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History's Greatest Warriors - Season 1 Episode 2 -
The Vikings
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The Vikings
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00:03Rear!
00:06Born into a world of brutality,
00:10Viking combat is gory, it's gritty, it's real, it's raw, it's loud.
00:16Trained to attack with no mercy.
00:19He's swinging around his ray tactics cutting down people left right and centre.
00:23This graphic shock and awe encounter.
00:26Built into a fighter without fear.
00:29The Viking warrior psychology is to run towards death the warrior from the north
00:35Becomes a conqueror. This is an absolute fear of the Northmen. This is terrorism of its day
00:50Warriors aren't born they're built
00:56Understanding how reveals the true nature of their greatness
01:02From the cradle to the grave these are the steps to creating
01:08history's greatest warriors
01:22The Viking a fearsome warrior like no other a
01:29Force to be reckoned with on land and on sea
01:32The Viking strategic skills and technical prowess are matched only by his brutality on the battlefield
01:40The people that we commonly call the Vikings now otherwise known as the Norse their people from Scandinavia
01:46They are a great naval force who know exactly how to raid coastal settlements and attack places that are vulnerable
01:53because of their access to water
01:56But the Vikings are best known for being the most savage and brutal warriors of the Middle Ages
02:02The Viking age is a period in history where Scandinavia for one of only a few times
02:08Steps into the spotlight of history
02:11The Vikings make their way much further afield than so many other people before them and have a disproportionate impact
02:19on the history of Europe
02:23Expansion beyond Scandinavia will require an elite warrior as fierce as any other in the Middle Ages
02:31His path to becoming a warrior will require him to endure years of training
02:37Master the Viking weapons of war and defeat his enemy through brutal tactics that terrorize the Christian world
02:48It is a path to greatness first carved out centuries ago
02:56The Viking Age was approximately understood in scholarship to be the 8th century to the 11th century AD
03:04The countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark don't exist at this time
03:08The Vikings greatest foes lie to the West
03:12The Anglo-Saxons are Christians ruling over medieval Britain
03:16And the Frankish Empire is an alliance of Germanic tribes living in what will become Northern France, Western Germany and
03:25Belgium
03:26Both maintain standing armies that dwarf those of the Norse
03:31Scandinavia itself is made up into small independent communities of farmsteads
03:38Usually the members of a very large family
03:41In the very early society you've got clans and as the clans develop into chieftainships
03:46It means that you have people who are no longer blood related that are trying to organize themselves together
03:52And there isn't always enough land to go around
03:54Just simply to survive you might take advantage of a less capable Viking farmstead or Viking community
04:01Even if you do have land you may decide that subsistence level living isn't good enough
04:08There's a population boom in Scandinavia at this time
04:12And they want to go abroad to look for more riches and more opportunities
04:17If he is to become a conqueror
04:19One that can strike fear into the hearts of his enemies
04:22A young warrior must learn to live and die by the sword
04:29It is a code of honor that is instilled in him as soon as he enters the world
04:34The Arabic explorer and chronicler Ahmad ibn Rustah of the 10th century
04:40He is traveling throughout the eastern reaches of the Viking world
04:44And he observes this Viking father throw his sword on the ground
04:48And says to his son, I leave you no inheritance
04:51All you possess is what you can gain with this sword
04:55The promise of greatness within the young Viking
04:58Can only be fulfilled through the strict discipline that has created countless warriors before him
05:05His first step on the path to glory
05:07Will be learning how to survive
05:17You need to be able to live in sub-zero degree temperatures in those harsh Scandinavian winters
05:24You're also learning how to make things
05:26You have to learn how to make houses
05:28Learn how to make boats
05:30The young Viking strengthens his body by working the land
05:34Conditioning him for a brutal and merciless life
05:38Oral histories of heroes and violent conquests
05:41Also shape his understanding of the ways of the Viking warrior
05:45We can picture a Viking father sitting around a campfire in his hall telling his boy about Egil Skalagrimson
05:55Egil is playing a game with various children of his village
06:00And he feels cheated by one of the other children, a boy called Grim
06:04So he leaves the match, goes home, produces an axe, returns to his game
06:09And then casually splits the brain of the boy who had cheated against him
