speaker 2:You spooned it, I spooned them, so you did the opposite of axe throwing. Yeah, so the first one was just sheer luck. Yeah, the axe throwing was actual skill. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was funny, that's funny that's mad. So yeah, um. So back to the script. So wagner gave us the horned helmets yes uh, victorian painters made them savages, and today we have things like fight. You've got, you know, lots of television adaptations. Assassin's creed, yeah, uh. Well, no tv yeah and assassin's creed and assassin's, oh oh, assassins crew, the film wasn't it?
Speaker 2:yeah, vikings, last kingdom, norseman, they're all stories about the viking age and then, of course, we have marvel yeah, we have marvel and like themed areas in in in restaurants yeah and theme parks is what I'm exposed to most. Um yeah, drake manor has its own viking world yeah they've got a ride called thor. They've got a ride called loki loki's the one that like turns strangely so it looks like you're gonna collide with your next car, but you're not. Yeah, it's very cool, very cool ride. I've got a video of that. Yeah, yeah, lots of like legacy oh, definitely.
Speaker 1:I mean even even place names like grimsby, scunthorpe, whitby all viking they're all viking names, your viking name is anything ending in ick yeah, yeah, yeah, even words like sky window husband egg they're viking words husband yeah yeah, the ship's design of the long ship. You know the legacy that it gave us. Because they were so streamlined and so well built, the rest of the world were like, actually we're nicking that design we should probably make our boats like that. We're going to make that design there's no patatin back then no, none at all.
Speaker 1:And they also. They changed bloodlines, you know, in in many different places well, look at you. Well, I'm here because of it, you know that's. You know my, you know my blonde hair, blue eyes. Yeah, very you know scandinavian. And yeah, as we know, when I did, my ancestry confirmed it. Yeah, yeah, very much scandinavian you are what you are. I am what I am, I am what I am. So, yeah, so what you know? They weren't. So should we conclude?
Speaker 2:Yes, let's conclude. Should we conclude?
Speaker 1:Let's conclude so the Vikings were much more than just raiders, although that's what they kind of get credit for. Yes, they were so much more. They were explorers, they were settlers, they were poets as well. They were very, they were very intelligent, I feel like they're very.
Speaker 2:When I think of the vikings, it's kind of like greek were poets as well. It's yeah it's very much that kind of spoken word literature. I don't know if you can say that because it's spoken, but yeah that that's sort of a theatrical sense to it I don't know it just, just how they pass on their yeah, I guess their culture and norms well, there's something.
Speaker 1:There's something else about the vikings that I found out which I think is just uh. Well, it's just amazing that they were clean. They bathed regularly oh okay. So back then, you know, people didn't bath, they they were. They were walking around honking, absolutely honking vikings. Not only did they bathe, they also groomed. Yeah, so they would.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're cutting the scene is having long hair. Aren't they vikings generally?
Speaker 1:yeah, but they were, they were very well groomed, very well groomed.
Speaker 2:They found coat, you know, found all sorts I bet they'd be so mad at the Victorians for making them look like savages as well. I bet they were like you know we presented ourselves well and you know we looked nice and the Victorians were like ha ha, ha ha, paint them all exactly, exactly evil and yeah, so they were.
Speaker 1:They were a very rich, full society. They weren't just raiders and just going around killing and raping and pillaging. They did that, don't get me wrong. They did a lot of that and some of them were nasty bastards, but as a society they were quite well adjusted and quite innovative shall we say Nice. And I don't think they get enough credit for that.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So that's, it. We're giving them credit, we're going to give them credit, we're rewriting history yes, credit given. There you go.
Speaker 2:Well, if you enjoyed this episode of on Vikings, not of Vikings, on Vikings of Vikings, we have some more in the bank that you might be interested in. I can't think what would actually be related to vikings that we have in the bank. But we play dnd. I don't know. That's nothing to do with vikings that's nothing to do with vikings at all I just thought I just slipped that in there that we've done a dnd episode. Um, we should do another one.
Speaker 1:It's a two-parter, that one yeah, we should do another one I'll dm next time.
Speaker 2:That will be fun. I've never dm'd, can you?
Speaker 1:remember? Sorry, I know we were supposed to be ending the episode there, but I just thought of another funny story. Can you remember the time when Mitchell DM'd? Yeah, and then I was a player and he did a really good job. But he was trying to start the story off and I was just like, and I think you turned around and said, just take the bloody note it was a scroll in a goat's mouth and he was like, oh, I don't want to take the scrollicking scroll or what if it hurts me?
Speaker 1:it's not supposed to hurt you that was a one shot, wasn't it? That was a one shot. He did really well, he did. He did really well, yeah coolios.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, if you enjoyed this episode of Vikings, or if you're into D&D, we've got an episode on that back back in the bank. Um, only thing left to say is cue the outro. Thanks for joining us on bonus dad, bonus daughter. Don't forget to follow us on all our socials and share the podcast with someone who'd love it. We are available on all streaming platforms. See you next time. Bye, outro Music.