tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post2777663348690027152..comments2024-03-29T03:57:26.974-04:00Comments on Grim's Hall: The Most Peaceful Place on EarthGrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-14963910065656503442012-06-24T22:02:34.294-04:002012-06-24T22:02:34.294-04:00Iceland has a lot of Irish in it as well, accordin...Iceland has a lot of Irish in it as well, according to its DNA. The current running theory is Irish slaves, primarily women, brought to Iceland.<br /><br />I'm not sure why that would settle things down any. <br /><br />Subsistence farming and fishing without anyone nearby to raid takes the aggression out of one, perhaps.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-58613770997155799732012-06-20T11:41:12.167-04:002012-06-20T11:41:12.167-04:00Just think what they would have done if they had c...Just think what they would have done if they had coffee...ravennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-25949866895853105652012-06-20T09:55:13.619-04:002012-06-20T09:55:13.619-04:00I've always thought P. H. Sawyer had the right...I've always thought P. H. Sawyer had the right of it; as he points out, the first raids were on a small scale, and not led by the greatest men in Scandinavia. Only later do the larger fleets led by kings appear.<br /><br />His thesis is that the first Viking raiders were thus outlaw bands being expelled by increasingly strong kings in Scandinavia itself; but the profitability of the exercise proved convincing to everyone for a while.Grimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-65516852568632378612012-06-20T09:29:39.858-04:002012-06-20T09:29:39.858-04:00I'm coming over to a view, which I long resist...I'm coming over to a view, which I long resisted, that the Viking raids (beginning at Lindisfarne in 793) were a calculated response, organized by Denmark, to Charlemagne's massacre of the Saxons at Verden in 782. The message being, "You want a holy war? We'll give you a holy war."<br /><br />I'm also convinced, however, that the raiding caught on, and was sustained, not by religious fervor but by simple profit motive. There's lots of upward mobility in accumulating treasure and slaves.<br /><br />Just gave a lecture on this last Saturday.Lars Walkerhttp://www.brandywinebooks.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-89935520974784816062012-06-20T08:49:50.433-04:002012-06-20T08:49:50.433-04:00I was reading something about the Viking eruption ...I was reading something about the Viking eruption lately that pointed out how they were fairly peaceful traders for a long while, then went kind of nuts for a period, then rather suddenly settled back down into businessmen. I didn't realize what an extensive trade route they had, not only in the west but down through Russia all the way to the Middle East. I also didn't realize how deeply they penetrated into most of Europe when they were in their wild-and-crazy phase.<br /><br />A good fraction of my family tree -- the Southern cotton famers -- were Normans (Norsemen) who crossed into Great Britain, invaded Scotland, then came to America via Ulster. Not much maritime instinct left these days, I must say. Lots of blond hair.Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.com