Tales of the Vikings and their penchant for rape are greatly exaggerated. They didn’t just rape, they also burned. Get it right, people! Come on!
The Vikings, also known as Ostmen, are actually woefully misunderstood. Their culture is difficult to understand by modern standards and was difficult to grasp by outsiders in Europe even at the time. It’s no wonder that many people today look at them as the paradigm of brutality. While I can’t be considered an expert history buff, (damn you, Kate Beaton!) I have heard it said that there are more reasons behind the Viking Invasions than the ones usually asserted; namely expansion of power and overpopulation. According to some sources, around the late 700′s, there were forceful conversions taking place against pagans by fanatical christian soldiers, mostly under the rule of Charlemagne. It was partially these acts coupled with the aforementioned reasons and a lack of pack ice in Scandinavia that seems to have pushed them into their famous role of pillaging. Never mind the fact that many of the Norse people often settled peacefully, shared technology and ideas, and were model immigrants, but I digress.
Old Norse culture is confusing enough and their mythology can be even moreso. The Ostmen were, primarily, peaceful agricultural folk with their own religion, system of governance, and ideas about morality. As with most human beings, however, those moral and cultural values were left up to the individual to enact. There are instances in the Norse myths where eloquence and wisdom are prided above all else. The mighty Odin hung himself from a tree and put out his eye just to gain the power of insight. There are also moments where nothing matters but strength and power which we often see in the example of Thor. The Ostmen were a group with diverse beliefs and while strength and power were certainly valued, no one was more respected than the wise and eloquent. Alongside these examples lie the many confusing interpretations of women within their myths. The Valkyrie, brave and heroic women serving as warriors for Odin, stand out as clear examples of powerful and respected females. There are also stories of shieldmaidens, giantesses, and godesses who, essentially, don’t put up with no shit. Contradictions apply to this particular area as well. There are instances of women being fought over as objects and there are many accounts of women being raped in the pillaging process throughout the Viking Age.
So what do we take away from all of this? There’s a lot of knowledge and insight to be gleaned from the myths and cultures of the past but it’s helpful to look at it holistically in the terms of the people who believed and lived in them. The Norse people were, above all else, individuals and their history has been altered and misunderstood for a long time. It behooves us to really learn about them and spend time with their stories and tell others rather than to just believe whatever we hear or see in pop culture. Learning this about the people of the past helps us apply it to the people of the present. No group is comprised of clones all believing the same set of ideals. Individuality asserts itself everywhere within humanity. Pushing the notion that everyone agreed on everything and fell into little homogeneous groups in the past muddies our thinking about the present and leads to all sorts of nasty consequences in the future.
Those consequences are what might really bring about Ragnarok and if we don’t recognize it, I’m sure Odin’s going to have some shit to say about it.
He knows what the ladies like to hear.
I always love reading your author’s notes. They’re like a mini history/mythology lesson with every new comic. You make me go
Odin would probably say something along the lines of:
“Seriously guys? This wolf is fucking huge and I know damn good and well you’ve developed some awesome weapons over, you know, MILLENNIA. Help me out here. Thaaanks.”
But really, I agree. I don’t know where we got this whole thing about Vikings being all about the rape and pillage and nothing else. Maybe it was just occasionally (as happened pretty frequently with conquering armies) and people blew it out of proportion over the years.
I still love Norse mythology though – next tattoo is likely to be Huginn / Muninn on the back of each shoulder.
Also I am getting to the point where I read the text before the comic a la Penny Arcade, so thank you for that.
With the Norsemen, it becomes even more muddle because even someone who could be thought of as a “devote follower” is going to be very individualistic. A large portion of Odin’s wisdom shared in Hávamál is all about how to look out for yourself. Individualism was a huge part of the Norse way of life, and so it’s no surprise that there were wildly different personalities that cropped up.
