The Ragnarr Effect

A Case for Cautious Enthusiasm

Vikings, perhaps more than any other historical group, save maybe the Romans, seem to hold the western world's imagination in thrall. They have been romanticized, stigmatized, stylized, reimagined and outright lied about since the Viking Age itself. I myself am not immune to the seemingly irresistible pull of the Viking Mythos. When I was a young teenager, I was a fervent reader of fantasy literature. I played Dungeons & Dragons. J.R.R. Tolkien was nigh unto a god to me. I was (and let’s be honest, still am) a standard nerd. When the opportunity arose to enroll in a high school elective course about world mythology, I jumped at the chance. We talked about the Egyptian gods and the escapades of Zeus and the other denizens of Mount Olympus, we experienced the heroics in the Epic of Gilgamesh, but when the time came to learn about the Aesir, the Vanir, Jotun, Elves and Dwarves of Norse Mythology, something awoke in my very core.

"It was at the very beginning,

it was Ymir's time,

there was no sand, no sea,

no cooling waves,

no earth,

no sky,

no grass,

Just Ginnungagap." - Voluspa, the Poetic Edda (Dr. Jackson Crawford Translation)

Those words (from a different translation than the one above) and the images they invoked, somehow both familiar and yet very strange, captured me. I was primed for them, and long after that semester of high school was over, they lived inside my mind, and would soon be joined by countless others where all things Viking history and mythology were concerned. I had been a fan of history (medieval history in particular) since I was too young to read, but nothing captivated quite like the Sagas and histories that came out of Scandinavia in the Early Medieval Period.

I suspect that many of you, my readers, came by your interest in Viking history in much the same way, if you are my age, and if your school offered courses like the one I took all those years ago. But if you're a bit younger, there's a chance that television shows like the History Channel's Vikings, or Netflix's The Last Kingdom may have piqued your interest. Let me stress this right away: There is nothing wrong with discovering a love for history by these means. I am glad you are here! What I have now become conscious of, however, as I have taken my scholarship of this subject more seriously in my adulthood, is that sometimes, these gateways instead become traps. Some otherwise good-intentioned people become enthusiastic, but not knowledgeable. They romanticize the fictitious caricature of a Viking while paying little heed to the truth that lies etched in the bones of the very real people whom the Vikings victimized.

"At their most immediate, on the spot, on the day, for many the raids were the most bitter of endings. Behind every notation on our maps lay an urgent present of panic and terror, of slashing blades and sharp points, of sudden pain and open wounds; of bodies by the wayside, and orphaned children; of women raped and all manner of people enslaved; of entire family lines ending in blood; of screams and then silence where there should be lively noise; of burning buildings and ruin; of economic loss; of religious convictions overturned in a moment and replaced with humiliation and rage; of roads choked with refugees as columns of smoke rose behind them. Of utter, ruthless brutality, expressed in all forms." - Children of Ash and Elm, by Neil Price

I have forgone my own words and turned to those of Neil Price in this moment because the above passage is so visceral and poignant that I can scarcely do better justice to the truth behind what a Viking raid really entailed. If you watch footage from any modern war, witness the brutality captured therein, and think that the violence perpetrated by the Vikings was any lesser, different, or more justified, you are simply practicing willful ignorance.

Europe, throughout its entire history, has been a violent place. The Vikings weren't the only ones expressing murderous actions upon their fellow human beings. Charlemagne, the ruler of the Frankish kingdom, was fervently waging war on his neighbors; burning settlements, beheading vast swathes of enemies, and brutalizing common folk and elites alike in an effort to aggressively expand the borders of the kingdom he had inherited from his father. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England were no strangers to border squabbles, land seizures, and power struggles that often resulted in bloodshed. It was a time of unrelenting upheaval. These factors simply do nothing to minimize the misery inflicted by Viking raiders across northern and western Europe.

In recent times, many scholars and Viking enthusiasts have tried to place a gap between the concept of Vikings as simplistic raiders with a thirst for blood, and the reality that, as a people, they were far more complex than that. They are of course, correct, as stereotypes rarely prove accurate no matter whom they are applied to. Unfortunately, some of these folks, in their efforts to accomplish this, have downplayed the darker aspects, whether intentionally or not. The simple fact of the matter is, the Vikings were capable of amazing feats as well as unforgiveable atrocities.

