FULL EPISODE | CLASSIC TIME TEAM SPECIAL
In our latest Special from the archives, Sir Tony Robinson and Time Team seek recent evidence that supports a new and more complex understanding of the Vikings. Starting at Lindisfarne, Robinson explains how the record of the raid in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle cemented a reputation of the marauding berserker. However, the following 250 years now represent a significant Anglo-Scandinavian cultural legacy. Excavations, for instance in York and Orkney, paint a picture of settlers, farmers, merchants, and craftsmen, integrating into the local culture and religion. The Team spend time at the dig in Hungate in inner-city York, where finds similar to nearby Coppergate are found. They explore other aspects of Norse culture, such as sword metallurgy, jewellery, stone carving, bone tools, and extensive trade networks.
Original broadcast date: 11th October 2010.
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46 Comments
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Viking means someone that can sail shallow water
Ah gade= gate
"The word Viking, literally means Pirate…"
That's not what i've come to understand. The word "Viking" as i know it, means – "Traveler/explorer/adventurer" – It's more of an action, than a title… As in : "To go Vikingr…" – To go explore. To travel. To go on an adventure…
Because that's what they did…
But i'm no expert… It's just what i was led to believe…. ???
Thanks!
VIKING WAS THE JOB NOT THE PEOPLE
what? making a comparison between a nazi and a Viking? the so called Vikings didn't commit genocide to my knowledge and everybody at the time used violence to conquer lands violence was a common occurrence not something specific to the people from scandinavia.
gentle world of christianity? really?
Interesting to see how you view my ancestors over there. Hope i can have my great great great great grandfathers jaw back in a few deccades 🙂
"a bit like the Americans" that's not a nice thing to say!
Baldrik would have stayed home as a farmer.
❤❤❤
Jag förstår inte vad man har fått för sig att Vikingar och deras horn på huvudet,vad har man fått det ifrån.Dom visste själv inte att dom kallades vikingar än mindre att dom skulle ha något horn på huvudet.Det är ju löjligt.Det var erfarena skickliga navigatörer och sjömän som man kan väl kalla dom affärsmän.Dom var tvungen att hitta sätt att överleva helt enkelt.Det fanns gott om olika stammar som ville ha en kung.Det var ofta krig bland olika stammar.Dom så kallade Vikingarna var endast enkla bönder som brukade sin mark.Dom här I detta program vet inte vad dom snackar om.Så därför tänker jag inte skriva mer,jag undrar vad fan dom har fått det här ifrån.Visst dom krigade och dom var väl inga som man kallar mammas pojkar.Men dom var inte sådana barbarer som människor tycks tro.Och visst dom kom till England och och rövade,men dom såg ju att det var väldigt enkelt att få silver och guld och allt annat.Så vem hade inte gjort det,det var enkla byten.Dom var krigare och dom var likadana som Stalin,Hitler,Mao see tog.Och dom tillsammans har gjort slut på många miljoner människoliv och dessutom på sitt eget folk.Som sagt:Om vi jämför dom med vikingarna så var ju vikingarna rena töntarna.Hej.
Did I just hear an academic compare Nordic people in the 800s to Nazis? I would say that we didn't kill nearly as many people as the Nazis… maybe sadly since some people made the comparison.
About the graffiti – wonder how great a part of the population of Vikings who could read and write 🤔 Can they have been writing on bark as seen in Russia 🤔😊
Wonder what Windows (IT) would have been named without the Vikings 🤔🙃😊
Probably not the first to post it, but i just have to clear up the term "Viking" and the scandinavian meaning:
Viking means "Person from Viken". A "Vik" in norwegian is a sort of cove (large or small), and rerference the area in norway just north of denmark. That area/county is litterally called "Viken" today. "ing" is an ending scaninavians add to an adjective when a person is described. So a crazy person would be "Galing" (gal=crazy + ing). But the "ing" ending can be added to other words as well to describe a property of a person, like when we say "søring" (sør=south +ing) would be a person from the south, or a southerner.
So a "Viking" litteraly means "A person from the area called viken".
But in English the correct term would be a Vikerner or maybe Vikenerner.
The idea that viking means "looter" does not come from scandinavia, but probably England and europe since that is what people from viken did.
We have similar meanings from other groups of people like "Vandals" who is now used for Vandalism (deliberate desctruction of property)
I didn't understand the dig at the Americans at the end.
