Thank you vdviking:D

At 6/3/09 04:45 AM, vdviking wrote:
As usual historians aren't in agreement over this question. There are several theories, some plausible some just plain odd.

What a surpirise....

1) Overpopulation and famine. This is a quite common view. The theory is that because of a very rapid population growth food and farm land became scarce, thus forcing people to move to other lands. The same thing came to be a huge problem in medieval Europe.

Well, seems pretty logical.

I don't agree with this theory because of several factors; 1) Scandinavia was the part of Europe with the least population and huge areas with good fertile soil just there for the taking. 2) Scandinavians were never that big, strong and healthy (i.e. well fed) until modern days. 3) There are no archaeological or written evidence of lack of food.

.....oh.

2) Centrally organized colonization or conquest. This is a, in my opinion, oddball theory which surfaces once in a while. The idea is that there was concious and organized attempt by a central Viking "government" to spread Viking culture and religion.

Well, everybody tried to spread their culture...

3) Glory, fame and money.

Well, it's the most convincing because it's something that everybody wants, so if they can do it, why not?

At 6/3/09 08:35 AM, HeavyTank wrote: Well, everybody tried to spread their culture...

Yes, but the Scandinavians for the most part never really had a strong centralized government, and if they did, conquering lands to the far south would be far from their top priority.

At 6/3/09 11:15 PM, Leidolfr wrote:
yes, thats it. the vikings did want to spread their empire, but like vd said, they never had the population to do it, but they did want to be everywherre on earth....to make MONEY. they loved wealth, and actually almost to a childish degree, In my opinion atleast.

IMO you can never want enough money...take the politicians for example: the have millions upon millions but they still receive bribes to let some people burn up forests and build hotels on the ashes...kinda sad really.Human greed is infinite.

almost every house in iceland just had mounds of shit that really, they didnt need.

Why didn't they seell it?

but it went with the whole viking mindset, that was necessary for greatness. the same quest for never ending treasure was the same reason theyd look at a sea that nmo one would cross, and say fuck that, its there and im taking it.

Heh.

Yeah, all medieval kingdoms wanted money. And land too. They were killing themselves for these things.

I'd like to join since I have an shitton of books about vikings including: The Saga of Grettir the Strong, Njal's Saga, Saga of the Volsungs, Heimskringla(The Saga of the kings of Norway), and the Orkneyinga Saga (the last two are on their way) and I plan on getting a lot more over the summer.

Well, I have a question for you all. Are there any memorable quotes by vikings in real life or literature? I've been trying to find some but all I can come up with are viking proverbs. If anybody could come up with some that'd be awesome, thanks.

At 6/4/09 04:05 PM, HaveUbeenFooFighting wrote: I'd like to join since I have an shitton of books about vikings including: The Saga of Grettir the Strong, Njal's Saga, Saga of the Volsungs, Heimskringla(The Saga of the kings of Norway), and the Orkneyinga Saga (the last two are on their way) and I plan on getting a lot more over the summer.

Well, I have a question for you all. Are there any memorable quotes by vikings in real life or literature? I've been trying to find some but all I can come up with are viking proverbs. If anybody could come up with some that'd be awesome, thanks.

That's quite a collection you got there. I'm sure HeavyTank or Death will come by soon to accept your membership properly, but until then I say welcome to the Viking Army. Click the link in my sig that starts "Thul in..." to reach a page with info and rules. I hope you'll be a returning poster.

As for quotes, in what context, you want something cool to put in your sig or just hear some good stories?

Tell me, what should I do to get promoted?

At 6/5/09 01:59 AM, TiberiumCrystalKutu wrote: Tell me, what should I do to get promoted?

I believe it is time for a clean up of the members list, and thus perhaps also promotions. But it is up to the Jarl or Stallari to decide.

As it looks now, as I see it.

Current Organisation of the NG Viking Army
Jarl - DeathNoteetoNhtaeD
Stallari - HeavyTank
Stambo -
Thul - vdviking
Blotgodi -

Degns

House Carls
Leidolfr

Sveins
TiberiumCrystalKutu

Niding
Patch-Me

Wall of Shame on time posters
Dr-Roxo
FluffyKitteh
crazydude183
CrypticPoptart

At 6/4/09 04:05 PM, HaveUbeenFooFighting wrote: I'd like to join since I have an shitton of books about vikings including: The Saga of Grettir the Strong, Njal's Saga, Saga of the Volsungs, Heimskringla(The Saga of the kings of Norway), and the Orkneyinga Saga (the last two are on their way) and I plan on getting a lot more over the summer.

Well, I have a question for you all. Are there any memorable quotes by vikings in real life or literature? I've been trying to find some but all I can come up with are viking proverbs. If anybody could come up with some that'd be awesome, thanks.

You're lucky: today is my birthday so l accept you and l will make you a House Carl soon if you prove to be a good member..and l am sure you will.
Welcome!