The medieval Scandinavians, outside of their propensity for raiding and ransoming, were exceptional traders who built extraordinary networks that stretched from Greenland to the Far East. The Viking Age, when compared to the entire history of Europe, is a drop in the bucket when it comes to its duration. During that time, though, the Vikings managed to lay the groundwork for what would become the modern Scandinavian political states. They became politically and culturally influential, reshaped the identity of Europe, and made themselves extremely wealthy.

They could not have done any of it without being the most prolific and aggressive human traffickers in Europe in that age.

Every accomplishment, every settlement and colony, every international inroad and relationship, every silver coin earned, and every kingdom and nation established, would have been impossible without the lucrative slave-trade that was the backbone of the Viking economy. Enslaved people were taken en masse whenever possible, and sold to anyone who would buy, from the kingdoms of Europe to the Caliphates in the East. The practice of slavery was so ingrained in medieval Scandinavian society that mention of it can be found in the Eddas, which were written down some two or more centuries after the end of the Viking Age but drew from an ancient and rich oral tradition spanning generations. Most notably, the poem Rigsthula, in the Poetic Edda, goes into great detail about the various "classes" of society, placing the "Thralls" (Slaves) on the very lowest tier.

"They (the Slaves) had children,

they taught them and loved them.

I think their sons were named

Lumpy and Barn-Cleaner,

Noisy and Horsefly,

Sleeper, Stinker,

Midget, Fatboy,

Slow and Grey-hair,

Hunchback and Dangle-Leg;

they made fences,

they planted fields,

they raised pigs,

they herded goats,

they shoveled manure.

Their daughters were

Shorty and Fatty,

Fat-calf

and Beak-nose

Shriek and Slavegirl,

Gossip,

Skinny-hips

and Birdlegs.

All the families of Slaves

are descended from them." - Rigsthula, stanzas 12-13 (Dr. Jackson Crawford Translation)

These passages may seem almost comical to us now, as modern readers, but they very clearly illustrate the regard that Vikings had for the people they enslaved. There is very little in the way of virtue listed, beyond some semblance of humanity and a usefulness for manual labor. Slaves were, more or less, relegated to the same status as beasts of burden and chattel. The fact that these concepts were enshrined in their oral tradition goes a long way towards explaining how easy they found it to place their fellow human beings in bondage. If they were too weak to successfully resist, or if they dishonored themselves by submitting instead of dying in battle, then, in the eyes of the Viking slaver, they deserved their bonds.

So, knowing all of this about the Vikings, should we forego our interest and relegate them to the dark corners of history best forgotten?

If speaking for myself, I think the answer is "No". Instead of closing the book on Viking history, we must simply be cautious in how we express our enthusiasm and wield our knowledge. It is irresponsible to present the good without acknowledging the bad. I chose to call this post "The Ragnarr Effect", because I think it's a good term for what we sometimes see in spaces of Viking interest. Ragnarr Loðbrók, as portrayed by Travis Fimmel in the hit TV show Vikings, is a very compelling hero: Likeable, flawed, driven, and capable, much like his namesake, about which an entire Saga was created in the time of the Vikings. Now, as then, he represents something for young people to aspire to, if only in spirit. The allure of the hypermasculine, intrepid Viking leader is as strong now as it was over a thousand years ago.

What we must acknowledge about such fictitious portrayals is that they are just that: Fictitious. Larger than life, they are meant to personify the entire spirit of an age; an avatar for the ideals a culture long gone. The Vikings, though they sometimes seem much closer to us in time than they actually are, may as well have lived on an entirely different planet. Their perspectives and worldview were so distinct from our own that we simply cannot fathom them as they actually were. We cannot have a conversation with them. We will never come to truly understand them, no matter how many bones and brooches we dig up, how many of their ships we replicate, or how many of their sagas we read. The Vikings are gone. You or I cannot aspire to be one, because to do so would mean compromising a morality and social foundation that has changed so drastically since their time as to be unrecognizable to a denizen of that era.

All of the above may seem a little discouraging to someone with a passion for this history, but I assure you, you need not discard your passion in order to responsibly pursue it. Do not shy away from the ugliness, the injustice, and the unflattering bits. Rather, acknowledge them and use them as yet another tool for teaching. Talk about them openly, and don't take offense when someone brings them to your attention. The truth, by its very nature, is always bitter-sweet. Be cautious in your enthusiasm but remain enthusiastic! I know I will.