NATIONAL COLLEGE I.L.

CARAGIALE
BUCHAREST
MAY 2015

THE VIKINGS

STUDENT:
COORDINATING TEACHER:

DAN-ANDREI GHEORGHE
DELIA DUMITRIU
CLASS 12th D

Contents
Who were they? ..
3

Ragnar lodbrok..5

The
Valkyries.6

Viking influence on the English language..7

Beliefs and stories.9

NORSE INFLUENCE IN THE WORK OF J.R.R.

TOLKIEN...11

WHY THE VIKINGs?

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References
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Who were they?

The Vikings were Germanic Norse from Scandinavia who raided homelands and
traded with them in the North and Central Europe including the European Russia between the
8th century and late 11th century. The term Vikings is nowadays used in English and other
languages to describe the inhabitants of home communities from what now is known as the
Viking Age. The Norse expansion constitutes an important element for the early history of the
Scandinavia, as well as the British Isles.
Most Viking men were handymen some even with special skills like pottery, boatbuilding, leather-working and smithing. They were all capable of fighting in order to protect
their families. Women on the other hand, were busy with turning sheep wool into cloths by
spinning and weaving. They, as in most cultures, were in charge of taking care of the
household. That meant looking after children, cattle and cooking. Children didnt go to school
and instead they would help their parents at work. At the age of 15 they were considered
adults. The boys were taught how to fight and the girls how to weave. It was common for a
girls father to choose her husband. Not everyone was free, there were slaves or thralls who
did the hardest, dirtiest of the jobs. Usually the slaves were people captured in Viking raids. A
child with both parents slaves was a slave,
but a child with a free father was a freeman.
The Norse were fishers at origins so
they had advanced seafaring skills which
helped them in exploring, their activities
extending to the Mediterranean littoral, North

Africa, the Middle East and even Central Asia. After extended periods of exploration, Viking
communities started to appear in north-western areas of Europe and European Russia all the
way to the coast of North America. They had their own ships called longships which, unlike
any other ships, were narrow, long and had a mythic creatures head carved into wood in front
usually with dragon-like characteristics. Also, the ships needed to be lightweight so that they
could carry many people. As a consequence the sides were not very high and so, they used
their own shields as protection.
In 787 AD three Viking longships (picture) landed in southern England. They fought
with the locals and then sailed away. The encounter is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
That was the start of a fierce battle between them and the English. They were called Danes
although Vikings came from Norway, Denmark as well as Sweden. Again in 793 they attacked
the Christian monastery at Lindisfarne in Northumbria. The Vikings were pagans and so they
didnt think twice about robbing churches. They actually preferred attacking churches because
the inhabitants were only unarmed monks and rarely, some guards protecting it, and the
Christian monasteries also had valuable treasures such as gold, jewelry and books. Moreover,
they had supplies like food, clothes and drinks.

Ragnar LoDbrok

Ragnar or Lothbrok was a legendary Norse ruler, king, and hero from the Viking Age
described in Old Norse poetry and several sagas. It was also said that he was the horror of
England and France, attacking and raiding towns as he would go. In this tradition, he is also
the father of Ivar the Boneless and Bjrn Ironside, two other great Viking warriors and
leaders. He received his name Lodbrok on account of the strange coat he wore, also he was
knows as Hairy Breeches by the trousers he had. In the sagas Gesta Danorum and
Vlsungasaga he was linked to two famous shieldmaidens: Lagertha and Queen Aslaug.
Ragnar led multiple raids into France guiding his longships through rivers right in the
heart of the Frankish empire using knowledge acquired from the English town he raided
previously. The most famous raid was the one in 845 when a fleet of 120 ships sailed up the
River Seine in March. The French forces were crushed by the Viking warriors and Ragnar
plundered and occupied the city during Easter. He continued raids on France and multiple
civil wars in Denmark during the 19th century.
After a shipwreck in the Northumbrian coast, his crew is slaughtered and he is
captured by his former enemy, king lla, who ordered his execution by being thrown in a pit
full of snakes. Legends have it that Ragnar sang his death song in which he described how he
would enter Valhalla and how he will be avenged by his sons. The last words of his song
were: The days of my life are ended. I laugh as I die.
And so, he was right. His sons, with Ivar in front and other earls and kings sided
fought against Northumbria and won. King lla was captured and Ivar executed him by
carving the blood eagle, a legendary ritualized method of execution in which the ribs of the
person to be executed would be cut away and his lungs ripped and put on his shoulders, thus
creating an eagle silhouette.