06:18And so already at the age of seven, he's killed his first person
06:22But his mother looks at him and says, Egil, you have the makings of a great Viking
06:28So really, violence is celebrated in the childhood of Vikings
06:33The ambitious youth also gains practical skills through a competition known as Glima
06:45Glima is the only sport that survives the Viking Age
06:50It's the national sport of Iceland to this day
06:53It's a kind of wrestling or grappling, not unlike Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
07:00And part of the sport is that you grip your opponent
07:04And then you try to flip your opponent and slam him to the ground
07:16Glima is a way for Viking youth to impress the elders
07:19Those who are looking for the next generation of elite Viking warriors
07:25There's an old Norse word, drengskaper
07:29And that is the highest compliment one could receive during the Viking Age
07:32To say that he demonstrates drengskaper means that he demonstrates this sort of reckless courage
07:39With an element of fair play
07:41That's one thing a Viking is not born with
07:43And what he needs to spend his youth striving and building
07:48Shaped by an unforgiving land
07:50And honed by fierce competition
07:53The young Viking has a singular goal
07:56Join the war band setting sail to conquer new lands
08:00The word Viking is less a people and more of a job description
08:05So the old Norse word vikinger means sort of a pirate or a raider
08:10A medieval Scandinavian that goes off raiding and plundering
08:13The Norse first arrive on enemy shores at the end of the 700s
08:18Setting off centuries of carnage known as the Viking Age
08:26The Viking raid of the monastic island of Lindisfarne, which is off the coast of northern England
08:30Is kind of the shot heard around the medieval world when it comes to the Vikings
08:35This is kind of the first recorded raid of the Vikings in the Middle Ages
08:41Monasteries during the Middle Ages are sources of immense wealth
08:45You have chalices of gold, gold and silver coinage
08:48The monks of Lindisfarne see these long ships on the horizon
08:52The Vikings come out seemingly out of nowhere
09:00The Vikings notice these men have no weapons whatsoever
09:03This is going to be a cakewalk
09:09The Vikings immediately slaughter several of the monks
09:14The Vikings absolutely desecrate all of the religious relics
09:26They trample upon the altar of God like dung in the street
09:31They kidnap several monks, certainly to be sold into slavery
09:35They strip several monks of their clothing to humiliate them
09:39And then actually drown them in the sea as well
09:41So it's this graphic, devastating, shock and awe encounter
09:49All that is left is a handful of monks bleeding out in the smoking ruins of the monastery
09:56And rumors of fearsome raiders from the north
09:59The Christians see this attack on Lindisfarne by this heathen horde as an act of God
10:07That God is sending them to punish them for their sins
10:12And it embeds itself in the British Christian psyche for generations
10:19One of the things that the Vikings specifically do in battle
10:23To put fear into the hearts of their enemies
10:26Is the right of the blood eagle
10:28This involves packing open a high status opponent
10:33You pin them down, you hack them open, you open out their rib cage
10:37You spread out their internal organs in the pattern of an eagle
10:41This is terrorism of its day
10:47To join the ranks of the elite warriors wreaking havoc abroad
10:52The young Viking must first demonstrate his worth
10:58The Viking youth has been inspired with tales of greatness and groomed for violence
11:04Now, he must be hand-selected for the next stage of his journey
11:15If you're a young Scandinavian, you want the Jarl or chieftain to invite you into his herve or herd
11:24These are the Viking raiding parties
11:26And these herds might contain 30 warriors, 50 warriors, sometimes 100 warriors
11:33Viking chieftains are ultimately the tacticians who lead the raiding parties
11:39They're the ones that determine the targets
11:42Whenever a chieftain decides that he's going to set out to go raiding
11:46This would be something that occurs in the great longhouse, the biggest longhouse, the Jarl's longhouse
11:52And he pledges that he's going to raid such and such village
11:57That he's going to select certain men within the community to come along
12:03The chief end of any Viking raid is to obtain plunder and great immovable wealth
12:08So that a chieftain can reward his followers and keep them in his service
12:14And you could return with material wealth that could change the course of your destiny
12:20The chieftain will judge whether or not a young warrior is ready for battle
12:25The skills and traits that are instilled into a young Norseman at a very young age
12:30Are the very skills that would propel them forward as warriors
12:34You need to be tough
12:36Those who exhibit the skills of a warrior are invited by the chieftain to a sacred ceremony
