difference between Anglo Saxons and Vikings is fairly minimal, except for a separation of a century or two. Cultures, very much the same, but I tell you, tough guys on both sides.
Rob
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General discussion
The way the Anglo Saxons dealt with maurauding Vikings...
Archaeologists from Oxford believe the men were probably executed by local Anglo Saxons in front of an audience sometime between AD 910 and AD 1030.
Grisly... but fascinating.
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11 Posts
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That showed them!
Well, for a while, until the Vikings returned in force and sacked the whole country! 
Mark
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indigenous peoples anyway but something of mercenaries turned occupiers. I don't think we could consider that land to be theirs anyway. I don't know why the article would include that this was done in front of an audience as public executions were already the tradition of many peoples...with the exception of royalty. Geesh...I've even heard that hillsides around battlefields were gathering places for spectators who'd bring lunch to watch. Grisly indeed to think of this but that was culture and proper to them.
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My wife gave me this a while back. It's called "In Search of Ancient Ireland" and, though not about Anglo-Saxon England, does contain interesting information about Viking and later Norman influence in the British Isles. I'll need to view it over and over get a more clear picture as it starts from the iron and bronze ages and leaves off with the attempts of Brian Boru to unify Ireland under a European type monarchy rather than the "first among equals" kingdoms that had led to past vulnerabilities. It's full of the rich history of the Irish and even seems to credit them for the rebirth of literacy in Europe after the collapse of Roman control. Just a wonderful presentation, IMO.
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Sounds interesting.
If I remember my history rightly, I believe that Dublin was founded by the Vikings. You can perhaps put me right, or confirm it when you have watched it again.
Mark
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I know the presentation suggests a strong Viking presence there but the Norse weren't just occupiers such as were Romans in Britain. They became well integrated into the general Celtic population and were raising families and engaging in commerce there...not just pillaging and returning to their homeland. Their first arrivals are written in books found in the many monasteries and that story is interesting in that the monks were known to have kept detailed historical records of their own lives. There is much recording about the raiding and other activities of the Norse invaders. Anyway, you can google the title in my first post if you wish and you'll find it. Too bad you can't get free streaming video from the site but the DVD is sold by Amazon and such. It's a steal for under 14 $ US. I'll need to watch it again too much got by me doing so this morning.
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leader and later Caesar Caracalla. Had his own way of establishing alpha maleness in Britain.
That part of the world is about as mongrelized as an island can be: Danes, Celts, Picts, A-S, Swedes*, Old and Later French, and so on.
French made a deal with semi-permanent Vikings in France: 'We'll give you some nice land in the north if you settle and behave yourselves.' That became known as 'Northmandy', today's Normandy. So William the C was coming full circle at Pevensey.
I use this to lecture my school kids on bad language. The winners brought "excrement" e.g. into English, while "s***" e.g. is a losers' word. (Sad sidenote: Very few highschoolers know what excrement means.)
*vik (pron. veek) is Swedish for "bay", which is an inhabitable inlet; "fjord" is an inlet which is too narrow and beach-less. This from a Norwegian FES, who did not know the origin of the Bluetooth label for short-range wireless.
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Seems the inhabitants of a land never got to do that themselves. Explorers and conquerors did the honors. Of course the Vikings weren't just bad guy raiders. Their warrior training came from fighting among themselves over scarce food and land so decided to resettle where such seemed to be plentiful. They were traders too but what they traded in was stolen goods and slaves taken during their raids. The basics of larceny haven't changed much. I steal your wallet to buy my lunch...hoping you've enough cash to have a nice intoxicant with my meal.
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You're right about their trading capabilities. Scientists can track that by artifacts in S Europe e.g. that are known to have originated in Scandinavia.
Also a story that "Russia" comes from "russ", a word meaning "red", as in "The red-hairs are coming! Run for your lives!" Seems they settled in places they liked.
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