THE VALKYRIES

As I stated before, most women were looking

after the household; however, there are stories and myths within the Scandinavian folklore
about the existence of the so-called Shieldmaidens.
These women were the ones who chose to fight alongside men in battles. The mythical
Valkyries were based on shieldmaidens. Their existence is heavily debated but scholars like
writer Lars Magnar Enoksen, Neil Price and scholar Britt-Mari Nsstrm argue evidence for
their existence, while scholar Judith Jesch disagrees citing lack of hard evidence.
In Norse mythology, the Valkyries were the ones who chose who may live, or who
may die, in battle. The word Valkyrie derives from Old Norse valkyrja which is composed of
two words: the noun valr (referring to the slain on the battlefield) and the verb kjsa ("to
choose"). Together, they mean "chooser of the slain". They were female figures who
descended from the skies, riding white horses and took the souls of the dead warriors to
Valhalla, hall of the slain, where they would meet with Odin, the Norse god who ruled over it.
There, the deceased warriors would become einherjar (once fighters).
Moreover, they are also referred to as hero lovers, or daughters of royalty and are
mentioned or appear in the Poetic Edda poems Vlusp, Grmnisml, Vlundarkvia,
Helgakvia Hjrvarssonar, Helgakvia Hundingsbana I, Helgakvia Hundingsbana II, and
Sigrdrfuml. For example, in the poem Helgakvia Hjrvarssonar, a prose narrative says
that an unnamed and silent young man, the son of the Norwegian King Hjrvarr and Sigrlinn
of Svfaland, witnesses nine Valkyries riding by while sitting atop a burial mound.
According to the Norse sayings, one is worthy to enter Valhalla only if he doesnt fear
death and shows bravery by dying in battle. The ones who fear death and/or are traitors, upon
their death they will be left out of the gates of Valhalla and doomed to walk between the
living ones as ghosts forever.

Viking influence on the English language

Words
The language we now know as English is a product of the numerous invasions of
warlike peoples into the British Isles. The Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians were all
Germanic-speaking peoples whose original territories stretched from Holland to the Danish
peninsula, and who took over England in the early 5th century AD. Frisian remains the closest
living relative to English. What we now know as Old English is a hybrid of these tongues
with traces of Latin, brought by the previous Roman rulers of Britain. In the period of time
between the 7th century and late 11th century the Viking rule had an important impact in the
English culture and language.
Many words beginning with sk or th originate from Old Norse like thrall (slave),
thrift, thwart, thrust, they, there, then, skirt, sky, skate, skull and so on. Given their living
based on navigating and in cold harsh environment, it actually makes sense that many words
brought into English culture reflected their lifestyle, words like walrus, shingle or fog.

Names
We owe many common English names to the Danish invaders. Eric descends from the
common Norse name Erik or Eirik. Garth comes from the Old Norse word for a forest
clearing. Howard appears to be a variation of the Scandinavian Havard.
Probably the most common Norse contribution to English names is the addition of the
patronymic -son at the end of a word. A patronymic is a name component that indicates the
person's paternal ancestry, and it is common in different forms throughout Europe. So
Andersson is the son of Anders, Williamson is William's son, and so on.
Numerous place names are Norse in origin too. The suffix -by means yard,
farmstead or village. This is seen in place names such as Grimsby, Normanby, Rugby, Selby,
Barnby and Sotheby. Thwaite means "meadow" in Old Norse and appears in place names such
as Braithwaite and Langthwaite. Thorpe is another Norse name for village, and is seen in
place names like Winthorpe and Scunthorpe.

Moreover, the weekdays Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday are named after the Old
Germanic gods that both the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings believed in - Tiw (Norse Tyr),
Wodin (Odin) and Frige (Freyja). However, the names are in Old English so they predate the
Viking Age. Thursday on the other hand has Norse influence from the God of Thunder, Thor.
At first it was known in the Danish language as Thorsdag, but later it crept into the English
language transforming into todays Thursday.
The Norse influence in England is more prominent in the Northeastern areas that were
part of the old Danelaw. Yorkshire is the most obvious example, where Norse words live on in
local slang.

Beliefs and stories

The Creation of the World

In the Viking belief, The World was created from the remains of the giant Ymir. The
three brothers dragged the dead body of Ymir towards the center of Ginnungagap. The blood
was transformed into oceans and water. The flesh became the land. The bones became the
mountains. The teeth made into rocks. The hair became the grass and trees. The eyelashes
became Midgard (Middle World).
They threw the brain up in the air and it became the clouds. The skull became the sky.
It was the lid that covered the new world. The brothers grabbed some of the sparks shooting
out from Muspelheim, the land of fire. They threw the sparks up toward the inside of the skull.
These sparks gleamed at night and was what we call the stars. On the plains of Idavoll, they
built Asgard, which would be the home of the gods.
While Odin and his brothers were in the progress of creating a new world from the
body parts of Ymir, worms kept crawling out of the remains. The worms became dwarfs. The
brothers told four of the dwarfs to hold up the sky. They did not want to risk the sky falling
down. The names of the four dwarfs were North "Nordi" West "Vestri", South "Sundri", and
East "Austri", and was sent out in each direction of the world.