At 6/5/09 01:53 AM, vdviking wrote: As for quotes, in what context, you want something cool to put in your sig or just hear some good stories?

Ah, No I have plenty of good stories. I was looking more for some meaningful quotes or memorable quotes.
And yeah, I'll definitely be a returning poster due to my sudden obsession with vikings and nobody to talk to them about with :D

Those first two were great, thanks.

To get a bunch of questions out of the way right now...

A)I have to ask, does anybody know of any other viking-related message boards?

B) What do you guys recommend I get next as far as books? History books or Sagas, doesn't matter.

Also, I Forget to mention in first post that I also have the Penguin Viking Atlas :)

C) Recently I've been trying to find more information on Ragnar Lodbrok/Lothbrok, however I'm having trouble finding stuff on him. What texts are he mentioned in? About the only thing I could find was the wikipedia article which seemed to be very contradictory. I read that there is a Ragnar's Saga, but I can't find an english translation of it anywhere :\ I'll ask more once somebody else posts XD

At 6/6/09 12:15 AM, Leidolfr wrote: B.) Next book, I notice you have alot of the sagas, but no Njalls saga, Njalls saga was, in my opinion the more of the complex, in depth sagas, and I consider it to be the best over all.

I'd like to join since I have an shitton of books about vikings including: The Saga of Grettir the Strong, Njal's Saga...

I do have Njal's saga, however I haven't read it yet. What the hell were you reading :P

Ah, Thanks that fills in some information I've been looking for. The thing that bugs me though is that all the sources I've looked at mention "Ragnar's Saga" but all I can find is "The Tale of Ragnar's Sons (http://www.northvegr.org/lore/oldheathe n/055.php). He was a famous viking king who supposedly raided France a bunch of times and amassed quite an army, but I can't find any books on him or anything :| Ah well, I'll settle for this information until I amass some more books :P

Oh, that is much info. Thank you all:D

Whoa guys slow down with the posting, as soon as l read a post anohter one comes out :P

I just like to point out that Regnar Lodbrok is a mythical character who is connected to the ancient Germanic myth about Volsung, Sigurd/Sigfried and the dragon Fafne. Volsung/Völsung was a rich man who owned the fabled golden (arm) ring Draupner/Andvaranaut which every nine days bled eight new rings of the same weight as the original. He was betrayed and killed by his son Fafne, who in turn was killed by Sigurd/Siegfried. Part of the story is that Regin, who was Fafnes brother was using Sigurd/Siegfried to take revenge on Fafne (and to get his hand on the Ring himself).

In Sweden their dynasty is known as Völsungar, their saga Völsungasagan, and in Germany Niebelungen. Wagner wrote a series of operas, known as "The Ring" about this myth.

Presumably the story of Regnar's fight against a big worm (lindorm=dragon), to rescue a fair maiden is the same story as Saint George and the Dragon which in turn may represent how Europe stood against the invasion of the steppe nomads from the East.

At 6/6/09 06:21 AM, CrypticPoptart wrote: Hey, I posted twice actually (three now) and I've pretty busy with exams.

Not a problem, exams do take a lot of time. I just move you back to active. Hopefully you'll have time to be more active after the exams. And, good luck!

At 6/6/09 05:19 AM, HeavyTank wrote: Whoa guys slow down with the posting, as soon as l read a post anohter one comes out :P

But then again, it's good to see the Army vibrant with life again. And HaveUbeenFooFighting, welcome to the army. Read up on vdviking's rules, if you haven't already. To the rest of the army, there will be a promotion soon. I just need to read of on the soldier's posts and time with the army. Then I will announce his promotion.

Hehe
Im Norwegian so its obligatory that i join :D

At 6/6/09 09:44 AM, DeathNoteetoNhtaeD wrote:

At 6/6/09 05:19 AM, HeavyTank wrote: Whoa guys slow down with the posting, as soon as l read a post anohter one comes out :P

And HaveUbeenFooFighting, welcome to the army. Read up on vdviking's rules, if you haven't already.

Ah, yeah I've already read the news posts, interesting post on runes by the way.

At 6/6/09 05:25 PM, corando wrote: Hehe
Im Norwegian so its obligatory that i join :D

Then let me be the first to welcome you to the Army. You should first read up on the club rules, which can be found through a link in vdviking's sig labeled "Thul of the NG Viking Army".

At 6/6/09 05:25 PM, corando wrote: Hehe
Im Norwegian so its obligatory that i join :D

Lol, it's not obligatory, only if you want to :D
Also, welcome to the Army.
IF you have any kind of intresting info don't be afraid to post it!
Also, promotions coming soon w00t w00t w00t!

At 6/7/09 11:13 PM, Leidolfr wrote: yeah because of the obscurty and the conflicting texts, id have to say ragnar is mythically, and MAYBE based on actual happenings, in a very loose way.

