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The Viking revival was a movement reflecting new interest in, and appreciation for
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
medieval history and culture. Interest was reawakened in the late 18th and 19th centuries, often with added heroic overtones typical of that
Romantic era
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
.
The revival began earlier with historical discoveries and early modern publications dealing with
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
culture. The first printed edition of the 13th-century ''
Gesta Danorum
''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...
'' or the ''Legend of the Danes'' by
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. ...
, came out in 1514 just as book printing began become more practical and printing trade was quickly spreading.
Olaus Magnus
Olaus Magnus (October 1490 – 1 August 1557) was a Swedish writer, cartographer, and Catholic ecclesiastic.
Biography
Olaus Magnus (a Latin translation of his birth name Olof Månsson) was born in Linköping in October 1490. Like his elder ...
's ''
Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus
''Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus'' was a monumental work by Olaus Magnus on the Nordic countries, printed in Rome 1555. It was a work which long remained for the rest of Europe the authority on Swedish matters. Its popularity increased ...
'', or "History of the northern peoples", was printed in 1555. The pace of publication increased during the 17th century with
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
translations of the famous
Edda
"Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been attributed by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poem ...
, notably Peder Resen's ''Edda Islandorum'' of 1665. The Edda consisted of two 13th-century
Medieval Icelandic literary works on
Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
, written down in the 13th century, but certainly from older oral sources: they are the ''
Prose Edda
The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...
'', and an older collection of poems without an original title now known as the ''
Poetic Edda
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic me ...
''. The books are the main sources of medieval
skald
A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally ...
ic tradition of poetry and storytelling in Iceland and Norse mythology.
The word ''Viking'' is not a medieval term and was introduced into Modern English only during the 18th century. At that point in the Romantic Era, Viking exploits were aggregated and tended to be falsely subsumed under a single category and subsequently romanticized as heroic adventure. Etymologists frequently trace the word "Viking" to writers who are referring to those who set about to raid and pillage. The word ''Viking'' in the sense in which it is commonly used is derived from the Old Norse ''víkingr'' signifying a sea-rover or pirate. Thus, a modern understanding of "Viking" history is shaped by the views of the people of the Romantic era, who studied and wrote about "the Vikings" as seen from their point of view.
Norway
The rediscovery of the Viking past began in Norway during the 19th century when Norway saw a rise in nationalism. Having been in a personal
union with Denmark under the Danish king for 400 years and subsequently in the
union between Sweden and Norway
Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway ( sv, Svensk-norska unionen; no, Den svensk-norske union(en)), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Swede ...
under the Swedish king, Norwegians started looking back to their
Viking era
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
kings and sagas. In 1867, the first Viking ship to be unearthed, the
Tune ship
The Tune ship (''Tuneskipet'') is a Viking ship exhibited in the Viking Ship Museum (''Vikingskipshuset på Bygdøy'') in Bygdøy, Oslo.
The Tune ship is of the karve, a small type of longship with broad hull. It was found at the Haugen far ...
, was excavated in
Østfold
Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side o ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. The ship provided new knowledge about the Vikings and their culture. The excavation of other ships and artifacts led to a higher consciousness about the Viking past in Norway. For example, the only complete
Viking helmet
Knowledge about military technology of the Viking Age (late 8th to mid-11th century Europe) is based on relatively sparse archaeological finds, pictorial representation, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and laws recorded in t ...
, the
Gjermundbu helmet
The Gjermundbu helmet is a Viking Age helmet.
The helmet was discovered during field clearing in 1943 at the Gjermundbu farm near Haugsbygd in the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud, Norway. Officials at the University of Oslo were later no ...
, ever to be found was also excavated in Buskerud, Norway.
Denmark
Danish antiquarian
Carl Christian Rafn
Carl Christian Rafn (January 16, 1795 – October 20, 1864) was a Danish historian, translator and antiquarian. His scholarship to a large extent focused on translation of Old Norse literature and related Northern European ancient history. He wa ...
was noted for his early advocacy of the theory that the Vikings had explored North America centuries before
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
* lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo
* es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón
* pt, Cristóvão Colombo
* ca, Cristòfor (or )
* la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
's and
John Cabot
John Cabot ( it, Giovanni Caboto ; 1450 – 1500) was an Italian navigator and explorer. His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England is the earliest-known European exploration of coastal North ...
