Draken Harald Hårfagre

[Jeff Higgins]

I've kind of been getting into a bit of Viking history, inspired by some previous research into the origins of my family name. "Higgins" originated in Ireland, the Anglicised form of the Gaelic name Ó hUiginn ‘descendant of Uiginn’. Uiginn in turn being the Gaelic version of the Old Norse víkingr or viking. So, my name literally means "viking" in Gaelic. We were also apparently high status poets between the 14th and 17th centuries, but that's not nearly as cool (or interesting) as being Vikings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgins_(surname)

My first order of business was to read T.D. Kendrick's seminal work The Vikings (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1930) widely regarded as one of the most complete and definitive histories ever written. Pretty dry archeological stuff for the most part, but not lacking in descriptions of Viking exploits during their heyday.

My next order of business was to light up just a bit and tap that wonderful resource known as YouTube for some fun Viking video. There is no shortage of reenactment, historical, and just fun informational stuff available. And that is where I ran across a channel dedicated to the "largest Viking ship ever built", the Draken Harald Hårfagre, named after the Viking king of Norway, also known as "Harald Fairhair".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draken_Harald_Hårfagre

[Jeff Higgins]

Seems I'm having some trouble posting tonight. Hmm... I tried including a couple of images above and something went all wonky on me, so I will try again:

[Ayles]

Now you have to come down to my neck of the woods and check out the new Nordic Heritage Museum.

[Jeff Higgins]

O.k., well that finally worked, so on to "the rest of the story".

I was pretty excited to see this ship on YouTube and to read the story behind it. Quite an undertaking, really. They are touting the ship and the crew as retracing the trans-Atlantic crossing of original Viking ships, doing it all pretty much as the Vikings of yore had done it.

Except for one small detail, it turns out, which it appears they are going to some lengths to hide, or at least not being very up front about. It has a pair of diesel engines... not even listed as "propulsion" on their Wiki page, nor mentioned on any of the videos, facebook page, or any of that. I first noticed something odd when watching one of their videos, with the ship making pretty good headway - with the sail down and no oars in the water. Kind of disappointing...

They (quite defensively) claim that they would not have been allowed by Norwegian authorities to even build it without modern power on board, which I'm sure is true. Oh well. I suppose modern safety regulations have made it somewhat difficult to be a Viking. Still pretty cool, and they do try to minimize its use, just maneuvering in the harbors and what not. Pretty rough going on the open seas at any rate:

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Ayles

Now you have to come down to my neck of the woods and check out the new Nordic Heritage Museum.

Yup, absolutely. I have not yet been there.

Funny, I was flying home from Reykjavik just last year, with a seat right behind the door, so everyone was coming on board right in front of me. Everyone seemed to know one another, except for me. So, once we were airborne, I asked the guys seated next to me what was going on. It turns out they were some Nordic Mens' Choir, on their way to Ballard, to perform at the opening of the Nordic Heritage Museum. Fun stuff.

[Ayles]

It’s a great museum, incredible what they have done with it since the old location.

[Jeff Higgins]

That's what I've heard. I just have to get off my duff and get down there.

[pwd72s]

Decades ago, read an article on Viking ships in SAIL magazine. One sailboat designer whose name I can't recall said the hull design gleaned from archeological finds made him believe they were very fast under sail...close to modern monohull cruising yacht speed.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Decades ago, read an article on Viking ships in SAIL magazine. One sailboat designer whose name I can't recall said the hull design gleaned from archeological finds made him believe they were very fast under sail...close to modern monohull cruising yacht speed.

That's what I've gleaned from my initial research as well. Apparently, their construction also allowed them to kind of move through rough water more or less like a "slinky", kind of conforming and rolling and twisting. It sounds like a lot of that was due to their heavy keel beams and "clinker built" (overlapping plank) construction.

[RWebb]

there is a good PBS special on Vikings and their ship design - one biggie was the ability to sail rough seas and then move into shallow water rivers & lakes for the European "party boat" festivities

also Skoal and skull have the same roots...

I am 3/4 Scot - and at least half from the NE islands, so take some 'ancestral pride' in their exploits

BYW, did you find any info on Draken's grandson, Kraken?

I heard he got released...

[LWJ]

Rumor I heard was that the first Viking who learned to sail into the wind was burned as a witch. Viking ships are square rigged and great down wind. Up wind? A challenge.

Don’t know or care if true. I like the rumor

[Jeff Higgins]

Well, from what I'm learning about my ancestors, it would not surprise me in the least. While there is a lot of romance associated with the term "Viking" today, they were pretty damn ruthless, cruel, bloodthirsty, and superstitious. They murdered tens of thousands of helpless, unarmed, peaceful people over the course of a couple of hundred years. And that was on their good days. On their bad days, they didn't treat one another much better. So, yeah, burning someone who exhibited some theretofore unseen "magic"? I can see that. Probably even cooked some marshmallows over him as he burned... Then murdered his entire family just to make sure they got it all...

Oh, and Randy - I have made it as far as John O'Groats, but never out to the Farrow or Shetland Islands. They are now on my short list of "must go" places. My wife may pass, but I think my two boys and I may try to make it to Valhalla, or as they say it, Up Helly Aa one of these days. Looks like one hell of a party, Viking style:

https://www.shetland.org/things/events/up-helly-aa/lerwick-up-helly-aa

[RWebb]

Jeff - care to get some good food? Include Normandy on your visit - Viking invaded, settled (French girls), then got bored and invaded England.

But wait! There's more! England had previously been fairly well populated with Viking invaders...

So one Viking prong invaded another.

