- 9 months ago
Documentary, Vikings, The Founders of Europe Part 3 The Vikings
The documentary series Greeks, Romans, Vikings: The Founders of Europe explores how these three distinct ancient civilizations shaped the foundations of Western civilization. The series examines their unique contributions, dispelling myths and offering fresh perspectives on their societies. It delves into the Greeks' philosophical and democratic ideals, the Romans' engineering prowess and legal systems, and the Vikings' seafaring abilities and impact on trade and exploration.
Elaboration:
Ancient Greece:
The series highlights the Greeks' significant contributions to philosophy, science, art, and democracy, emphasizing how their ideas continue to influence Western thought and culture.
Roman Empire:
The Romans' legacy is explored through their advancements in law, engineering, and infrastructure, including their vast empire that stretched across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Vikings:
The series challenges common perceptions of the Vikings as solely raiders and pillagers, showcasing their sophisticated shipbuilding technology, extensive trade networks, and exploration of new lands, including North America.
Impact on Europe:
The documentary series emphasizes how these three civilizations, despite their distinct origins and characteristics, collectively laid the groundwork for the cultural, political, and social structures of modern Europe
The documentary series Greeks, Romans, Vikings: The Founders of Europe explores how these three distinct ancient civilizations shaped the foundations of Western civilization. The series examines their unique contributions, dispelling myths and offering fresh perspectives on their societies. It delves into the Greeks' philosophical and democratic ideals, the Romans' engineering prowess and legal systems, and the Vikings' seafaring abilities and impact on trade and exploration.
Elaboration:
Ancient Greece:
The series highlights the Greeks' significant contributions to philosophy, science, art, and democracy, emphasizing how their ideas continue to influence Western thought and culture.
Roman Empire:
The Romans' legacy is explored through their advancements in law, engineering, and infrastructure, including their vast empire that stretched across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Vikings:
The series challenges common perceptions of the Vikings as solely raiders and pillagers, showcasing their sophisticated shipbuilding technology, extensive trade networks, and exploration of new lands, including North America.
Impact on Europe:
The documentary series emphasizes how these three civilizations, despite their distinct origins and characteristics, collectively laid the groundwork for the cultural, political, and social structures of modern Europe
Category
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LearningTranscript
00:00We owe much to the ancient Greeks, from the invention of democracy, to citizens' participation in government, to the Olympic Games.
00:13The Greeks laid the foundations of science and created Western drama.
00:22The Romans conquered and unified Europe. Their greatest achievements lay in administration, infrastructure, and above all, their system of law.
00:37The Vikings stormed onto the world stage as raiders from the sea, but they went on to build a vast network of trade, and they were the first to discover America.
00:49Between them, these three peoples were the founders of Europe.
01:02Once they were dreaded, but the achievements and discoveries of the Northmen helped shape modern Europe.
01:19The Vikings came from the far north of Europe, or what one Roman historian called the World's End.
01:32The Romans called this distant region Scandinavia.
01:38To outsiders, it was a mysterious place, where nature ruled.
01:49It was not only distant, but almost empty. A place where ice met fire.
01:55There, the untamed forces of nature predominated.
02:05And no matter where you went, the sea was never far away.
02:10The Scandinavian coasts, comprising stretches of today's Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, were the homeland of the Vikings.
02:29When the Northmen set out in their longships, they terrorized much of Europe.
02:33One of their earliest raids came in the year 793, when the dragonships descended upon England.
02:49Their objective, a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne, an important place of pilgrimage off Northumberland.
02:56On the island, the monks lived a life of work and prayer.
03:09These pious men were rich and peaceful.
03:14They defended their treasures with words, not weapons.
03:20To the Vikings, a god who had died on the cross must be weak.
03:24He must be a god who was unable to fight or protect his people.
03:39So the treasures of the monastery were there for the taking.
03:43The monastery lay close to the coast.
03:52Once the ships had reached the shore, the raiders would fall on their victims immediately, without warning and without quarter.
04:02That was the typical Viking strategy.