12:44At the chieftain's great hall, he swears allegiances and blood oaths to his followers
12:51The chieftain is giving you great gifts of gold and silver
12:55In ornate weapons, gem-encrusted sword hilts, you know, and weapons inlaid with silver and gold
13:02And armbands of great precious metals
13:04In exchange, his followers pledge to him loyalty
13:08You're pledging your life, really, to the chieftain or Jarl that's sponsoring you
13:14To join the herd is to embrace the Viking mindset
13:19Giving the young Norseman a terrifying advantage
13:23You have to die, sword in hand, in order to make it to Valhalla
13:29Which is Odin's realm, a warrior's paradise
13:32And those of them who are slain in battle are then resurrected to enjoy a feast of roast pork and
13:41alcohol
13:41And the companionship of Odin's warrior maidens known as the Valkyries
13:46What allows the Vikings to be so successful in this scourge of Europe for over 300 years
13:52Is the hope every Viking warrior has that he will die a heroic death
14:00We do know about a few different rituals and rites
14:03One can almost imagine
14:04There's a group of men that are about to go on a Viking expedition
14:07A priestess comes in and she looks and says,
14:11Listen, all of you
14:13You're now going to go on a Viking venture
14:16You're now going to go on an expedition
14:18And yes, you may die
14:20But you know you're going to die anyway
14:21We, at the end of the day, are all fated to die
14:24So, live life and gain honor
14:27That's what it's about
14:28The carpe diem of the Vikings
14:31Being chosen by the chieftain is a critical step on his path to becoming a warrior
14:38Now, he will learn from the herd's most seasoned soldiers
14:43There's the trained warriors, warriors that are just going on like a raid for one year
14:48And then there's the berserkers
14:54Trained to be the most extreme warriors in the herd, the berserkers and their violent tactics will be studied by
15:01the young warrior
15:04A group of berserkers is this terrifying spectacle of wild men howling like a wolf or like a bear
15:11Causing themselves to froth at the mouth, biting the rims of their shields, flailing their arms like mad men
15:17And this is something which would have been terrifying
15:21They are brutal in warfare
15:24There's a debate about what their name means
15:27Some people think that their name comes from bear, like the bear skin that they would potentially wear
15:33But other people say that it comes from the fact that they would attack people bear, they would attack people
15:39naked
15:39And this was part of their shock value
15:43The Vikings are showing their victims that they're so vicious and so powerful that they don't even need armor
15:50To those who face them, the berserker appears to be possessed by some unnatural power
15:57There is great debate, why did berserkers go berserk?
16:03For a long time scholars have believed that Vikings are actually doing a form of hallucinogenic mushroom
16:09And it's causing them to lose sense of where they are and what they're doing
16:14This might help describe why they're acting so brutally
16:20Christians describe the experience of facing a Viking horde as being like the wrath of God
16:26That this is something that is so horrific that there's no way humans could be responsible for it
16:34The berserker dominates the battlefield
16:37But for the young Viking warrior looking to earn his place alongside him
16:41He must first master the chieftain's arsenal of weapons
16:50The Viking warrior must be equipped with all the instruments of war
17:02Knowledge of the Vikings weapons is embedded in a source that chronicles the victory at the Battle of Hastings by
17:09William the Conqueror
17:11A Viking descendant
17:12The Bayer Tapestry which is made in England around 1066
17:18Is a super important source for the study of late Viking-era weapons
17:22The Bayer Tapestry shows lots and lots of helmets and mail shirts and swords and spears and shields
17:28So it gives us a huge amount of evidence about the arms and armor
17:31The first weapon a Viking warrior reaches for is the one that is most familiar
17:38And the quickest to master
17:42The advantage that Vikings have in using the axe as a weapon is that they've been using axes almost their
17:49whole lives growing up
17:51There's cutting wood with an axe and there's using an axe as a vicious weapon of war
17:56It is in many ways the Vikings primary weapon
17:59A simple flesh wound that might be incurred through an axe or something like that could have life altering consequences
18:10There are some big advantages to axes axes
18:13Axes break shields more easily than spears or swords do
18:17Additionally axes are more effective against people wearing armor
18:21People like the Anglo-Saxons and the Franks
18:23With each new opponent comes new challenges
18:26So the Viking warrior must learn to adapt
18:30It's clear to us that the Vikings evolve their axes over time
18:35There are great long what are called Dane axes
18:39These are two handed weapons that the Vikings develop