The nine worlds

In Norse Mythology, there are nine worlds, and these are divided into three levels. All
these worlds are being held together by Yggdrasil (The tree of life). The first level and world
is called Asgard (Home of the Gods) where gods like Odin or Freyja live. Next to Asgard lies
Alfheim (Home of the Light Elves). The Light Elves were beautiful creatures often named
guardian angels inspiring humans to art and music ruled by the god Freyr. The last world in
Asgard is called Vanaheim (Home of the Vanir). The Vanir were the oldest among the gods
who possessed great powers in sorcery and magic. Nobody knows where this world was
located.

The second level is called Midgard (Middle

Earth or Home of the Humans). Asgard is connected
to Midgard by Bifrost (The rainbow bridge). The
oceans in Midgard are occupied by the Midgard
Serpent, a creature so huge, it encircles the whole
world.
The third and last level of the tree is consisted
by Jotunheim (Home of the Giants), Svartalfheim
(Home of the Dark Elves), Nidavellir (Home of the
Dwarfs), Niflheim (Mist Home) where is also the
home of the dead, Helheim and Muspelheim (Home of
the Fire Giants and Demons).

Ragnark

The Vikings also believed that, one day, the world will end. They called that day
Ragnark and it will represent the final battle between the Aesir (Male Gods) and Jotuns
(Giants) on the plains of Vigrid.
During Ragnark the walls of Asgard and the bridge Bifrost will be set on fire by Surt,
a giant, and the Midgard Serpent will emerge from the seas and engulf the plains of Vigrid
whipping its tail and spraying poison everywhere. Fenrir the wolf will break free of his chains
and cause death and destruction. The sun and the moon will be swallowed by wolves. The
gods will die in battle with the creatures and the only survivor, Surt, will set fire to all the nine
worlds including Midgard and they will all sink into the boiling sea.

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NORSE ELEMENTS/INFLUENCE IN THE WORK OF J.R.R.

TOLKIEN

When John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was 23 Years old, he had already learned Greek,
Latin, Anglo Saxon, Old English, Finnish, Welsh and Gothic and had already invented two
own languages, called Nevbosh and Qenya.
Tolkien's Elves and Dwarves are by and large based on Norse and related Germanic
mythologies. Two sources that contain accounts of elves and dwarves that were of interest to
Tolkien were the Prose Edda and the Elder or Poetic Edda. The names of Gandalf and the
dwarves in The Hobbit were taken from the "Dvergatal" in the Elder Edda and the
"Gylfaginning" in the Prose Edda. Other themes, such as the conversation between Bilbo
Baggins and Smaug, the dragon from The Hobbit, as well as the antagonism created by the
mere mention of gold and even the concept of riddles, are also reflected in Norse sources such
as the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf.
The figure of Gandalf is particularly influenced by the Norse god Odin in his
incarnation as "The Wanderer", an old man with one eye, a long white beard, a wide brimmed
hat, and a staff. Tolkien, in a letter of 1946, nearly a decade after the character was invented,
wrote that he thought of Gandalf as an "Odinic wanderer". Much like Odin, Gandalf promotes
justice, knowledge, truth, and insight.

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WHY THE VIKINGs?

I have never considered myself a fan of history and I must admit, the history classes
hardly were my cup of tea. However, when I first heard about the Vikings I was completely
fascinated by their way of seeing the world they lived in and also their combat skills.
As soon as I watched some movies about them and read some stories I found out that
there was more than just combat and lifestyle. Their myths and gods were also very
interesting. Then, of course, I became familiar with the Anglo-Saxon heroic poem Beowulf,
and also with Tolkiens books, via cinema.
I have chosen this theme for my English essay because, as a rather lazy guy, it was
both motivation and opportunity for me to learn more about the Norse culture and people. By
working on this project, I managed to combine the usefulness of it with the pleasure I had
writing it and talking about it.
One particular thing was to discover the relations between the Norse civilization and
the English one. I really consider this feature to be remarkable, given the daily use of many of
the elements of the former, in everyday language, as well as in literature, if I were to mention
Beowulf and Tolkiens works once more.

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References

http://eurasian-sensation.blogspot.ro/2011/02/viking-influence-on-englishlanguage.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/vikings/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkyrie
http://www.academia.edu/228734/Norse_Elements_in_the_work_of_J.R.R._Tol
kien
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien
%27s_influences#Nordic_influences

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