04:05Long-term plans were not for them.
04:08The men on the ships were fearless, seasoned fighters.
04:13This was not their first raid on England.
04:22The treasures of the English church drew them like a magnet.
04:25By the time the monks noticed the invaders, it was too late.
04:44With their attack on the abbey of Lindisfarne, the Vikings opened a new chapter in world history.
04:50No sooner had the monks seen the Viking ships on the horizon than the warriors would have been here standing at the monastery.
04:59For the monks, this would have been a traumatic experience.
05:02Many of them saw it as a sign of worse to come, and they were right.
05:06The raids continued until eventually the monks were forced to abandon the monastery.
05:09So began an age of fear.
05:19The pagan strangers were huge men who knew neither fear nor mercy.
05:23The Vikings became notorious for their brutality.
05:36Worst of all were the berserkers, wild men who worked themselves into a frenzy of slaughter.
05:42The men of the cloth hadn't a chance against the onslaught from the sea.
05:53All they could do was pray.
05:55Most of the monks were killed on the spot.
06:05Any who survived were enslaved.
06:12The booty made the raiders powerful and famous in their homeland.
06:16They carried off as much as they could load aboard their ships.
06:33Behind them, they left death and destruction.
06:36The raid on Lindisfarne was only the beginning.
06:45From then on, the dragon ships attacked the English coast again and again.
06:53In the early Middle Ages, half of Europe lived in fear of the Vikings.
07:01They were the most successful warriors of their time.
07:04Yet their personal equipment was nothing special.
07:08Hardly any of them had chain mail, nor were their weapons exceptional.
07:19Only a few of them had helmets.
07:21And none of the helmets had horns.
07:23That is a myth.
07:27Warriors in horned helmets first appeared in Wagner's operas.
07:34There has also been speculation about what drove the berserkers.
07:39Was it perhaps magic mushrooms?
07:41But they induce nausea.
07:44So probably not.
07:48Perhaps other plants played a role.
07:51They too could have acted as stimulants.
07:53A fungus found in grain is said to bring on hallucinations.
08:00The practice of shield biting could have been a form of self-hypnosis.
08:08But most authorities believe that the Vikings did not use drugs.
08:12Instead, they shouted themselves into a fighting mood.
08:15This released hormones that made them disregard pain.
08:22Nowadays we believe that it was their fighting spirit and not their weapons that made the Vikings such effective warriors.
08:29This was a time when most people were violent.
08:31But perhaps the Vikings more than anyone else really understood how violence worked.
08:34They even gave their swords names celebrating it.
08:38Battle blaze, bloodthirster, life hater.
08:41These swords weren't better than others, but they were an integral part of their owners' lives, important possessions.
08:47We can compare this to those people today who give names to their boats or cars.
08:51The Vikings' most important weapon was their ships.
08:55Their longships were not only the fastest craft of their time, but also the most stable.
09:09From the coasts of Scandinavia, the Vikings sailed to the Baltic, to England, the Rhineland, France, Spain and Italy.
09:17They descended upon cultural and trading centers wherever there were coasts or navigable rivers.
09:30The dragon ships had room for raiding parties of several dozen men.
09:35Farah y Viking is what they call their expeditions in search of booty.
09:41Going a Viking.
09:43In other words, going on raids overseas.
09:45But there was another, more peaceful side to the Vikings.
09:58They spent most of their time at home as fishermen, farmers or craftsmen.
10:03The things they made in their villages were easily traded.
10:13Above all, tanned animal skins and furs.
10:16Some even fashioned rune stones.
10:19But the majority lived from the bounty of the land, the sea or the many lakes.
10:27Their smithies were famous. Many a piece of loot was melted down.
10:35Particularly precious coins were sometimes worked into jewelry.
10:38A typical Viking house was small and without windows.
10:46Much rarer were the big long houses where the clan chiefs and their families lived.
10:50At the beginning of the Viking era, the Northmen had neither a state nor a kingdom.
11:00They were organized in large family clans with a leader, the Jarl.