Well, all myths are based on actual happenings..take the ancient Greek myth of the Titans.
When they were fighting, an earthquake would occur.
They would give names and explanations to things that were beyond their comprehension..

"" The Nibelungenlied is based on pre-Christian Germanic heroic motifs (the "Nibelungensaga"),

From which language does the word "saga" come from?

[Huldra was a scandinavian forest dweller that looked like a woman, but had a tail, she would usually be blonde, and attractive, and she would lure you to sleep with her, and if you pleased her you would have great wealth and knowledge, but if you dissapointed her you would go insane]

Yiff yiff

At 6/8/09 03:15 AM, HeavyTank wrote: From which language does the word "saga" come from?

It seems like the word saga is ancient Germanic, but as it is normally used my belief is that it comes from medieval Icelandic were it usually means an epic story centred around one person or perhaps happening.

On a note: in Swedish saga means fairy tale, andgodnattsaga means bed time story.

[Huldra was a scandinavian forest dweller that looked like a woman, but had a tail, she would usually be blonde, and attractive, and she would lure you to sleep with her, and if you pleased her you would have great wealth and knowledge, but if you dissapointed her you would go insane]

Yiff yiff

:) The Huldra has a sister creature called Rå. She lives in the deep forests and entices young lonely men to embrace her. When they do they realise that they've made a huge mistake since she's made put of wood and has no backside. She's hollow! Supposedly it was very very difficult to escape.

Both the Rå and the Huldra may be folkloric remnants of the old Aesir goddess Freya and Ran.

It makes sense. Men (especially warriors) had a vivid imagination about women.

But I am surprised by the amount of their myths. How could they remember all this stuff throughout all thesee centuries and not forget the slightest detail?

At 6/8/09 04:14 AM, vdviking wrote: It seems like the word saga is ancient Germanic, but as it is normally used my belief is that it comes from medieval Icelandic were it usually means an epic story centred around one person or perhaps happening.

Right...

On a note: in Swedish saga means fairy tale, andgodnattsaga means bed time story.

Awesome

Yiff yiff

) The Huldra has a sister creature called Rå. She lives in the deep forests and entices young lonely men to embrace her. When they do they realise that they've made a huge mistake since she's made put of wood and has no backside. She's hollow! Supposedly it was very very difficult to escape.

Lol, she was hollow...and didn't the men uhm..."feel" that as soon as...you know...?

Also, a bit urealted, today l watched a 3-hour movie (maybe it was a TV series put together in a movie) called "The mists of Avalon" or something like that.
It narrated the story of Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, paganism in England trying to coexist with christianity as the new religion starts to take over the old one, based on the belief of a "Mother" goddess...the place of worship was Avalon, a land where only the most devoted priests could arrive (by the way, one of them was Merlin).
The story also included the story of Lancelot and Guinevere and a bagload of other characters.
Apart from the movie, which was pretty epic, that series had a deeper meaning: it was showing a dying world trying to struggle to survive, and this was made clear by some allegories...a very rich and complicated plot, and an epic ending: after the battle among the Saxons and The Knights of the Round Table the female protagonist (the now deceased Arthur's foster sister) wonders if the Mother Goddess is dead since Avalon left the human world forever...and she sees a statue of the Mother Goddess dressed as Virgin Mary, and this meant that she was reincarnated..

I am writing this because..well, l just felt like it!
I wonder if anyone here was wached this movie...

Well, I watched a little but my tommorow exam of Iliad and Religious things stopped me from watching more of it.

You are right. All the stereotype of the movie was based upon this, but i must say that some elements were "changed" so the movie is more attractive to TV watchers.

Alright, the time is nigh. The ballots are in, and this is the official promotion announcement.
`
TiberiumCrystalKutu, I believe you have been with the army for a significant enough amount of time, and have been active enough to be moved to the position of House Carl.
`
Also, Leidolfr. Your knowledge of Norse lore has been immensely useful to the army. If you so wish, you may move to the position of Blotgodi.
`
That's all the promotions for now. Thank you, and have a good pillaging.

At 6/8/09 11:42 PM, DeathNoteetoNhtaeD wrote: Alright, the time is nigh. The ballots are in, and this is the official promotion announcement.
`
TiberiumCrystalKutu, I believe you have been with the army for a significant enough amount of time, and have been active enough to be moved to the position of House Carl.
`
Also, Leidolfr. Your knowledge of Norse lore has been immensely useful to the army. If you so wish, you may move to the position of Blotgodi.
`
That's all the promotions for now. Thank you, and have a good pillaging.

The New Battle Order of the NGVA should be like this then (let me know if I made any mistakes)
Current Organisation of the NG Viking Army
Jarl - DeathNoteetoNhtaeD
Stallari - HeavyTank
Stambo -
Thul - vdviking
Blotgodi - Leidolfr

Degns

House Carls
TiberiumCrystalKutu

Sveins
HaveUbeenFooFighting
CrypticPoptart
Corando

Niding
Patch-Me