[gtc]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

That's what I've heard. I just have to get off my duff and get down there.

The cafe at the museum is pretty good also. They have some tasty bites and drinks.

There is also now a viking bar, Skal, in Ballard where People's Pub used to be.

[Reiver]

Great vids and great history.....you'd think they'd get the helmets/gear correct tho… Hollywood not Historical.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by RWebb

Jeff - care to get some good food? Include Normandy on your visit - Viking invaded, settled (French girls), then got bored and invaded England.

But wait! There's more! England had previously been fairly well populated with Viking invaders...

So one Viking prong invaded another.

Yeah, apparently they spent at least as much time fighting and invading one another as they spent invading other lands. They just liked to fight.

So, apparently, "Viking" isn't really any one (or any particular group of) nationality or nationalities, race, location, or other such defining trait. It's more a frame of mind, an attitude, bordering on - but just barely - a "culture". It's even used as a verb - to "go Viking" meant to go raiding.

Their strongholds were, of course, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, but there were plenty of folks populating those areas, and even ruling those areas, who were not "Viking" even at the height of the Viking Period. There were plenty of "Vikings" across the Baltic as well, in what are today Slavic lands. Or at least by relation. There were plenty of peaceful settlers spreading out from "Viking" lands, merely looking for land of their own.

One of the defining traits of "going Viking" that I've picked up on is that in the end, darn near everywhere, they always wound up getting pretty thoroughly trounced. Great victory after great victory, amazingly daring exploits, usually ended in disaster for them. They never knew when to quit. After victories through unparalleled audacity and courage, they would always succeed in going too far and doing something really, really stupid. I guess it's "audacity" if you win, "stupidity" if you lose... I think, in the end, the battle - win or lose - was all they cared about. Even if the battle was amongst themselves.

Originally Posted by gtc

The cafe at the museum is pretty good also. They have some tasty bites and drinks.

There is also now a viking bar, Skal, in Ballard where People's Pub used to be.

Cool. I'll have to check it out.

Originally Posted by Reiver

Great vids and great history.....you'd think they'd get the helmets/gear correct tho… Hollywood not Historical.

Yeah... I guess Wagner popularized the horned helmet look in his operas. Hardly historic.

[pwd72s]

What? Nobody here watching "The Vikings" on the History Channel? Season ending episode was Wednesday night. Semi historical, roughly based on the little we really know. Lots of violence, some sex. Had to cost quite a bit to makes the sets, the ships, the costumes..

The next season will probably be the last...the plot leading to "the end is near"...

[Jeff Higgins]

Yup, I've been catching up on the first several seasons of The Vikings, kind of binge watching it since before Christmas to catch up to this season. Pretty generally historically correct, but many of the characters and events are real mish-mashes, or amalgamations of the real characters and events. They have characters doing things that are historically attributed to someone else, and going places that the particular historical figure never really went, but someone else did.

The biggest problem the producers must have ran into is the utter lack of recorded history from the Viking perspective. They were illiterate. They had no written chronicles, just verbal "sagas" of their exploits. All of the written history comes from the British Isles, Europe, and even the Middle East. As such, it is often difficult to ascribe any particular exploit to any given Viking or group of Vikings. Most of the towns that were sacked were left wondering "who were those guys...".

I find their portrayal of Ragnar Lofbrook as particularly off base. They have him as a farmer who rose to being a king, where he was actually borne of royalty and was never more than a prince. They have him raiding Paris a couple of times, the first very successfully, the second getting his ass kicked by his brother Rollo, who had been captured and left behind on the first raid, subsequently switching allegiances to Francia. Ragnar never raided Paris. Oh, Paris was raided and besieged several times, just not by Ragnar. One "Rollo" did wind up as a significant land holder in Francia, but he wasn't Ragnar's brother, nor was he captured and left behind - he acquired his lands the old fashioned Viking way, he conquered them. Ragnar was one of the all-time most "successful" Viking raiders, which he apparently really excelled at, and he did die in a snake pit in England, but that is about all they got right. He never abandoned his people, never became an erstwhile drug addict, none of that. They do ascribe the correct sons to him, though, although Ivar the "Boneless" was just a nickname, as so many of them enjoyed.

Anyway, beyond my silly nit-picking, the series is very, very well done. They succeed in telling the tale without really glorifying their murderous ways. As a matter of fact, you find yourself really not liking most of the characters, because there just isn't much to like about them. Very crude, very savage, very bloodthirsty lot all the way around. No redeeming qualities in any of them, even the "heroes", they murder each other over the most petty of grievances or ambitions. Like I said earlier, they just like to fight, even if it is among themselves. Not a very flattering portrayal, which is really how it should be. I would highly recommend watching, if you are not already.

[RWebb]

speaking of the ME (where the Vikings visited) - I am trying to recall a book and movie (claimed to be real) written by a ME poet who went with some Vikings back to their land

it is worth reading; book maybe better than the movie

[Jeff Higgins]

Ibn Dustah (sometimes called Ibn Roste or Rustah) and Ibn Fadlan are both mentioned on page 159 of T.D. Kendrick's book as having written about Volga-Russia Vikings. Dustah's account is apparently somewhat more flattering, where Fadlan's is far less so. Both ultimately report them as being large, ruddy, dirty, primitive, quick tempered savages. Apparently the impression they gave most folks at the time. Fadlan is the one who actually travelled to Volga-Russia with them, where Dustah apparently encountered them in his own land. I, too, would be interested in finding modern translations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Rustah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan

The movie I believe you are looking for is The 13th Warrior, based on Fadlan's adventures with the Vikings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_13th_Warrior