Of course, it is important to note, though, that as a whole the Norsemen valued poetry and the arts very highly and composed some of the world’s most complex and beautiful examples of early poems and that the Icelandic sagas (written at least 100 years after the conversion to Christianity in 1000 CE) are among the very earliest examples of prose narratives. Iceland is a very unique example in that it actually shows many elements of “nation building” before “nation” and “nationalism” were really major concepts.
Anyway, a lot of the negative and inaccurate portrayals of Norse culture come from the writings of the Christian monasteries that the Vikings sacked. Not exactly a fair and balanced report right there. I mean, I can understand why they often compared them to demons and the like. Those VIkings probably messed them up something fierce! I just don’t understand why everyone still believes them.
Viking helmets did not have horns, people! I blame Wagner and the metal genre for this one as well. And the idea of the shining Valkyrie maiden riding on a pegasus. Valkyries had raven wings and blood stained armour and they road on wolves. Metal music is pansy compared to actually Norse mythology.
I think I learn more history and mythology in your 464 posts than I have in my 12 years of school.
When people categorize Vikings as a group of people who would rape and pillage they were right. Not in the sense that all Norsemen would rape and pillage just Vikings (Viking being Icelandic for “bay man” or something around that). Saying a Viking was all about rape and pillage would be like saying Pirates like taking hostages. Norsemen, on the other hand, were a rather different group of people. It’s not that they weren’t violent and insane (because most Norsemen were violent and insane) but it is that they were also civilized. Icelandic culture revered law and justice as the corner stone of their society. The most important people in Icelandic society were Lawyers and poets (this is probably why no one likes them) because they didn’t need kings (in Iceland not in Norway, Sweden, or Finland). Also the Vikings (and Norsemen to that extent) weren’t the only people who were raiding we can see examples of this from nearly every tribal people of Europe for most of history.
Although as far as being individualistic and being so fond of rape the Norsemen weren’t as bad as the Anglo Saxons, Scots, Picts, or the Celts (and the rest of Europe at the time). The Norsemen still needed to rely on each other when there was a bad year for crops or someones farm didn’t produce well. We modern men are much more individualistic than any Norseman ever was because we don’t need to rely on our neighbors to survive (usually). As far as rape goes, a Norseman would go over to a different country to rape women because a good Norse woman would kill anyone who attempted to rape her.
Also @Sjon we have earlier prose narratives from Greece and Rome. The Celts were using prose narratives for years, however, this form was usually used to record history. The Sagas simply provided a modern style that Europeans wouldn’t embrace until “Don Quixote” so it’s not that the Sagas are these revolutionary texts. To an Icelander he was simply recording a family history, therefore, prose was a natural form to write in.
i tried that
after they were finished slapping me i got like 12 phone numbers
I love this comic.
Vikings raped every foeman! Not only women! Homosexuality was normal in viking culture and most people tend to ignore that too, simply because it doesn’t fit in with the “manly” reputation it’s developed.
Their duty was to marry and father children, as long as they did that they were free to have sex with whomever they wished, this was mostly women of much lower station, and often times men. It was considered disgraceful to be in the passive role in sex since that was the position the vanquished were forced to take (you were allowed to kill anyone who had the nerve to accuse you of it), but it’s speculated that most of them kept it on the DL anyways. And once you passed the age of child rearing you were free to take the passive role without ridicule, and you were referred to as a “soft kitten.” Male prostitution was a legit job during the viking age, though it didn’t pay well!
Someone attributed the horn myth to Metal, but it was actually Victorian archeologists. They assumed the drinking horns at burial sites had fallen off the helms, and this was “confirmed” when they discovered a Celtic helmet near a viking dig site. The Celtic helmet had gold snakes shaped like bull horns.
And to the other person who mentioned the Celts being big time rapists, that’s not considered to be trueee reallyyy but tevz. But the Romans. Man. Fuck those guys.
I guess what the hell i’m trying to say is, “Holy Shit I think I found a comic that satiates m nerdom.” So thank you.
HAH! Gatuno and Fafhrd! Long time no see ol buddies.