11:04The most powerful Jarls were a kind of lesser prince.
11:10Below the Jarls came the freemen.
11:14They were farmers, fishermen, craftsmen or merchants.
11:17Their wives were the mistress of the house.
11:19If in summer the men went raiding or trading, they ran the household alone.
11:28At the bottom were the landless, who worked as servants or maids.
11:35All the important decisions were made at an assembly of the freemen of the district.
11:41The thing.
11:43They met at an appointed time in the open air.
11:46There they made important decisions and discussed the law to resolve disputes.
11:55Listen to me.
11:57We have gathered here to meet a decision.
12:00A decision that is good for us all.
12:03We have to be one of the things.
12:05Whoever wants to say something, he will speak now.
12:10In Iceland, the freemen met at the foot of a volcanic chasm,
12:13which they regarded as a magical spot.
12:16There they held a general assembly, the Ulting, an early version of parliament.
12:23There were also trading towns like Birke, Kaepang and Haithabu in today's Schleswig-Holstein.
12:31They carried on international trade as early as the 10th century.
12:40Haithabu was a town of around a thousand people.
12:43It was famous for hosting ships from many different countries.
12:46Merchants from all over Europe came to Haithabu to exchange their wares for jewellery and goods looted by the Vikings.
13:02A trader from the Orient praised Haithabu as a great town at the furthest end of the ocean.
13:19The Northmen's feasts were notorious.
13:28They liked to drink in large quantities and often.
13:32Getting drunk was a sign of manliness.
13:34At the great feasts held by princes, it was customary to have a scald, a poet, to sing the host's praises.
13:50Was ist denn los? Wo bleibt deine Darbietung?
13:56Unser Gast langweilt sich schon.
13:59Ein Lied auf unseren Hausherrn und seinen weitgereisten Gast.
14:06Er hat große Schlaften geschlagen. Mit reicher Beute kehrt er heim.
14:12Und lässt uns alle Anteil haben. Lädt uns zu seinem Festmahl ein.
14:17Goal!
14:25Er kennt sich aus mit vielen Schriften.
14:29Und hat die Welt schon weit bereist.
14:32Doch er kann trinken wie kein anderer.
14:35Und hat die schönste Frau zur Seite.
14:42Joe!
14:44Ihr seid so hoch wie unsere Dattelbäume.
14:49Eure Frauen sind so blond.
14:54Und leuchtend wie die Sonne.
14:58Und ihr seid auf eine Art und Weise gastfreundlich, wie ich es auf meinen vielen Reisen noch nie erlebt habe.
15:10Goal!
15:11Goal!
15:13Goal!
15:14Goal!
15:15Goal!
15:16Goal!
15:17Goal!
15:18Goal!
15:19Goal!
15:20Goal!
15:21Goal!
15:22Goal!
15:23Goal!
15:24Goal!
15:25Goal!
15:29Goal!
15:3012th century on.
15:34The Icelandic sagas and the Edda poems told of the deeds
15:38of courageous men, of drinking parties and pirates' raids,
15:42of wandering the seas and wars.
15:46But they also told of the Vikings' gods,
15:50and there were a lot of them. The gods were not, however,
15:54the only figures that peopled the Viking imagination.
16:00The world of the Vikings was a world of secrets.
16:08It was an inexhaustible source of myths and magic.
16:12They believed that every crack in the ground, every geyser,
16:16was the home of a spirit.
16:20A giant could live in a volcano, or a dwarf tend a smithy.
16:34They believed that giants were involved even in the creation of the world.
16:40In the beginning, there was only fire and ice.
16:44When they met, it brought forth the ancestral father, Ymir.
16:50But the gods killed Ymir.
16:52They made the earth from his flesh,
16:54and the seas from his blood,
16:56the mountains from his bones,
16:58and the forests from his hair.
17:08His skull became the sky, his brain the clouds.
17:12The first man and woman were created from two tree trunks.
17:16The chief god, Odin, lived in Valhalla.