18:43Particularly to respond to the threat of Frankish cavalry
18:49The head of the axe, it hooks down in such a way where a warrior in a single swipe
18:55Could obliterate a Frankish cavalryman along with his horse
18:59In the hands of the Vikings most ferocious warrior
19:03The Dane axe unleashes devastation and mayhem against a powerful foe
19:17The battle of Stamford Bridge, September 25th, 1066
19:22The English chronicler Henry of Huntington
19:26Tells us that the Vikings are taken off guard with English forces that are advancing
19:32This certain hero positions himself on this bridge with his axe
19:36This means he can occupy the space and the width of the bridge
19:39Nobody can get past him
19:41And he's swinging around his great axe cutting down people left, right and centre
19:47If you're going to fight a large number of men
19:49The way to do it is on a bridge because you funnel them all into a manageable number of people
19:55To fight at any given time
19:57He slays 40 men single-handedly
20:01And it's only when one quick-witted Anglo-Saxon warrior
20:06Sneaks beneath the bridge and stabs him from underneath with a spear
20:10That he is slain in battle
20:14As the warrior is built into a more formidable fighter
20:18He may prove himself worthy of the ultimate Viking weapon
20:21The challenge is getting one
20:24It's clear that the Vikings love swords
20:26But they don't necessarily have access to as many swords as, for example, people in the Frankish Empire would do
20:33The Franks have more developed centres for the manufacture of these things
20:38And they also have more access to the mines producing iron ore
20:41We find out that the Vikings are interested in this one kind of sword that's being produced out of the
20:47region around the Rhine
20:48And it's known as the Ulfberts sword
20:56It's far superior to the swords that the Vikings are producing
20:59There's a lot of debate as to how it came to be in the hands of Vikings
21:04One theory goes that they encounter it during their battles with Frankish troops
21:08And then they start trading for it
21:10And they end up incorporating it more into their arsenal
21:14In fact, the trade of weapons into Scandinavia has become such a problem
21:18That people like the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons actually prohibit trading weapons to their enemies
21:23Because they're being raided so constantly by these Vikings
21:26That they don't want to keep arming them
21:29But the Vikings will have these blades
21:33What is no longer offered in trade will be taken on the battlefield
21:38If a young Viking goes into battle against a contingent of Frankish warriors
21:42All of them well equipped with Ulfberts swords
21:46You know, he's thinking to himself
21:47I am looking to exchange this axe and come home with a sword
21:51So that I can then be better equipped for the future
21:54Armed with the finest steel in the land
21:58The Viking is a menace
22:01But it's the Norseman's technical ingenuity that will produce his most powerful weapon
22:07The Longshill
22:14The boat is the innovation that the Scandinavians have at this time
22:19That really is what causes them to become the fierce warriors that they are
22:25Naval conflict is not well known during the Middle Ages
22:28And all of a sudden the Vikings come up out of Scandinavia
22:32Seemingly out of nowhere as this great naval superpower
22:35One of the things that the Vikings love doing is going up a river and attacking a settlement
22:40And in some cases attacking fortified bridges
22:43One of the most famous examples this happened was actually London Bridge
22:46The Vikings have come up the Thames to attack London
22:50But London Bridge is their great big wooden bridge that's been fortified
22:54And they actually use grappling hooks to attach to the bridge and pull a section of it down
23:00They attack the bridge in order to get access to the port of London
23:04Without the Longships, the Viking Age doesn't happen
23:07The Vikings' boats will transform his warrior armies into an unstoppable naval battalion
23:14Their imposing shape sends a terrifying warning to the enemy
23:20The sails of Viking Longships are very iconic
23:23Viking Longships are powered by both sails and oars
23:27This combination of sails and oars is what affords the Vikings mobility and speed
23:34One can assume that a Longship could carry about approximately 30 warriors
23:39The hull of the Viking Longships streamlined design is what allows the Vikings to move swiftly
23:45And easily venture into shallow waters right into the heartland of enemy territory
23:50That technology allows them to succeed in warfare in a way that is really very different from anybody else in
24:01that time period
24:02Sailing towards enemy territory, the Viking is ready to meet his destiny
24:09It is time for combat
24:15The Viking has been trained, selected, and armed
24:20Now he must face off against his enemy
24:24The Viking has been trained, selected, and armed
24:36Now he must face off against his enemy
24:37A true Viking's metal is tested
24:40in combat.