My name is ALARIC king of viking s I'm from England 🇬🇧
The Vikings are still here. 😉🥰
It wasent called "Scandinavian law".. it was Danelaw.. take a guess where those vikings came from… We all know Danish vikings were the ones "making friends" with the British. The Norweigans wanted to get as far away from their country as possible (dont understand why) so they discovered north america. And the swedish vikings sailed east and became "Rus vikings". Yes, sweden you are closely related to the russians.. we cant leave you alone for just a little bit before you start doing bad things…. 🙂
Yes but what kicked off the Viking era? They had been trading up and down Britain , European coast and into the Mediterranean sea for hundreds of years without the raiding . In the mid 8th century Charlemagne was ordered by the pope to finish the job of christianiising northern Europe. The army got to Saxony , and chopped down sacred groves and baptised 4,000 saxons who had surrendered. Then they killed the newly converted saxons. The Danes watched all this and thought no thanks . An army was gathered, Charlemagne was pushed back and in retribution went on a raid to
Lindisfarne. Lindisfarne wasn't raided because it was rich . It was raided because it was Christian.
As a 'Proud American' (USA not Canada or South), I simply LUV Sir Robinson…" Vikings were Global Traders, Technological Pioneers & Frightening Invaders…. abit like the Americans..!! You either Love Them or Loathe Them"…. Well Said, Tony..!! And We Americans feel the same way too….!!
BORING BEYOND BELIEF.
This proves vikings invented rap music.
thats a MAJOR insult to no less than 3 or 4 INTIRE contries to call the wikings maniacs.
specially to us desendence from them.
and this is the time to call u out for it.
just because OUR warrious fought better than ur lameass alcoholics did thatt doest give u the right to insult people u dont like.
and now im gonna repport u for it just as well
My god I love Time Team!
As this viseo explains the vikings was much more than violent villains.
Nice to know but there's even more to it.
With an modern expression we could say that they lost the information warfare – big time.
They didn't bother to write their side of the story. The stories about their raids, the raping and what have you I believe to be truthfull, but what had just happened were written down by those who had just survived the worst round of bully-beating of their lives.
My point is that they probably weren't worse than any other army at the time. It was common for an army to "live off" the land they had just conquered. The logistics were simple. "Bring nothing". The "scorched earths tactic" was also much more effective then. All to the detriment of those who actually lived in the area.
"Viking" was something one did, not a group of people, so while on a raid or trading they were "Viking", back home farmers, fishermen, pheasants etc.
Did you know that there´s around 3000 runestones still in Scandinavia! About 2800 of them here in Sweden, but why is that? Why so few in Norway and Denmark?.
The historians believe that as Christianity took over scandinavia, runestones was destroyed to erase all signs of the old gods, in Sweden this took a much longer time as the Swedish Vikings resisted and was the last of the Vikings to become christian, this process took a much longer time then with the other scandinavian countrys and therefor so many runestones managed to survive.
And thx to these runestones we learned alot about Scandinavian poeple, not only in Sweden but from allover Scandinavia.
Let's clear this picture once in for all! It was the vikings that was "Horny", not their helmets!
Knud den store
The title , the real vikings , are there wrong vikings ?
25:03 a poop so impressive it gets mounted for exibition a thousand years later is now my goal in life 😂
Why do you call them Danes? Norwegian vikings were equally a part of the vikings.
In general pagans integrate alot better then someone who believe in a single god because they dont see a problem with adding another god
As a dane i wanna say its kind of funny how our entire history is fighting eachother untill someone buts their head in and we go together to tell them to fuck off so we can get back to fighting eachother xD
Very informative, but to be honest l had Blackadder in my mind every time the narrator spoke
"Vikings are like Americans. You either love them or loathe them." –Tony Robinson
Some of the first western globalists.
And at least we very unselfishly provided our English cousins with some much needed linguistic aid 😊😂
I love that her name is Helen Geek!!
That reference to the Americans at the end was spot on but could have included the British too.
Funnily, here in Denmark, we are mostly told that Canute and Forkbear are also vikings.
Gods bless Mick and Phil and Tony and Helen.
As a Swede I'm always prepared to generously blame the Danish if the questions comes up.
Too repetitive – got bored and wanted more actual detail. Sigh
The irony of a British man talking about Americans being "fearsome invaders".
The Viking, I wonder who recently had the same idea? It took the Vikings way longer for the King to provide them with land. Now, these most recent boat murderering invaders are welcomed, given money & accommodation & the freedom to murder its patriotic citizens. Now, they are protected and given places on our government and infrastructure. King, you must be so proud of yourself. This is your legacy.