Lives of the Viking invaders of Britain

[ILLYRIAN]

It has been stated that the Viking invaders were marauders, murdering and raping the English communities, however, it is also said that the Vikings were very cleanliness orientated. Was it that the English that lost out to the Vikings accused them of being vile. The Vikings easily took the English women because the Englishmen were so dirty.
Which version do you adhere to?

 

[thetopher]

Viking was an occupation which went hand-in-hand with raping, stealing, marauding, looting churches, taking slaves, etc. This did this all over Europe but it was Britain (and Northern France) where the Danes, Northmen etc decided to 'settle' after taking most of the land and slaughtering the priest class and many of the men folk. The lands in the southern British Isles were much more fertile than where the Danes came from.

Cleanliness had little to do with their victories, the Vikings won because their profession was 'warrior' and so were much better fighters than the average Anglo-Saxon, at least to begin with. Eventually the kingdom of Wessex under Alfred The Great rallied, fought back and took back much of the stolen land, forging the country of England in the process.
Wales and Scotland (then known as Caledonia or Alba) went through similar processes of unifying under one kingdom against the Danish/Northman invaders.
In France a large swath of the country was permanently conquered- Normandy (the land of the Northmen) and the French king to the south regularly bribed them to stop them invading further.

 

[NotASlayer]

In France a large swath of the country was permanently conquered- Normandy (the land of the Northmen) and the French king to the south regularly bribed them to stop them invading further.

And then they invaded us.

 

[thetopher]

And then they invaded us.

True. And conquered us. But by that point 'England' as a nation with an identity and a people and laws was well-established.

In truth the Vikings had more of a lasting effect on England that the Normans, at least in terms of genetics.

 

[NotASlayer]

True. And conquered us.

Harold was arguably a better military leader than William the B*stard (not a nickname he liked 😀) but he'd already had to fight off one invader. There was even a First Doctor story with that as the plot!

In truth the Vikings had more of a lasting effect on England that the Normans, at least in terms of genetics.

Language appears to have been one of the main legacies of the Normans. French became the language of nobility, but it also influenced what then passed as English.

 

[Anyanka Bunny Slayer]

And then they invaded us.

Everyone has invaded Britain. Its a rite of passage. 😋

 

[NotASlayer]

Everyone has invaded Britain. Its a rite of passage. 😋

Only the Celts, Picts, Romans, Scoti, Angles, Saxons, Danes, Norman French, Spanish (they failed), French (they also failed), and Dutch.

Before the Celts I don't think anyone was really together enough to class them as "invaders" more "colonisers."

I guess Nazi Germany as well, because they did conquer the Channel Islands.

 

[Anyanka Bunny Slayer]

Only the Celts, Picts, Romans, Scoti, Angles, Saxons, Danes, Norman French, Spanish (they failed), French (they also failed), and Dutch.

Before the Celts I don't think anyone was really together enough to class them as "invaders" more "colonisers."

I guess Nazi Germany as well, because they did conquer the Channel Islands.

Don't forget Iran, India, Syria, and all those others who are turning Britain into a cesspool. 😕

Though frankly, its also happening in Australia and parts of Scandinavia...

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

The Vikings could project power as far away as Sicily, Byzantium, North America and Muscovy. Greater Britain was literally at their doorstep.