24:47Viking warrior psychology is to run towards danger,
24:52to run towards death,
24:53because your reward will be potentially
24:56gaining entrance to Valhalla.
25:00There's one particular example of Gisli Surson,
25:04who's an outlaw in Iceland.
25:06He's moving up this cliff and he's killing men
25:09who are pursuing him in the process
25:11and he's stabbed with a spear
25:12and his guts are spilling out.
25:14And the saga tells us that he takes a cord
25:17and he binds his internal organs up
25:19so that he's able to fight for a few more moments.
25:22And it's evident to him
25:24that this is not his day to win on the battlefield.
25:27And he dramatically jumps off the cliff,
25:30splitting a man with his sword
25:32as he plummets to his own death.
25:38With no fear of death,
25:40the Viking stands his ground
25:42and considers his attacker.
25:45They're looking to gain as much information
25:47about the opponent as they possibly can.
25:50Does this person look experienced?
25:51Do they look like a raw recruit?
25:53Eye contact is an interesting thing.
25:55There's a psychology to it
25:56and obviously staring with fury at your opponent
25:59can have a psychological effect on them.
26:25Viking combat is tough.
26:28It's aggressive.
26:29It's gritty.
26:31Your shields are banging into each other
26:33and you're desperately trying to
26:34push somebody's shield out of the way with your own
26:37so that you can get a few hacks in.
26:39Using his own shield
26:41allows the Viking to dominate his enemy.
26:44The shield isn't just a passive thing
26:46that you hold there and receive blows on.
26:49It's something you can smash into the opponent's shield,
26:51smash into their face,
26:52below the level of their helmet,
26:54break their nose.
26:57The Viking shields have a distinct element called the boss.
27:01It's on the front of the shield.
27:02It almost acts like a brass knuckle
27:05because your hand is positioned right behind the boss.
27:08The metal boss in the middle of the shield
27:11also serves a unique purpose
27:13in that it can catch blows.
27:14If an enemy comes down on you with an axe or a sword,
27:18you can catch their blow with your shield boss
27:21and parry it away.
27:29The weapon the young Viking learned to use as a boy
27:32proves to be his most versatile tool in combat.
27:37One of the great advantages to axes
27:39is apart from the fact that they hit really hard
27:42because you've got all of the mass concentrated
27:43at the top of the shaft,
27:45in addition to that,
27:46you can hook
27:47because all axes have a natural T-junction to them.
27:53Being able to hook the shield forwards
27:55creates an opening
27:56into which you can stab into
27:58or cut into behind the shield.
28:01The axe,
28:02because of the special hook that it has,
28:04you were also able to trap individuals.
28:07They were grabbing their legs,
28:08pulling them down,
28:09taking them right down to the ground.
28:11In a life-or-death struggle,
28:13the young Viking relies on his training
28:16to anticipate and respond to
28:18his opponent's every move.
28:26Vikings definitely use gleamah
28:28to take an enemy by force.
28:34With wrestling and gleamah,
28:36you can actually do anything
28:38that gets the other person down.
28:39That's very practical in warfare
28:42because there really in some ways
28:43are no rules to warfare
28:45because basically of two sides
28:46that are essentially
28:47trying to kill each other.
28:59Death can be swift
29:00for the Viking's adversary.
29:06Or he may suffer a crueler fate.
29:12When a Viking sees an enemy,
29:13he doesn't see him just as an enemy.