17:22A rainbow bridge connected his realm with the world of men.
17:26His son, Thor, made thunder and lightning with his hammer,
17:32and guarded mankind.
17:34Whatever the problem, people turned to Thor for help.
17:46But when someone died, they sometimes sought the advice of a witch.
17:52Husbands and fathers were often killed on raids over the sea.
17:58Their families hoped that the wise women would be able to answer the question,
18:02where is the dead man now?
18:08For no one could say for sure what happened after death.
18:12Only one thing was certain.
18:14Not everyone was granted an afterlife.
18:19The Vikings believed that the souls of those who did not succeed in entering the other world,
18:24haunted the earth to terrorize the living.
18:28They took him back.
18:30They took him back.
18:31He is dead.
18:32How did he die?
18:34How did he die?
18:36In the war?
18:38I saw not a miracle at him.
18:42I don't know it.
18:44But I want to know, what's happening now with him.
18:48Where will he go?
18:50We can't see you in the other world.
18:55You should be happy about it.
18:57But you can do something, so the spirit of your father doesn't find you back.
19:02And what?
19:04If you buried him, then be careful,
19:08that his head is buried between his feet.
19:12Only courageous warriors found a place in the other world.
19:21They reached Valhalla.
19:25Valhalla was Odin's hall.
19:27Odin and his wife lived there and enjoyed watching contests between the fallen Vikings.
19:33In Valhalla, the warrior elite would live until the end of the world.
19:39In the daytime, they tested their strength in single combats.
19:43In the evening, they celebrated at Odin's table with mead and meat.
19:48As for those not lucky enough to die in battle, hell awaited them.
19:54It is an old Norse word related to the English word, hell.
19:59A dark place of lifeless souls.
20:06Those who could afford it gave their departed an elaborate funeral.
20:10One of the largest Viking graves is in southern Sweden.
20:15The dead man's urn is surrounded by giant rocks,
20:18set up in the shape of a boat that was to take him into the afterworld.
20:24Some were buried in actual boats.
20:30The most famous boat burial site was discovered by a farmer in Norway in 1903.
20:38A year later, archaeologists uncovered the Åseberg ship.
20:43It was 22 meters long and made of oak.
20:46Behind the mast lay a burial chamber containing two female skeletons.
20:56Those who buried them must have been wealthy.
21:05The Åseberg ship is now in a museum in Oslo.
21:08More a yacht than a warship, it testifies to the unique shipbuilding skills of the Vikings.
21:17Among the burial objects were decorated wooden carts and sledges.
21:21Everything that a Viking needed for a comfortable afterlife.
21:24The skeletons belonged to a very old woman and a young girl.
21:34Probably a queen with her maid.
21:37One thing is certain, the person who had such a valuable grave must have been very influential.
21:52The Åseberg ship remains the most important find from the Viking era.
21:59In the 10th century, this tolerance encouraged an intermingling of faiths.
22:02In the 10th century, this tolerance encouraged an intermingling of faiths.
22:27That's for Dave.
22:32The Vikings gradually assimilated Christian concepts into their world of magic and Nordic gods.
22:45Many people took to wearing both a pagan amulet and a cross.
22:50They were happy to accept protection from both Thor and Christ.
23:02Over time, missionary monks converted more and more Vikings to Christianity.
23:08In the 10th century, it was the most important part of the world.
23:13Deutsche Bischöfe sandten schon im 9. Jahrhundert Missionare nach Skandinavien.
23:17Anfangs hatten die noch sehr wenig Erfolg.
23:19Und dass überhaupt diese Mission, die von Deutschland ausging, später auch von England ausging,
23:24dass die überhaupt Erfolg hatte, hat verschiedene Ursachen, die gar nicht so viel mit Religion zu tun haben.
23:29Zum einen, weil ganz Westeuropa schon christianisiert war
23:31und für die skandinavischen Händler es wesentlich einfacher war,
23:35mit christlichen Händlern Handel zu treiben, wenn man sich selbst zum Christentum bekannte.
