The Vikings’ reputation for bloodlust compared to other medieval fighters may have been exaggerated over the years.
Vikings are frequently portrayed as savage, ruthless fighters with horned helmets and combat axes. Vikings are portrayed in popular culture as plundering, pillaging, killing, and executing people in gruesome ways, such as the notorious “blood eagle.”
Is the Vikings’ reputation for brutality justified, though?
“The question isn’t, ‘Were Vikings violent?'” Daniel Melleno, an associate professor at the University of Denver of medieval and pre-modern history, stated. “They were utterly brutal. The only question is, “Are they acting in an unusual manner?”
During Europe’s Middle Ages, which were already violent, the Viking Age spanned around A.D. 793 to 1066, according to Melleno. The Vikings were not an exception to the widespread occurrence of battles, slavery, and raiding throughout this time period. The Vikings were skilled at conducting surprise attacks from the sea because of their swift and maneuverable longships.
An opulent monastery on the British island of Lindisfarne was the target of one of the Vikings’ first invasions in 793 A.D. Monasteries, which were affluent and ill-defended, were regularly assaulted by the Vikings. The Vikings’ attacks were characterized as more heinous and immoral because their victims were Christians and they were originally pagan.
“They discuss these ‘heathens’ or ‘pagans’ attacking,” Caitlin Ellis, an associate professor of medieval history at the University of Oslo, told Live Science. “These are Christians writing.” They also occasionally claim that it is God’s retribution for their own people’s transgressions or lack of merit.
The Vikings left barely a few runes of their operations; they were mostly preliterate, in contrast to their southern neighbors. Direct testimonies from their victims or sagas penned by the Vikings’ ancestors hundreds of years later provide some of the sole documented proof of their deeds. According to Melleno, the Vikings were also farmers, fishermen, and traders, but their victims were understandably more concerned with the atrocities against them. Stories of Viking violence were probably also exaggerated over time.
According to Ellis, some of the most unfavorable accounts that portray the Vikings as being especially fierce or savage actually date from the 12th century, which is a few hundred years after the raiding started. Perhaps the image that we still have now is a result of a little more embellishment throughout time.
Furthermore, Melleno stated that inconsistencies in the writings of certain sources raise questions about their veracity. For instance, the Vikings destroyed everything in the town of Dorestad, in what is now the Netherlands, according to a story written by the chronicler Prudentius in A.D. 834. However, Prudentius said that the settlement was still intact the following year so that the Vikings might “lay waste” to it. He stated that the town was destroyed by the Vikings once more in 836 and again in 837.
Mass graves and fire layers, which are indicators of that devastation that we would anticipate seeing if we read the sources and took them at face value, are among the things we don’t frequently encounter when we examine the archeological record,” Melleno told Live Science.
In medieval Europe, there were other groups that raided and overran towns besides the Vikings. Muslim mercenaries known as “Saracens” regularly targeted areas of present-day France, Switzerland, and Italy. What is now Bayern was attacked by a group of Hungarians known as the Magyars. Additionally, the Frankish ruler Charlemagne fought the Saxons for decades, causing widespread slaughter, hostage-taking, and looting throughout modern-day Germany.
What distinguishes Frankish wars of conquest from Viking raiding? “Really, not that much,” Melleno stated, adding that the difference is between official violence and acts of violence committed by stateless individuals. The Vikings’ lack of a recognized kingdom probably made them appear more erratic and savage to their captives.
“The Vikings come off as bad because they’re not a state waging war,” he said. “The Vikings hardly have a monarch, and they lack a nation. Therefore, it’s basically a group of pirates.