29:15He sees him as prosperity.
29:19They decide,
29:21why don't we take some of these people
29:22for slaves
29:22and we can maybe take them as hostages
29:25and ransom them off later on.
29:28Slavery is an essential part
29:31of the Viking economy.
29:34Human capital,
29:35if one can even call it that,
29:37is something that the Vikings
29:39are very well aware of.
29:41If you can subdue the enemy,
29:44he's worth far more alive than dead.
29:47The Viking has been built
29:49to overpower any enemy he faces.
29:54But a daunting test lies ahead.
29:58War is upon him.
30:06The Viking has been moulded
30:08into a deadly warrior.
30:11But to conquer enemy lands
30:13and enrich his people,
30:16he will need to show true courage
30:19fighting alongside thousands
30:21of his fellow warriors.
30:27One of the things
30:28that probably makes
30:29the Norse at this time
30:30quite different
30:31to a lot of the people
30:32they're fighting against
30:33is that they are used to
30:35raiding and operating together
30:36as units.
30:40The Great Heathen Army
30:42is a coalition
30:43of multiple war bands
30:46of Vikings.
30:47By the middle of the 9th century,
30:49the Great Heathen Army
30:51has conquered all but one
30:52of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
30:56Vikings have established
30:57at this point
30:58settlements in northern France
31:00in Normandy,
31:02which is a particularly
31:03strategic location.
31:05As that estuary in Normandy
31:07leads to the Seine River,
31:09which takes you
31:10all the way to Paris.
31:13It is a city of riches
31:15and the warriors' next target.
31:18An audacious attack
31:19on an unsuspecting foe.
31:21But to achieve victory,
31:23the Viking will call on
31:25all of the war tactics
31:26he has amassed
31:27over the course
31:28of his journey.
31:42The Vikings decide to besiege Paris
31:45on Easter Sunday
31:46in 845
31:47because it's on this day
31:48in the Christian calendar
31:50that the markets of Paris
31:51are overflowing
31:52with all sorts of wealth.
31:54People are celebrating
31:55this great holiday
31:56and the Vikings know this.
32:01The Viking siege of Paris
32:03is led by the legendary figure
32:05Ragnar Lothbrok,
32:07larger-than-life Viking warrior
32:09who is leading
32:10about 120 ships,
32:12the sources tell us,
32:13about roughly 5,000 warriors
32:15into battle.
32:17The Viking warrior
32:18and his fleet
32:19appear on the horizon
32:20without warning.
32:23And in many cases,
32:25the Norse flee
32:26with their ships
32:26before the enemy army
32:28can get there.
32:28So they're operating
32:30for minimal risk
32:32when possible,
32:33a maximum profit.
32:41The sails of his dreaded longships
32:44are designed
32:45to stir terror
32:46in the hearts
32:46and minds
32:47of his enemy.
32:49The first part
32:50of the Viking assault
32:51is kind of
32:52a propaganda assault.
32:53It's showing you
32:54the might.
32:55You can see this
32:56sail coming at you.
32:58You know that you
32:59don't have much time
33:00to prepare
33:00to defend
33:01where you are.
33:03The Vikings
33:04under Ragnar Lothbrok
33:06are sailing
33:06down the Seine River
33:07and they come upon
33:08a group
33:09of Frankish warriors
33:11stationed on either side
33:13of the Seine River
33:14by Charles the Bald,
33:15who is king
33:16of West Francia.
33:17He's the one
33:18in charge
33:18of Paris' defenses.
33:20So you have
33:21Frankish defenders
33:21on the right side
33:22of the river
33:23and Frankish defenders
33:24on the left.
33:25And the Franks,
33:26they don't have boats
33:27with which to meet
33:28the Vikings at sea.
33:32They simply attack
33:34one contingent
33:36of Frankish warriors
33:37decimating them
33:38and leaving the other
33:39one unable
33:40to help the defense.
33:49And there are berserks
33:51and the berserks
33:52roared.
33:53And now imagine this.
33:55You're on the battlefield
33:56with a group of men
33:57and they're standing there
33:58and the terrifying sound
34:00that would make.
