“According to their custom the Northmen plundered… the Northmen , with their boats filled with immense booty, including men and goods, returned to their own country.”(Doc 4) This tells us that the Northmen or Vikings were always plundering towns and you always had to be ready to run and/or fight. “This excerpt describes Europe in the ninth and tenth century… [Barbarians] sacked towns and villages and laid waste to the fields. They burned down the churches and then departed with a crowd of captives.”(Doc 1) I clearly states that this was life in the Dark Ages so this is the best piece of evidence for any argument. Also it shows that barbarians, whether it be Muslims, Vikings or any other group of people who wanted their land back, attacked ruthlessly and had no respect for the christian church. Now that there is two great reasons that medieval europe should be called the Dark Ages.…
Throughout the book Anglo-Saxon/Viking culture is presented to us as Beowulf goes on his journey to fight evil and save The Danes. These are very different book made to…
C. Despite the name the “Dark Ages”, the Anglo-Saxons were not completely violent people. Their love for literary themes such as heroism and chivalry shaped literature during that time.…
Around 800 C.E. a large group of people called the Vikings sailed down from their homes in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and started terrorizing Europe. During their 300-year time, they did many things, but one of the most important was helping develop Feudalism. The Viking raids helped shift power to lords and nobles and away from kings.…
In the Epic of Beowulf there is a perfect example of religious conflict intermingling together in a way that creates conflict between the Danes religious views and the narrator’s Christian interpretations. In the Epic of Beowulf there are presents of Christian views that the narrator placed in the book to compare the differences between the brutal and barbaric…
Primarily, Grendel and Beowulf both wanted to destroy each other because of what they believed in. No matter how the people of Danes tried to ignore Grendel always hated the village for one reason. Grendel came from ancestors that were evil, and who opposed the Lord’s will. In fact, Grendel hated when the people celebrated all night while singing glorious songs and drinking at the Herot hall. Therefore, the people of Danes suffered from his hell made actions. Beowulf on the other hand, knew he had to protect the people of Danes…
The epic Beowulf is seen today as a fine representation of Anglo-Saxon nobility and ignobility. The setting is Denmark, land of Danish Anglo-Saxons that lived as the Vikings of the first millennia. Many characters in Beowulf are brutal warriors that would charge into battle hoping to find glory in battle or an honorable death that would send them to Valhalla. Despite a somewhat belligerent way of life, many lived by a code of honor and had a sturdy, thick moral fiber. This tale accurately details its characters as noble and ignoble in the eyes of an Anglo-Saxon by introducing them to deadly battles, wealth, and achievement.…
The Vikings came from what is known as Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. During the time from the 8th to the 11th centuries the Vikings traveled in their longboats to the British Isles and the coast of Europe raiding the settlements.…
The vikings targeted monasteries that were not defended and have lots of riches inside. These types of raids went lightning fast so the king would not be able to get his troops there in time. The people in the villages could not depend on the king for protection so they went to their near by nobles to help them become safe. Protection is one of the main reasons why people shifted power to nobles. This is…
Vikings were fierce, ferocious, frightening warriors, who ruthlessly invaded Europe for about 400 years. They spewed violence throughout the country, indiscriminately murdering most of the population, leaving it in ruins. Because of their unrestrained bloodshed, these warriors became known as berserkers, who fought like raving psychopaths. Therefore, anguish filled the hearts of all people and amongst the myriad of all the prayers could be heard this one, “God deliver us from the fury of the Norsemen.” No person was safe from the pillaging of the Vikings as they took animals, food, valuables, and land using hundreds of warships to invade Europe in their fatal raids.…
In both works, the authors of Beowulf and Tolkien also assigned their society’s negative traits to their stories’ villains. In Beowulf, Grendel was swamp-dwelling son of Cain, the exiled killer of Abel and father to all evil spirits (102 – 110). Grendel’s swampy home is easily accessible to the Anglo-Saxon audience as dark and dangerous. On top of this, Grendel’s home exists on the outside edges of King Heorot’s lands: not central but still inside (103). This location represents the marginalities of the Anglo-Saxon people who the majority of society sees as sinful or “demonic.” To the Anglo-Saxons, these outsiders would have been those who did not follow cultural norms, including those dictated by biblical law.…
The Vikings were people who lived from 800-1100 AD. Most of the lived in Scandinavia, but they also had colonies in places such as England, Ireland, Scotland, and many other places in Eastern Europe. The main language that they spoke was called Old Norse, and it has become the basis of many languages today, including Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. The word Viking comes from the Old Norse word vikingr, which means "camp", or "dwelling place". They wrote in an alphabet known as Runes. Runes were also used to write many Germanic languages at this time.…
From 793 to 1066 AD, the Vikings struck terror into the heart of every European. Their sudden, ferocious raids on villages, churches, and monasteries made them both hated and feared. However, the Vikings accomplished more than merely destroying towns. In fact, they were the best explorers of the age, venturing as far south as Africa and as far west as North America. Wherever they settled, they altered the cultural fabric of the conquered area. This paper attempts to analyze specific changes the Vikings initiated in the places they settled, particularly in the British Isles. Using traditional archaeological evidence and newer techniques, archaeologists have been able to find other effects the Vikings had on European society besides looting.…
I will begin my story from the point of my arrival in Denmark when my initial engagement takes place: I began my terror long ago when I sat in the darkness yelling and growling in pain of the happiness and joyousness coming from Hrothgar and his men yet, they still challenge me, after seven years they still celebrate and boast and laugh with their music. I, Grendel, through my great strength and immunity from the weapons of humanity, vow to plague the mead hall. I stayed in the darkness consumed with impatience, bitterness, and jealousy of listening to loud, joyous music coming from the hall; songs of rejoice make my hands scratch and claw at the top of my head. The king of Denmark shall flee in terror as my wrath is cast upon the people of the mead hall. After the laughter and the celebration were finished that night I came out of hiding from the marsh hidden in the darkness. I attacked from the front of the hall, destroying all in my path and devouring all those who stand in my way. The pathetic humans tried without success to prevent my massacre. Their weapons are primitive, worthless against my flesh. I hurled myself towards the crowds, devouring the humans who stood in my way. I hold my brutal and violent acts, those of jealousy and envy; just as the acts of my descendant Cain, in the highest regard as a force of sheer and utter destruction. I will prevail, of this I am sure.…
Norsemen from Scandinavia, which includes Norway, Sweden and Denmark, conducted raids, mostly into Europe from the 8th to 11th centuries and became known as Vikings (the word Viking means raiding). Later on, the word Viking became equal to piracy, and the Vikings gained a reputation of brutal robbers. The word Viking in Old Norse, spoken by Scandinavians, was translated as “a rear man who came from the Vik district of Oslo fjord”.…