23:40Und das zweite und in meinen Augen wichtigste ist, dass das Christentum ein Sinnangebot für das Leben nach dem Tod gab.
23:47Die Wikinger hatten nur Wahlhall für die Kämpfer, die mit dem Schwert in der Hand starben,
23:51aber für alle anderen versprach das Christentum ein Leben nach dem Tod im Paradies, wenn man sich auf Erden nur gut verhält.
23:59Und das dritte war, und das ist wichtig für diese Christianisierung von oben herunter, durch die Könige,
24:06dass diese Könige in Skandinavien, diese Kleinkönige, Häuptlinge, Fürsten,
24:10sich auch als Könige von Gottes Gnaden fühlen wollten,
24:13so wie die großen Könige in England und in Frankreich.
24:17The new faith spread slowly, first in Denmark, then in Norway, Iceland and Sweden.
24:24The conversion was by and large peaceful.
24:30Women were particularly receptive to the new religion,
24:34since it held the promise of life after death for them as well.
24:40The churchmen from Germany and England established themselves,
24:43and as the centuries went by, pagan Scandinavia converted entirely to Christianity.
24:52The famous stave churches of Norway were among the first churches in Scandinavia.
24:58They date from the 12th and 13th centuries.
25:00This Swedish crucifix also dates from the time of conversion.
25:09But Viking mythology remains an inexhaustible source for opera and film.
25:15Often it is heavily embroidered, as with Wagner's horned or winged helmets.
25:20The old Norse sagas helped inspire the Lord of the Rings.
25:28Asterix and Obelix encounter Vikings, even if they are called Normans.
25:36There are well-loved cartoon characters, such as Vicky the Viking.
25:41Much of what we believe about the Northmen remains speculative.
25:48But there is one thing we know for sure.
25:50They were great explorers.
25:55While some went raiding, others set out to find a new place to live.
26:00For the limited stretches of fertile land in Scandinavia
26:03could not support its growing population.
26:05Many families left to seek their fortune beyond the bounds of the known world.
26:19They embarked on long and dangerous voyages.
26:30They knew the sea as no one else did.
26:35Their heavy ships, the Canars, carried them safely through stormy seas and across distant oceans.
26:50In the 9th century, Vikings from Norway sailed north-west,
26:55past the Faroe Islands and discovered Iceland.
26:57Iceland.
27:04In those days, Iceland was more temperate than it is today.
27:08And it was uninhabited.
27:10Many Vikings made their home there.
27:18How did the Vikings manage to reach an island that lay over a thousand kilometers from Norway?
27:23Thanks to a spectacular find we now know.
27:26In the 1960s, several Viking wrecks were salvaged.
27:33They are housed today in the Danish Viking Ship Museum at Orosgilde.
27:38The thousand-year-old remains tell us a great deal about the Northmen's ingenuity at shipbuilding.
27:44Two different types of ships were discovered.
27:45The canar, a highly stable transport and merchant vessel, and the narrow, speedy longboat, ideal for marauding.
28:02A few years ago, a team from the museum reconstructed a canal and launched it.
28:13They wanted to find out how the boats performed at sea.
28:16By sailing the ships themselves, we get to know how you actually use what these wrecks means.
28:25We don't know it by looking at the wrecks themselves.
28:28And simply by going in and rebuilding and rebuilding again and trying again,
28:35we actually get to know what it does.
28:37Every summer, the sea stallion sets sail once again.
28:44The crew spend weeks on board to get a real feeling for the ship.
28:53They try out all kinds of maneuvers and are always amazed at how smoothly the ship glides through the water, even with little wind.
29:01I have the deepest respect for the Viking skipper, which have been sailing these ships for 1,000 years ago.
29:10Especially this thing that is a very simple construction of the sail, but at the same time, it's just perfect in balance.
29:20Perfect balance and speed, they are the outstanding characteristics of all Viking ships, whether raiders or merchant vessels.
29:28They are still considered the best ships of their time, and several factors went into making them the best.