's voyages. Rafn published much of his work in 1837 in the ''Antiquitates Americanæ'', considered the first scholarly exposition of the Old Norse exploration period.
Sweden
The term Viking was popularized with positive connotations by
Erik Gustaf Geijer
Erik Gustaf Geijer (12 January 1783 – 23 April 1847) was a Swedish writer, historian, poet, romantic critic of political economy, philosopher, and composer. His writings served to promote Swedish National Romanticism. He was an influential ...
at the beginning of the 19th century. His poem ''The Viking'' (''Vikingen'') appeared in the first issue of the Swedish periodical, ''Iduna''. The word Viking was taken to refer to romanticized, heroic, idealized Norse seafarers and warriors. This renewed interest of the
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
of a historic past had political implications. The
Geatish Society
The Geatish Society (''Götiska Förbundet'', also Gothic Union, Gothic League) was created by a number of Swedish poets and authors in 1811, as a social club for literary studies among academics in Sweden, with a view to raising the moral tone o ...
, of which Geijer was a member, popularized this ideal to a great extent. Another author who had great influence on the perception of the Vikings was
Esaias Tegnér
Esaias Tegnér (; – ) was a Swedish writer, professor of the Greek language, and bishop. He was during the 19th century regarded as the father of modern poetry in Sweden, mainly through the national romantic epic ''Frithjof's Saga''. He has be ...
, another member of the Geatish Society who wrote a modern version of ''
Frithiof's Saga
Frithiof's Saga ( is, Friðþjófs saga hins frœkna) is a legendary saga from Iceland which in its present form is from ca. 1300. It is a continuation from ''The Saga of Thorstein Víkingsson'' ('' Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar''). It takes pla ...
'', which became widely popular in the Nordic countries,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Germany
The German composer
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
is said to have strong influences of the Nordic mythology in his musical pieces. His Nordic influences further enhanced the Romanticism of the Viking era during that time. Wagner's
Der Ring des Nibelungen
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...
, commonly referred to as the
Ring cycle
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...
, is a set of four operas based loosely on figures and elements of Germanic mythology—particularly from the later Norse mythology—notably the Old Norse ''
Poetic Edda
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic me ...
'' and ''
Volsunga Saga'', and the epic poem ''
Nibelungenlied
The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poetry, epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition ...
''.
Britain
English authors from the 16th century had been aware of the Viking impact on the countryside, though the numerous placenames of ''Danes Camp'' is better explained as a modification of ''dene'', or hollow. Following the 17th-century first flowering of
Anglo-Saxon studies
Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom of ...
, there was a similar wave of enthusiasm for Northern culture in Britain, identifying as Viking remains
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
hill fort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
s and even
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
and exemplified by the antiquarian interests of
George Hickes George Hickes may refer to:
* George Hickes (divine) (1642–1715), English divine and scholar
* George Hickes (Manitoba politician) (born 1946), Canadian politician
* George Hickes (Nunavut politician)
George Hickes, Jr. is a Canadian politi ...
, who published a ''Linguarum veterum septentrionalium thesaurus grammatico-criticus et archæologicus'' in 1703–05. In the 1780s, Denmark offered to cede
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
to Britain in exchange for Crab Island (now
Vieques, Puerto Rico
Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ...
), and in the 1860s Iceland was considered for compensation for the British support of Denmark in the
Schleswig-Holstein conflicts. During this time, British interest and enthusiasm for Iceland and Nordic culture grew dramatically, expressed in original English poems extolling Viking virtues, such as
Thomas Warton
Thomas Warton (9 January 172821 May 1790) was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1785, following the death of William Whitehead.
He is sometimes called ''Thomas Warton the younger'' to disti ...
's "Runic Odes" of 1748:
:''Yes – 'tis decreed my Sword no more''
:''Shall smoke and blush with hostile gore''
:''To my great Father's Feasts I go,''
:''Where luscious Wines for ever flow.''
:''Which from the hollow Sculls we drain''
:''Of Kings in furious Combat slain.''
