No relation to either of those words. Here's a good Wikipedia article that gives an indication of how slippery the word is.
Vikings - Wikipedia
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Mixing time periods
- Thread starter OutsidersEyes
- Start date
First, let me remind readers that this is historical stuff. For writerly purposes, we can make of Vikings (and pirates and merchants and etc.) whatever we wish.
Anyways.
At least for medieval times, as far as I know very few people had seafaring as a way of life. The closest, I suppose, would be fishermen. But most people had their farms (or lived in towns, a tiny percentage) and went to sea only occasionally. Some occasions were happenstance, others were routine.
For example, there were truly large fishing fleets, both in the Baltic and in the North Sea, catching mostly herring and cod. A good many farmers along the coasts would work their farms for part of the year, go out on one of the ships during season, then return home again. The sea part was important, but wouldn't be what "seafaring" would conjure up for most modern readers. But there were some who went out and stayed out. The actual fishing ships--at least for the Baltic herring--stayed out at sea. They dumped their catch onto transport ships so they could maximize their operation. But once the season ended, everyone went back to port.
As for raiding (by sea), I mentioned a couple examples above. It ranged for sporadic, or even rare, to nearly continual. We can't really say why the variation. Reasonable guesses (which really means the ones Skip agrees with <g>) say it was a combination of circumstances back home plus some good war leader plus finding some place vulnerable with moveable wealth. But even then, we have things like the siege of Paris, or the taking over of an entire region (Normandy or the Danelaw). So it's a whole range of experiences. To reiterate from above, folks can call any part of that range "Viking" if they like. But it's not really too far removed from piratical behavior in the Mediterranean or elsewhere, and nobody calls them Vikings.
It can get complicated. Fiction is easier!
Finchbearer
Istar
I just find it interesting honestly how terminology changes over time, and with living in an area where there are plenty of ‘Viking’ remains, and also ‘Celtic’ remains, it’s about separating fact from fiction…
It’s like hippies going to stone henge and branding themselves as Pagans, when paganism and heathenism were derogatory terms that Christian’s used for those who practiced and simply believed in the old ways. There is some validity to it but also a lot of falsities.
It’s like hippies going to stone henge and branding themselves as Pagans, when paganism and heathenism were derogatory terms that Christian’s used for those who practiced and simply believed in the old ways. There is some validity to it but also a lot of falsities.
- Thread starter
- #24
OutsidersEyes
Minstrel
Alright I missed so much of this at work today but this is really giving my early Final Fantasy sky-pirate vibes. Sky vikings, I guess. Steampunk sky vikings in a Victorian setting. Maybe not plaguing towns but transport routes.
Redfrogcrab
Troubadour
In an ancient fantasy setting I was working on,a long time ago, I had different civs and species with different tech levels and historical inspiration, one was a Victorian-era human culture with rapid expansion and steam technology, and another was a species of humanoid fox that lived in the vast woods with a neolithic/native American inspired culture and tech
- Thread starter
- #26
OutsidersEyes
Minstrel
That makes sense given that sadly two different species are probably more likely to fight than share technology. Makes me wonder about including more than one sentient species myself. I had planned on just humans.