29:43When building their ships, the Vikings didn't saw the logs, but split them along the grain.
29:49This made the timber strong and flexible.
29:51The mast could be put up and taken down quickly, essential when facing a bridge across a river, or whenever the crew had to row.
30:08The sail could be adjusted so as to make way against the wind, and the boats had an extremely shallow draft.
30:14The Vikings always began their major expeditions in early summer, when the fjords and coasts were free of ice and snow.
30:30One of their most momentous voyages began in Iceland.
30:33It was led by the most notorious man in the country, Erik the Red.
30:41Erik was belligerent and hot-tempered. Some of his men met their deaths at his hand.
30:47Erik was outlawed several times, but when he killed two men in a quarrel with his neighbour, he was banished from the island.
31:08That was how Erik the Red came to blaze a trail for future explorers.
31:30Erik left Iceland with a few men and some slaves.
31:33He wanted to scout out a land that was supposed to lie somewhere to the north-west.
31:39He found it, and later called it Greenland.
31:46By calling it Greenland, Erik was hoping to lure other settlers.
31:50His plan worked, and many Vikings followed him to a new home.
31:57Erik's eldest son was called Leif.
31:59A happy boy, it was said, who, even as a child, dreamt of going out into the wide world.
32:08He was fascinated by a story that did the rounds in his father's house.
32:13It was said that an Icelandic merchant had drifted off course on his way to Greenland,
32:20and had ended up in a country much further to the west.
32:29Exploration was in his family's blood.
32:33Leif was seized by a hunger for adventure,
32:36but it was years before he was able to go to sea in his own ship to find the mysterious country.
32:41He navigated according to the seafaring methods of old, by the sun and by the stars,
32:53and above all, with the help of experience.
32:58Despite the danger from storms and huge waves,
33:01Leif and his crew sailed further and further into uncharted waters.
33:05Their voyage along the west coast of Greenland took three days.
33:13For two days, they struck out across open sea,
33:17then followed a coast until they finally reached Newfoundland.
33:22In the year 1001, Leif Erikson and his men set foot on new territory.
33:36Little did the young explorers realise
33:39that they had landed on the continent of North America,
33:43so making history.
33:44The new arrivals had no idea what lay in store,
33:54but what they saw seemed to them a paradise.
34:02They reported that the land was green and full of meadows in bloom.
34:07They called the fertile land Vinland.
34:15Of the time it means a wine land or a sea land,
34:18we know we certainly not know.
34:21But two Sagas berichten over expeditions in this land,
34:25that somewhere in North America or in the depths of North America
34:29have received up to 1.000 expeditions in the islands,
34:31and the Vikings took up a thousand there上面,
34:34We know that we know,
34:36And also the scientific monastic texts of the Hoch-Mittal 했던
34:39about where this land in West is located.
34:42It was long thought to be only a legend that the Vikings were the first Europeans to set foot on Newfoundland.
34:49But in 1960, archaeologists found the proof.
34:53They discovered clear evidence of Norse settlements.
34:57The old farms have since been reconstructed.
35:00But after a few years, the Vikings left Vinland, never to return.
35:12No one knows what made them leave, although the Vinland saga mentions clashes with natives.
35:21It was almost 500 years before another European captain dared cross the Atlantic again.
35:31In 1492, Christopher Columbus rediscovered the New World in the name of the Spanish kings.
35:42He and his men set foot on American soil more than a thousand kilometers south of Leif Erikson's landing spot.
35:52Columbus's discovery led to the first permanent European settlers moving to North America.
36:00They were followed by hundreds of thousands of slaves shipped from Africa to labor on plantations.
36:06Together, they built the New World.
36:15But the man who really discovered America was a Viking, Leif Erikson.
36:26Many finds point to the Vikings not only traveling west but also sailing to the east.
36:31Arabic coins found on the Swedish island of Gotland are one sign of their eastward ventures.
36:41Archaeologists have also found several thousand foreign coins in the harbors of the trading towns of Haithabu and Birka.
36:48From Scandinavia, the Vikings developed a huge trading network.
