We hear about them from time to time, with their stylish hats, strapping muscles, and manly-man mustaches-beards. But who were the Vikings exactly? Well, we’ve established they didn’t wear those helmets with the horns protruding. Those are the things of romanticized paintings.
But Vikings were a genuine part of our history, with some of us even having Viking ancestors.
From around A.D. 800 to 1100, a vast number of Scandinavians left their homelands. They went seeking fortunes elsewhere. They weren’t just a bunch of nomads rambling around. They went by boat—seafaring warriors known as Vikings, or Norsemen (which translated to “Northmen”).
I guess back then, those people in need of work couldn’t go door-to-door selling vacuum cleaners or Fuller Brush items. So they set out by raiding coastal areas, especially monasteries in the British Isles.
Then they spread out further and over the next three centuries, leaving their mark on many places, including Britain, the European countries, Russian, Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland. They took on several different roles, too — as pirates, raiders, traders, and settlers.
But what made them Vikings specifically? Contrary to popular belief, they were not born into a lineage of “Vikings.” They were not of a certain race or from a specific country, yet mostly they hailed from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. What set them apart was that they were not considered “civilized” by the common understanding of the European people, and they were not Christians.
They lived their lives seeking treasure. And in the embattlements, they were often confronted with death. The world of Vikings is filled with famous last stands, death songs, and great stories of defiance.
When those Viking men died in battle, it was believed that the war-god Odin gathered chosen slain warriors at his home in Asgard. That is the dwelling place of the gods in Norse mythology. And the war-god Odin had his very own “hall” in the heavenly place of Asgard. It was called Valhalla — a sort of warrior’s paradise — which was built of spear shafts and roofed with shields.
The Vikings had a very specific set of circumstances of this afterlife. According to Viking mythology, when a warrior went down during battle, he was greeted by a “Valkyrie.” And that valkyrie was a supernatural, female figure, which protected some warriors, but guided spears and arrows into the bodies of others. So when a Viking was hit or wounded during battle in the Viking world, his fate was not determined by his military prowess or physical fitness. The Viking’s fate was sealed by these fateful Valkyrie women.
And if she chose death for him, she led the Viking by the hand to Odin’s hall. The one with all the spears and shafts.
According to my Ancestry DNA results, amidst all my German Euro blood, is a whopping 4% of Swedish genes. That is about the only variant, save for the 2% European Jewish. So there is the slightest possibility that I have a little Viking in me.
Which hopefully explains the dream I had last night. I was a ballbearing manufacturer with a modern-day plant. It looked like the inside of some sort of high-tech factory, all in white and shiny stainless steel. And there I was in charge of making shiny chrome ballbearings. Anyway, I was wearing white coveralls and giving a tour to a bunch of Vikings, all of them dressed in their old Viking garb. And yes, they were wearing the fictional hats with the horns. I was carrying a clipboard, probably taking notes about those Vikings. Perhaps my ancestors.
That’s my only explanation for any of this.
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Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
— Edgar Allan Poe
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I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?
— Zhuangzi
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Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
— Carl Jung
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No horns on hats from here to Valhalla