34:06The Vikings capture
34:09111 Frankish warriors,
34:11load them on the long ships
34:12and move further
34:13down the Seine
34:14closer to Paris.
34:17This is the next phase
34:19in the Vikings' plan.
34:20He and his fellow warriors
34:22now hold the captives
34:24and the city of Paris
34:26for ransom.
34:30This ransom
34:31is the entire reason
34:32for the siege.
34:34The Vikings
34:35attacked the Franks
34:36to extract
34:37as much money
34:38from them
34:38as possible.
34:39Ragnar Lothbrok
34:40had been in touch
34:41with Charles the Bald
34:42and had been undergoing
34:43these negotiations
34:44saying, you know,
34:45we'll leave Paris
34:46if only you pay us
34:47enough silver.
34:48In 845,
34:49the Franks defending
34:50Paris are probably
34:51asking themselves,
34:52well, can we hold off
34:53this Viking attack?
34:54It looks to be
34:56about 120 long ships,
34:57but the Franks
34:58have ballista technology,
35:00they have great boiling
35:02vats of pitch,
35:03they have all sorts of
35:04counter-defensive technology
35:06that they can use.
35:07But evidently,
35:08to Ragnar,
35:09the negotiations
35:10weren't happening
35:10quick enough,
35:11so those 111 captives
35:14that he had taken
35:15on one side
35:16of the Seine River,
35:17he brings to the island
35:18near Paris
35:19and hangs them.
35:33We can only imagine
35:35how terrified
35:37the defending Franks
35:38of Paris are
35:39to see their 111
35:41fellow warriors
35:42hung open
35:43in plain sight.
35:45Hanging 111 men
35:47might have been seen
35:48as being very advantageous
35:50and strategic.
35:51By demonstrating
35:51that you are
35:52willing to do something
35:54that may seem
35:55to be barbaric,
35:56you may be,
35:57in the long run,
35:58saving lives
35:58on both sides.
36:00And it's only then
36:01that the Vikings
36:02are able to receive
36:047,000 pounds of silver.
36:06That's how much
36:07the Franks pay
36:08the Vikings
36:08to go away.
36:10Although it doesn't
36:10seem to work
36:11because in the 850s
36:13and then again
36:13in 885,
36:15the Vikings,
36:15they're seeing Paris
36:17as sort of an ATM
36:18that they can come back
36:19to over and over again.
36:21The Viking
36:22has mastered
36:23the art of war
36:24through his unflinching
36:25embrace of bloodshed.
36:26His training,
36:28his weapons,
36:29and his dedication
36:30have made him
36:31feared across a continent.
36:34But every great warrior
36:36must fall
36:37and the Vikings' days
36:39are numbered.
36:44The Viking's success
36:46in battle
36:47earns him glory
36:48and a reputation
36:50for tactical brilliance.
36:53His brutal empire
36:55is growing.
36:57In their essence,
36:58the Vikings
36:58are seamen
37:00and that is
37:00the absolute core
37:02of their success.
37:03However,
37:03as things move on,
37:04they start to change
37:05their goals.
37:06We see the Franks
37:07having to give them land
37:08because that's clearly
37:09what they want.
37:10And equally,
37:11in Anglo-Saxon England,
37:12they go for
37:13a full invasion
37:14in 865
37:15and they are clearly
37:17not there to raid.
37:18They are there to stay.
37:19We start to see
37:20a transition
37:21from raiding
37:22to settling.
37:24But incredible gains
37:25give way
37:26to devastating losses.
37:30Over time,
37:31the Vikings' enemies
37:32begin to understand
37:33their attackers
37:36and how to fight back.
37:41People like Charlemagne,
37:43one of the things
37:43that they do
37:44to try and combat
37:45this Viking threat
37:47is to build navies,
37:49building bridges,
37:50putting large chains
37:51across rivers
37:52with something else
37:52which we've done
37:53The Anglo-Saxons
37:55in England
37:55and the Slavs
37:56in Central Europe
37:57are increasingly
37:58using more cavalry.
38:00But the Vikings
38:01themselves
38:01never actually
38:02had cavalry.
38:06Outmatched on land
38:07and no longer
38:08dominant at sea,
38:10the Viking warrior
38:11loses his tactical advantage.