37:03They penetrated deeper and deeper into present-day Russia.
37:07Their goal was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople.
37:12Only the toughest men dared attempt this journey, because it was long and strenuous.
37:20The trip often lasted for months.
37:23I can't expect you to come out of this mückenverseuchten Einöle.
37:28If it's true, what you tell us, then we're going to bath in Constantinople in gold.
37:32Yes, I hope so.
37:34We haven't seen so much now.
37:37This here?
37:39We probably have to go home.
37:41Wait a minute.
37:43You don't know.
37:45Tell us again.
37:47You haven't seen it yet.
37:50This is the richest country in the world.
37:53The people are only Samt and Seile and pure gold.
37:58And the women?
38:03The women.
38:05They have a black hair.
38:08And a brown hair.
38:10They have something in their eyes.
38:12They have something in their eyes.
38:15They...
38:16They have something in their eyes.
38:18And the men are small like a snake and they don't even really eat.
38:22That interests me not.
38:23They pay a lot.
38:25They pay a lot.
38:26And say, can you marry them and marry them, the women?
38:32That comes later.
38:34But don't eat them first.
38:36And stärk them.
38:37We have a long way for us.
38:39Okay.
38:49The leg from Russia to Constantinople was particularly arduous.
38:53Ships and their crews had to go through forests, over rapids and across floodplains and bogs.
39:00It was a logistical nightmare.
39:07To cross the huge expanse, the Vikings sometimes transported their canals overland.
39:13They came up with a strikingly simple idea.
39:19They dragged their boats over planks laid on the ground.
39:22Viking ships had no keel, so they didn't tip over on land.
39:32But they were heavy and it was often days before the men could put them back in the water.
39:37From Haithabu to Constantinople, it was several thousand kilometers.
39:45The men used sheer muscle power to move their ships over land.
39:51If they were lucky, local people might help by lending their draft animals.
39:55Everywhere the Vikings went, they spread fear, especially when they opened up a new line of business.
40:09The slave trade.
40:14In the Russian forests, there were neither rich monasteries nor towns worth raiding.
40:20Besides, slaves were more profitable than the skins of wild animals.
40:32Not even children were safe from the clutches of the Northmen.
40:36Locals, curious about the newcomers, were easy prey.
40:40The slave trade became the Vikings' biggest source of income.
41:04They were ruthless in hunting for people to sell in the slave markets of Constantinople.
41:11They were...
41:14Aaaaaah!
41:15Aaaaaah!
41:19Aaaaaah!
41:25Over the centuries, thousands of people vanished into slavery.
41:31Aaaaaah!
41:32slavery.
41:38The goal of all the Scandinavian traders was Constantinople.
41:42In the Middle Ages, the metropolis was the most important point of exchange for goods
41:48from Europe and the East.
41:54After an arduous journey, the Vikings finally followed the River Dnieper into the Black
42:00Sea.
42:01Then, the goal was in sight.
42:07There were many legends about the city on the Bosphorus, where East met West, and people
42:12of different religions lived side by side.
42:16Constantinople must have an incredible impression on the Nordmänner.
42:29The heart of the city was the Great Bazaar.
42:35The heart of the city was the Great Bazaar.
42:41Strange scents of exotic spices, soaps and perfumes filled the air.
42:48The stalls were overflowing with goods from every country under the sun.
42:54The streets were filled with a babel of different languages.
43:01The Vikings, too, wanted to sell their wares.
43:02They always did good business in Constantinople.
43:07They always did good business in Constantinople.
43:08The Vikings, too, wanted to sell their wares.
43:13They always did good business in Constantinople.
43:25The Vikings' slaves and animal skins were particularly sought after.
43:39They exchanged them for spices, silk and jewelry, or for silver coins.
43:52But it was always important to bargain.
43:59Bargaining was a skill that had to be learned.
44:02Trading in Constantinople could be a tricky business.
44:05The man in Bernfell, 380 Hermelin, 50 Zobel and these two Sklaven.
