Viking herritage

After having been made an honorary Viking myself (thanks to my time on board the amazing Viking cruise ships), it prompted me to imagine what the Vikings and their lives would have been like in the time of the Norsemen. In modern times it is now easy to travel, however, back then it was much harder and these Vikings certainly got around the World. Even so it is important to go back to look at where some of these travellers came from, and in this Blog we will be looking at one of these countries, Norway!

Norway has fascinating culture, not only Viking history but it is also land of fjords and tranquil old fishing villages. I visited in 2002, during the winter which was bags of fun. We had a fantastic Nordic Holiday where we visited the Ice Hotel, saw the Northern lights and ate reindeer meat. Sadly, it is also where I severely injured my leg through dog sledging through there beautiful Nordic forests, but we will put this to one side for now.

In my view, the most awe-inspiring part of this holiday was gazing at the Northern Lights. We were in the cold, I was holding a cup of hot chocolate to keep me warm and then we saw it; it was a wonderful green, luminous aurora which I would never forget. When I stayed in Norway with my family in 2002 for three weeks I learned a lot about Nordic heritage.

Looking at this phenomena alongside the stunning scenery, helped me to understand how scenery played a important factor in Viking history. The mountains helped created the Norse mythology and the pagan Norse gods. My favourite god is Locki the god of mischief. Then there is the Lord of thunder, Thor and their father Odin. (If one watches the latest Marvel films one can actually learn about the Norse gods in a fun way!)

The Vikings and the legends , since 793 until 1066 Scandinavian Norseman explored Europe and America and Italy. They did this by using the boats that they were so skilled at using. A Old Norse verb "Viking" means to go on a waterborne journey whether by river or sea. They discovered the waterways of Russia then they travelled to the Islamic lands.

My favourite fact about the Vikings is that they invented the Nordic Spa. On the Viking Ocean ships that I travelled on, which were not the famous war ships of yesteryear, but beautiful state of the art cruise liners, one of the highlights were in fact the Nordic spas which I loved resting in. Going back to Norse mythology, the woods that become part of the sauna, meant it held magical powers that regenerate the body.

Similarly, the Romans considered their saunas and baths sacred as there is a recorded saying about saunas, which does "in sauna there is truth". This was said to be true, as when one is in a sauna, one chats with the ancients as though it was like a form of therapy. These rituals were important to many cultures, and for the the Vikings, it helped formed who they were as a group of people.

Like the sauna or spa, viking ships also became iconic symbols deeply connected with the Vikings and they used these longboats to stretch their influence and warmongering across the globe. The Vikings were not great at building cities, they were a nomadic culture which was constantly on the move. Lack of farming, and agri-communities meant they were very susceptible to changes in the weather, and when there was a lot of flooding in Norway this forced these Vikings to spread elsewhere.

Vikings were feared warriors that even the Saxons were scared of in Wessex. Even so, these Vikings helped created Northern England, because after several battles and raids it was here, they stayed and settled.

I think its sad that the schools within England do not teach about Norway history as they helped create what we know of as England today. Alfred the Great in 871 to 870 AD knew how great these Vikings where for the creation of Britain. I would recommend reading the Bernard Cornwall series of Vikings and Saxons which really paints a great picture of their importance in the development of Britain as we now know it to be.

We can see this when visiting the North of England, evidenced by the names of the villages, which all have a foreign twist. The Viking's also left behind some ruins and precious artefacts which are now in museums. We can see also see evidence of their British settlements through the warships that they left behind.

What I admire most about these Vikings is that they helped discover America long before Christopher Columbus did.

When I was in Norway We stayed one night in Stockholm in the old town. There they have beautiful historic houses and cobbled streets. I would recommend if ever there one should visit Hallwyl House that looks across the bay.

The country is also famous for its design and tapestries. The tapestries are a famous part of Viking stories like the famous story of Beowulf is told through a special silk tapestries. I think that the Vikings taught us a lot about sailing and storytelling and how they would tell a story about there ancestors.

To my mind, I think that visiting Norway in the summer would be much more fun especially the scenic mountains. I think that as a visitor one would get more out of visiting Norway in the summer than in the winter, especially because the days are so long. Plus, you get the extra advantage of there being no tourists!