What TV Shows are you watching right now??

[Rockape]

I must admit, I have looked at the history of the Vikings and was amazed that this story pretty much replicates the actual facts. I looked it up when they attacked Paris as I thought that wouldn't have happened.....but it did!

Quite whether they sailed into the med, Ive not checked out, but again find it hard to believe. The one bit I really couldn't swallow was when one of the brothers sailed off to Paris (as you do from Norway!) and in what seemed like a couple of days was back with a load of Frenchies, who were prepared to fight alongside them against other Vikings. That made me wince a bit!

[Phil71]

I must admit, I have looked at the history of the Vikings and was amazed that this story pretty much replicates the actual facts. I looked it up when they attacked Paris as I thought that wouldn't have happened.....but it did!

Quite whether they sailed into the med, Ive not checked out, but again find it hard to believe. The one bit I really couldn't swallow was when one of the brothers sailed off to Paris (as you do from Norway!) and in what seemed like a couple of days was back with a load of Frenchies, who were prepared to fight alongside them against other Vikings. That made me wince a bit!

Try The Last KIngdom too. BBC series.

I've read the books. Good story.

[Rockape]

is that on iplayer Phil?

[Phil71]

is that on iplayer Phil?

Netflix now I think.

[Rockape]

Ive been resisting Netfix....got Sky Q, BT Sport, Spotify Family, Amazon Prime, which is probably enough!

Or maybe not!

[DiamondGooner]

I must admit, I have looked at the history of the Vikings and was amazed that this story pretty much replicates the actual facts. I looked it up when they attacked Paris as I thought that wouldn't have happened.....but it did!

Quite whether they sailed into the med, Ive not checked out, but again find it hard to believe. The one bit I really couldn't swallow was when one of the brothers sailed off to Paris (as you do from Norway!) and in what seemed like a couple of days was back with a load of Frenchies, who were prepared to fight alongside them against other Vikings. That made me wince a bit!

Errgh ............ I wouldn't wince too much.

So history is my forte so let me explain the following ...........

Firstly you need to take into account "hollywood" exaggerations for entertainment purposes but on the queries of the following.

Did the Vikings go sail to the Med? - Firstly this isn't a maybe, its a definitely, they sailed as far as the Middle East using the Russian and Ukrainian rivers to end up in the Black Sea and possibly the Caspian, but the Black sea is 100%.
Most of these long voyages were for trade not raids, another reason we know this is because Vikings enlisted as far as Byzantium (modern Istanbul) to be part of the Royal Varangian Guard, some had travelled from England even after 1066 AD and before to enlist.

Second the brother with the Frenchies I believe your referring to Rollo? Rollo WAS granted Normandy by the Frankish King as a buffer to ward off Viking raids.
Rollo was given the Duchy of Normandy in recompense by agreeing to fight off any Vikings trying to sail down the River Siene which is the river route to Paris.

Rollo's descendants resulted in William the Conquerer.

[Ach]

Yeah Last Kingdom on Netflix is also very good. No lagerthaesque beauties though

[Rockape]

Funnily enough DG, after making that post about the historical accuracy of Vikings, I thought I’d better read up on it and saw they had travelled far and wide and incredibly even visited America 500 years before Columbus.

I know they were offered land and the Normans were their descendants etc, but my point about them fighting alongside Vikings against other Vikings, in Scandinavia appears to be the one issue that seemed ridiculous and probably is.

[Phil71]

Funnily enough DG, after making that post about the historical accuracy of Vikings, I thought I’d better read up on it and saw they had travelled far and wide and incredibly even visited America 500 years before Columbus.

I know they were offered land and the Normans were their descendants etc, but my point about them fighting alongside Vikings against other Vikings, in Scandinavia appears to be the one issue that seemed ridiculous and probably is.

They were generally a warring people. It started with them raiding each other and taking over each other's more fruitful land. Then they extended it to outside Scandinavia.

Must have been terrifying to see their boats running along your coast.

They ruled the northern half of England for many years, with the Anglo Saxons ruling the south. During that time, Ireland was also a regular battleground with them involved.

Bloody and violent times.

There's writing from those times that tells of the death of Anglo Saxon king Edmund the Martyr. Ivar the Boneless and his delightful bunch of merry men knocked hell out of his army and took control. He apparently told Ivar that he wasn't afraid as God would save him. Ivar was intrigued to see this in action, so he had him tied to a stake and got his men to fire arrows into him to see if his God would step up. As you might expect, poor Edmund was abandoned by the almighty to die a slow and painful death - probably whilst Ivar and the lads had a good laugh about it and got drunk.

[DiamondGooner]

Funnily enough DG, after making that post about the historical accuracy of Vikings, I thought I’d better read up on it and saw they had travelled far and wide and incredibly even visited America 500 years before Columbus.

I know they were offered land and the Normans were their descendants etc, but my point about them fighting alongside Vikings against other Vikings, in Scandinavia appears to be the one issue that seemed ridiculous and probably is.

I doubt they went to Scandinavia, that was done for the programmes entertainment / intrigue but the French fighting with Vikings against other Vikings is accurate.

In its creation, Rollo was given the Duchy of Normandy plus a retinue of Frankish soldiers to build his Duchy, he was charged with building a defence force so apart from any Vikings that joined him he would of initially been granted Frankish soldiers as well.

Eventually he and his settled men would all mix with the local populace and become the Normans.

If Rollo wanted to go to Norway then his Normandy assigned troops Frankish or Viking would of gone with him, as of that moment he was the Duke of Normandy, he could do what he wanted.

[Rockape]

Certainly fascinating times, that's for sure! Really gets you thinking about how those times were being portrayed and how accurate the details are. Apart from that one issue, I really can't find fault with it.

I was playing golf a few years ago in Scotland at a place called Cruden Bay (how do you post a photo on here FFS?)

Cruden Bay was once the scene of a bloody 11th Century battle. Danish King Canute tried to reinforce the Viking settlement in Scotland in 1012.

http://www.viking.no/e/info-sheets/scotland/cruden.htm

Stunningly beautiful place and so difficult to imagine the carnage!

However, there is more than a trace of the memory of the battle in the place name, Cruden. That is Croju Dane, or Crudane -- the death or slaughter of the Danes.

[Phil71]

The Saxons would use a battle method known as a shield wall. Basically it was all stand close together and put up your shields to form a wall. The people behind you would pack in tight to reinforce the strength of the wall. The vikings would charge the wall and try to break it. You'd end up with the two armies literally face to face, with the vikings trying to smash through the wall, swinging axes and long swords over the shields- and the Saxons thrusting their 2ft swords under their shields, - and the line behind them thrusting spears over your head into the viking mass.

[Ach]

New Narcos season is out finally

[Marsbar100]

Whats better mexico or columbia?

[Ach]

Colombia

But this is pretty good