United States
Rasmus B. Anderson
Rasmus Bjørn Anderson (January 12, 1846 – March 2, 1936) was an American author, professor, editor, businessman and diplomat.
He brought to popular attention the fact that Viking explorers were the first Europeans to arrive in the New World ...
, the founding head of the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
, also founded a publication company, The
Norrœna Society
The Norrœna Society was an organization dedicated to Northern European culture, that published sets of reprints of classic 19th-century editions, mostly translations, of Old Norse literary and historical works, Northern European folklore, and medi ...
, which focused on republishing translations of texts devoted to the history and romance of Northern Europe. Anderson was the author of a number of books with Scandinavian themes. He brought to the American popular attention the idea that Viking explorers discovered the New World and was the originator of
Leif Erikson Day
Leif Erikson Day is an annual observance that occurs on October 9. It honors Leif Erikson (Old Norse: ''Leifr Eiríksson'', is, Leifur Eiríksson, no, Leiv Eiriksson, Swedish: ''Leif Eriksson''), the Norse explorer who led the first Europeans ...
.
''Rasmus B. Anderson, Pioneer and Crusader'' (Paul Knaplund, Norwegian-American Historical Association, Volume I8: p. 23)
/ref>
See also
* Gothicism
Gothicism or Gothism ( sv, Göticism ; la, Gothicismus) was a cultural movement in Sweden, centered on the belief in the glory of the Swedish Geats, who were identified with the Goths. The founders of the movement were Nicolaus Ragvaldi and th ...
* Scandinavism
Scandinavism ( da, skandinavisme; no, skandinavisme; sv, skandinavism), also called Scandinavianism or pan-Scandinavianism,[Vikings in popular culture
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...](_blank)
* Norse mythology in popular culture
The Norse mythology, preserved in such ancient Icelandic texts as the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and other lays and sagas, was little known outside Scandinavia until the 19th century. With the widespread publication of Norse myths and legends a ...
* Neopaganism in Scandinavia
Modern paganism in Scandinavia is almost exclusively dominated by Germanic Heathenry, in forms and groups reviving Norse paganism. These are generally split into two streams characterised by a different approach to folk and folklore: Ásatrú, ...
* Norse Mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
* Neopaganism in German-speaking Europe
Since its emergence in the 1970s, Neopaganism (') in German-speaking Europe has diversified into a wide array of traditions, particularly during the New Age boom of the 1980s.
Schmid (2006) distinguishes four main currents:
* Germanic neopaganis ...
* Asatru
Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th cent ...
* Viking metal
Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by a lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Viking metal is quite diverse as a musical style, to the point where some consider it more a cr ...
* Viking rock
Viking rock (also known as Vikingarock in Swedish) is a rock music genre that takes much of its Viking revival, themes from 19th-century Viking romanticism, mixing it with elements of rockabilly, Oi! or street punk, and folk music. Frequent theme ...
* Viking Society for Northern Research
The Viking Society for Northern Research is a group dedicated to the study and promotion of the ancient culture of Scandinavia. Founded in London in 1892 as the Orkney, Shetland and Northern Society or the Viking Club, its name was changed in 1902 ...
References
Sources
* Litzenberg, Karl (1947) ''The Victorians and the Vikings: A Bibliographical Essay on Anglo-Norse Literary Relations'' (University of Michigan Contributions in Modern Philology)
* Wawn, Andrew (2000) ''The Vikings and the Victorians: Inventing the Old North in Nineteenth-Century Britain'' (Cambridge: Brewer)
* Ross, Margaret Clunies (1998) ''The Norse Muse in Britain 1750–1820'' (Edizioni Parnaso)
* Logan, F. Donald (1983)''The Vikings in History'' (London: Hutchison & Co.)
* Arnold, Martin (2008) ''Vikings: Culture and Conquest'' (Hambledon Continuum)
* Foote, Peter Godfrey and D. M. Wilson (1990) ''The Viking Achievement: The Society and Culture of Early Medieval Scandinavia'' (Palgrave Macmillan)
External links
"The Viking Revival" by Professor Andrew Wawn. BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viking Revival
Revival
Romantic nationalism
Admiration of foreign cultures