44:16What have you for?
44:20What's that?
44:2420.
44:2720, 20, 20.
44:29Oh, understand.
44:3110, 20, what's that already?
44:33I don't care.
44:35I'm going to put the mints on the Waage.
44:37Then we'll see how much silver we'll get.
44:39You, measure it.
44:41We're paying here in Münzen.
44:45Not at weight.
44:47Joseph.
44:49Let's say 30.
44:5220.
44:54I've had a long way.
44:5725.
44:59Come on, the old friendship.
45:0125.
45:05You're a good business owner.
45:13In their constant journey in back and forth,
45:15the Northmen left their mark on Eastern Europe.
45:27Over the centuries, Swedish Vikings founded or conquered many towns in what is now Russia.
45:32They were nearly always important trading places such as Novgorod or Kiev.
45:46The invaders from the North were called Rus.
45:50Rus was also the name of the first Russian state.
45:52It was founded in the 9th century by a Viking prince, Alyik.
46:02But Russia is not the only country with Viking roots.
46:05Normandy also has Norse origins.
46:09In the 10th century, the Northmen made so many incursions into the lower Seine that the territory was finally ceded to them.
46:20As Normans, they quickly established themselves as a regional power.
46:25From the 11th century on, Norman mercenaries migrated to southern Italy and took power there.
46:33After conquering Sicily, they converted the former emir's palace in Palermo into their seat of government.
46:40In Apulia, they left a legacy of countless Norman buildings.
46:45Even the Emperor Frederick II, Builder of the Castel del Monte, had Viking blood in his veins.
46:55In 1066, Duke William of Normandy invaded England and was crowned King.
47:02He too was a descendant of the Vikings.
47:05The Vikings founded us a new, greater Europe.
47:09They founded cities like Dublin, York and Kiev.
47:12They founded other states, not only the Normandy and Russia, which has its name from the Rus,
47:18or of course also the middle-old Roman Empire in South Italy,
47:23but they founded new countries like Iceland or Grönland.
47:26That means they took the horizon of Europe to the outside and left us a greater Europe.
47:32As settlers, the Vikings colonized Iceland and Greenland.
47:38As explorers, they traveled to America.
47:40Their descendants ruled in Normandy, England, southern Italy and Russia.
47:46They entered the world stage as raiders, plundering and murdering.
47:53But they had a peaceful side.
47:58They spent a large part of their time looking after their farms and homes.
48:01In a very short time, the wild Scandinavians became global players.
48:11As merchants, they opened up important trade routes that led not only to Southern Europe,
48:17but also deep into Eastern Europe and even to the Orient.
48:20And in their quest for new land, the Vikings were the first to discover North America.
48:31By the height of the Middle Ages, we hear no more of the Northmen.
48:36It's as if they had disappeared.
48:42The Vikings make a very sudden, a very dramatic entrance into the historical record.
48:48In the end, they seem to fade away, but their expansion overseas forced them to adapt,
48:53to fit in with the other cultures they encountered, until eventually they stopped being pagan Scandinavians and become medieval Europeans.
49:03Around the year 1000, they established the three great kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, later Sweden,
49:09which still exist today on a par with Britain and France.
49:11The Vikings don't disappear, they merge into world history.
49:18The Viking legacy to Europe lies in the cities and countries that they founded or conquered.
49:24At the same time, their raids on France, on England, will always be remembered with a shudder.
49:32But wherever they settled, the seafarers merged into the local population.
49:38As Vikings, they existed for only about 200 years.
49:44Since the Middle Ages, they have lived on as the familiar Danes,
49:49Norwegians, Swedes and Icelanders.
49:52The custodians of the fantastic stories and sagas about the warriors, traders and explorers,
50:00who terrified half of Europe.
50:05That was the final in the series.
50:06Tune in next week for more Lost Worlds.
50:10And stay tuned now for Gough Whitlam in his own words.
50:12Music
50:13.
50:22.
50:24.
50:30.
50:31.
50:32.
50:37.
50:38.
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