38:13By the year 1066,
38:16the Viking age
38:17is no more.
38:19Near the end
38:21of the century,
38:21the Norsemen
38:22controls nothing
38:23beyond Scandinavia.
38:25Warring clans
38:26headed by chieftains
38:27are dying out.
38:30You have the formation
38:32of the modern countries
38:33of Norway,
38:35Sweden,
38:36and Denmark.
38:37You have chieftains
38:38consolidating power
38:40and submitting to kings.
38:44Now you have a political organization
38:46and a king
38:47who's basically
38:48not going to allow
38:49things like the Vikings
38:50because it's in that king's
38:52best interest
38:53to either hire them
38:54as part of his army
38:55or to get rid of them
38:57altogether.
38:57So that's a big piece of it.
38:59The second part is religion.
39:03Christianity really takes hold
39:05in these previously
39:06heathen places.
39:07So, you know,
39:08here we see a bit
39:09of the psychology
39:10of warfare
39:11is dying out.
39:12Christianity
39:13is the religion
39:14of kings
39:15throughout medieval Europe.
39:17You know,
39:18you have the pope
39:18in Rome as well
39:19who bestows
39:20great privileges
39:21on kings
39:22who follow him
39:23and so forth.
39:23Christianity
39:24is the social club
39:25of medieval kings.
39:29But it's a Viking warrior
39:30who emerges
39:31to unify
39:32all of the
39:33Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
39:36William the Conqueror
39:38who the modern day
39:39royal family of England
39:41can trace their lineage
39:42to the first king
39:43of England
39:44is descended
39:45from Normans.
39:46He's descended
39:46from the Duchy
39:47of Normandy
39:48in northern France
39:49which was founded
39:50by Rollo
39:51who was a ferocious
39:53Viking in the 10th century.
39:57By creating
39:58some of the most
39:59fearsome fighters
40:00of the era,
40:01the Vikings
40:02change western civilization
40:03forever.
40:09The Vikings
40:10are a warrior culture
40:12that is so larger
40:13than life.
40:15They leave
40:16their footprints
40:17throughout the world.
40:19The modern day
40:20countries of England
40:21and France
40:22originate
40:23from Viking
40:24principalities.
40:25They start
40:26these marketplaces
40:27that then become
40:28towns,
40:29that then become
40:30cities
40:30that still exist today.
40:32Dublin is
40:33an old Viking
40:34marketplace.
40:36York
40:36is an old
40:37Viking
40:38marketplace.
40:39Novgorod
40:40is an old
40:41Viking
40:41marketplace.
40:43If I were to say
40:44the word Viking
40:45which has gone on
40:46to bear the name
40:48of football teams
40:49and clothing brands
40:50and ocean liners
40:51and so forth,
40:52the word Viking
40:53means bravery.
40:54It means courage.
40:56It means being
40:57larger than life.
40:58And the mythology,
41:00the spirituality
41:01of the Vikings
41:02is very well understood
41:04by modern viewers
41:05as well.
41:06J.R.R. Tolkien's
41:07own mythological worlds,
41:09The Lord of the Rings
41:10and The Hobbit,
41:11are directly based upon
41:13Old Norse literature
41:14and given to us
41:15in the forms of sagas.
41:16The other reason
41:18why I think
41:18they loom large
41:20in our memory
41:21has to do with
41:22the freedom,
41:25individualism
41:25components
41:26of what we think
41:27of when we think
41:27of Vikings.
41:28I think we tend
41:29to either downplay
41:31the violence
41:31or upplay
41:32the violence
41:33in our telling
41:35of these stories.
41:36But I think
41:37that there is
41:38something about
41:39a group of farmers
41:40that hold Europe
41:43at ransom
41:44for several hundred years
41:46that just is
41:46a little bit inspiring.
41:48Centuries after
41:49disappearing
41:50from the northern seas,
41:52the Viking warrior
41:53is still revered.
41:56His ferocious training,
41:58devastating fighting technique,
42:00and unique combination
42:01of strategy
42:02and brutality
42:04earn him
42:05a rightful place
42:06among
42:07history's
42:08greatest warriors.
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