Turns out Vikings weren’t as I expected—or at least the Vikings that have been mentioned so far in Njal’s Saga. The Media has been showing me Vikings that are supposedly big, old, stubborn, fat men (and by the Media I mean comics, drawings, etc). When we were told in class that we were going to read Icelandic Sagas, my mind immediately turned to what for me was a traditional Viking.
I imagined for the Saga to mainly talk about these Vikings’ life, which I thought was going to be mostly about violence, or rather stupid fights and daily problems that they would deal with; I pictured fights over a small pieces of terrain, or food, or any other kind of property. In conclusion, never would I have related, say, warriors of Troy, to Vikings.
But the Saga had indeed shown me otherwise, and many ways in which I can relate them.
To start off, Gunnar. Never would I have imagined a Vikings with such positive qualities, and so many. Not only was Gunnar an excellent sword fighter, but he was pretty good with bow and arrow too. He could jump twice his height, and he swam like a seal (Pg. 35). He was handsome, too. And now I compare him to my ‘Viking-rough model’ guy (which is the picture posted with this entry), and notice that it is little they have in common.
What about Njal? It was pretty hard for me to get used to a good-looking Viking (Gunnar), and kept forgetting he was an actual Viking. And then, comes Njal, and he was so well versed in the law that he had no equal, and he was wise and prophetic, sound of advice and well-intentioned, and whatever course he counselled turned out well (Pg. 35). A smart Viking? In my mind, it was connecting two totally different words, that I’d never thought about them meaning one thing.
Perhaps the reason why I thought so differently of Vikings, is because I related them to ‘Barbaric’. I have to understand, now thinking about it, that they are two different words, and they mean something different;
According to the Dictionary, Viking means any of the Scandinavian pirates who plundered the coasts of Europe from the 8th to 10th centuries.
Barbaric means without civilizing influences; uncivilized; primitive.
Though they could related, a Barbaric is not a Viking, as a Viking is not automatically Barbaric; that is more of a personal opinion, that it is up for the Viking himself to decide whether he wants to become Barbaric. True, the Vikings are pirates but they can still be civilized.
Therefore, I now know that the Vikings are not Barbaric; you can’t just think that all hippies are drug-dealers. True, some might like to smoke something once in a while, yet being a hippy shouldn’t make you a drug dealer…that way, not all Vikings are Barbaric.
What I used to think about Vikings, now I realize, must have been a stereotype. It certainly doesn’t mean that if one Viking (or just a couple) turned out to be grumpy and mean and fat, all Vikings will then be that way. I am glad I have realized this; I am once more aware of Vikings, in another way, and have enjoyed what I’ve read so far, of Njal’s Saga.
I imagined for the Saga to mainly talk about these Vikings’ life, which I thought was going to be mostly about violence, or rather stupid fights and daily problems that they would deal with; I pictured fights over a small pieces of terrain, or food, or any other kind of property. In conclusion, never would I have related, say, warriors of Troy, to Vikings.
But the Saga had indeed shown me otherwise, and many ways in which I can relate them.
To start off, Gunnar. Never would I have imagined a Vikings with such positive qualities, and so many. Not only was Gunnar an excellent sword fighter, but he was pretty good with bow and arrow too. He could jump twice his height, and he swam like a seal (Pg. 35). He was handsome, too. And now I compare him to my ‘Viking-rough model’ guy (which is the picture posted with this entry), and notice that it is little they have in common.
What about Njal? It was pretty hard for me to get used to a good-looking Viking (Gunnar), and kept forgetting he was an actual Viking. And then, comes Njal, and he was so well versed in the law that he had no equal, and he was wise and prophetic, sound of advice and well-intentioned, and whatever course he counselled turned out well (Pg. 35). A smart Viking? In my mind, it was connecting two totally different words, that I’d never thought about them meaning one thing.
Perhaps the reason why I thought so differently of Vikings, is because I related them to ‘Barbaric’. I have to understand, now thinking about it, that they are two different words, and they mean something different;
According to the Dictionary, Viking means any of the Scandinavian pirates who plundered the coasts of Europe from the 8th to 10th centuries.
Barbaric means without civilizing influences; uncivilized; primitive.
Though they could related, a Barbaric is not a Viking, as a Viking is not automatically Barbaric; that is more of a personal opinion, that it is up for the Viking himself to decide whether he wants to become Barbaric. True, the Vikings are pirates but they can still be civilized.
Therefore, I now know that the Vikings are not Barbaric; you can’t just think that all hippies are drug-dealers. True, some might like to smoke something once in a while, yet being a hippy shouldn’t make you a drug dealer…that way, not all Vikings are Barbaric.
What I used to think about Vikings, now I realize, must have been a stereotype. It certainly doesn’t mean that if one Viking (or just a couple) turned out to be grumpy and mean and fat, all Vikings will then be that way. I am glad I have realized this; I am once more aware of Vikings, in another way, and have enjoyed what I’ve read so far, of Njal’s Saga.
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