“According to their custom the Northmen plundered… the Northmen , with their boats filled with immense booty, including men and goods, returned to their own country.”(Doc 4) This tells us that the Northmen or Vikings were always plundering towns and you always had to be ready to run and/or fight. “This excerpt describes Europe in the ninth and tenth century… [Barbarians] sacked towns and villages and laid waste to the fields. They burned down the churches and then departed with a crowd of captives.”(Doc 1) I clearly states that this was life in the Dark Ages so this is the best piece of evidence for any argument. Also it shows that barbarians, whether it be Muslims, Vikings or any other group of people who wanted their land back, attacked ruthlessly and had no respect for the christian church. Now that there is two great reasons that medieval europe should be called the Dark Ages.…
On June 8th 793ce foreign ships brought an unexpected surprise to the Lindisfarne monastery, the Northmen had arrived. This attack marked the beginning of the Viking Age, an era of raids that shook the western world until its end at the battle of Hastings in 1066. These Northmen arrived and promptly the “heathen miserably destroyed God's church by rapine and slaughter .” It is important to note that the Vikings had an oral tradition and no known sources exist depicting events from their perspective. “We see the attack through the eyes of the victims, who spread the word that the Vikings were bloody and violent. In fact, they were violent, but no more than anyone else at the time. Compared to Charlemagne’s armies, the Vikings were amateurs.…
Throughout the book Anglo-Saxon/Viking culture is presented to us as Beowulf goes on his journey to fight evil and save The Danes. These are very different book made to…
Vikings were intriguing but ruthless. They were fierce warriors. They lived in Scandinavia, but they traveled a lot. They invaded villages in search of valuables, because their land could not support them. Most of the villages were defenseless, so the vikings could invade easier.…
Between the eighth and fourteenth centuries, the domestication of the horse and the development of sailing ships made it possible for raiding people to attack on settled societies. Vikings and Mongols were these two nomadic tribes who started to settle on certain territories. Vikings are Scandinavians seafaring traders, warriors and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late 8th to the 11th century. Mongols were a tribe ruled the largest contiguous empire in world history and for some time was the most feared in Eurasia. Vikings and Mongols both had same reason they attacked and conquered their territories. Also, they both were open to other communities by trading and merchants. Moreover, both of their culture influenced the original culture of settled societies. However, Mongols were more administered strictly, kept organized governing, and tolerant than Vikings.…
In the Epic of Beowulf there is a perfect example of religious conflict intermingling together in a way that creates conflict between the Danes religious views and the narrator’s Christian interpretations. In the Epic of Beowulf there are presents of Christian views that the narrator placed in the book to compare the differences between the brutal and barbaric…
C. Despite the name the “Dark Ages”, the Anglo-Saxons were not completely violent people. Their love for literary themes such as heroism and chivalry shaped literature during that time.…
The Vikings came from what is known as Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. During the time from the 8th to the 11th centuries the Vikings traveled in their longboats to the British Isles and the coast of Europe raiding the settlements.…
Primarily, Grendel and Beowulf both wanted to destroy each other because of what they believed in. No matter how the people of Danes tried to ignore Grendel always hated the village for one reason. Grendel came from ancestors that were evil, and who opposed the Lord’s will. In fact, Grendel hated when the people celebrated all night while singing glorious songs and drinking at the Herot hall. Therefore, the people of Danes suffered from his hell made actions. Beowulf on the other hand, knew he had to protect the people of Danes…
The vikings targeted monasteries that were not defended and have lots of riches inside. These types of raids went lightning fast so the king would not be able to get his troops there in time. The people in the villages could not depend on the king for protection so they went to their near by nobles to help them become safe. Protection is one of the main reasons why people shifted power to nobles. This is…
In both works, the authors of Beowulf and Tolkien also assigned their society’s negative traits to their stories’ villains. In Beowulf, Grendel was swamp-dwelling son of Cain, the exiled killer of Abel and father to all evil spirits (102 – 110). Grendel’s swampy home is easily accessible to the Anglo-Saxon audience as dark and dangerous. On top of this, Grendel’s home exists on the outside edges of King Heorot’s lands: not central but still inside (103). This location represents the marginalities of the Anglo-Saxon people who the majority of society sees as sinful or “demonic.” To the Anglo-Saxons, these outsiders would have been those who did not follow cultural norms, including those dictated by biblical law.…
From 793 to 1066 AD, the Vikings struck terror into the heart of every European. Their sudden, ferocious raids on villages, churches, and monasteries made them both hated and feared. However, the Vikings accomplished more than merely destroying towns. In fact, they were the best explorers of the age, venturing as far south as Africa and as far west as North America. Wherever they settled, they altered the cultural fabric of the conquered area. This paper attempts to analyze specific changes the Vikings initiated in the places they settled, particularly in the British Isles. Using traditional archaeological evidence and newer techniques, archaeologists have been able to find other effects the Vikings had on European society besides looting.…
The Vikings were people who lived from 800-1100 AD. Most of the lived in Scandinavia, but they also had colonies in places such as England, Ireland, Scotland, and many other places in Eastern Europe. The main language that they spoke was called Old Norse, and it has become the basis of many languages today, including Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. The word Viking comes from the Old Norse word vikingr, which means "camp", or "dwelling place". They wrote in an alphabet known as Runes. Runes were also used to write many Germanic languages at this time.…
I will begin my story from the point of my arrival in Denmark when my initial engagement takes place: I began my terror long ago when I sat in the darkness yelling and growling in pain of the happiness and joyousness coming from Hrothgar and his men yet, they still challenge me, after seven years they still celebrate and boast and laugh with their music. I, Grendel, through my great strength and immunity from the weapons of humanity, vow to plague the mead hall. I stayed in the darkness consumed with impatience, bitterness, and jealousy of listening to loud, joyous music coming from the hall; songs of rejoice make my hands scratch and claw at the top of my head. The king of Denmark shall flee in terror as my wrath is cast upon the people of the mead hall. After the laughter and the celebration were finished that night I came out of hiding from the marsh hidden in the darkness. I attacked from the front of the hall, destroying all in my path and devouring all those who stand in my way. The pathetic humans tried without success to prevent my massacre. Their weapons are primitive, worthless against my flesh. I hurled myself towards the crowds, devouring the humans who stood in my way. I hold my brutal and violent acts, those of jealousy and envy; just as the acts of my descendant Cain, in the highest regard as a force of sheer and utter destruction. I will prevail, of this I am sure.…
Norsemen from Scandinavia, which includes Norway, Sweden and Denmark, conducted raids, mostly into Europe from the 8th to 11th centuries and became known as Vikings (the word Viking means raiding). Later on, the word Viking became equal to piracy, and the Vikings gained a reputation of brutal robbers. The word Viking in Old Norse, spoken by Scandinavians, was translated as “a rear man who came from the Vik district of Oslo fjord”.…