The Viking culture is spectacular in its remarkable shift from Norse religion to embracing Christianity, as their famous kings set out to Christen Scandinavia and abolished the Viking customs of keeping slaves,
leaving babies out for the wolves to kill, human sacrifices and much more. This shift is explored in the Herland Report articles about this topic.
The Viking age in Scandinavia from around 750 to 1050 AD had a fearless and expanding warrior and tradesman culture in Europe, even to America and into Iraq. They populated Normandy in France and their descendants conquered England in 1066.
One of the main reasons why the Viking tales still are so vividly alive about this period is because the stories were written down shortly after they happened. Several historical sources retell the tales, among them Snorri Sturluson.
Particularly, in 1230 AD, on the obscure island of Iceland, a middle aged Norse huscarl sat down and began to write. His name was Snorri Sturluson. Though he was a warrior, he was also a poet and author.
He enjoyed a wealth of knowledge, for he had collected all the oral lore concerning the epic tales of his forefathers. Snorri knew this history better than anyone. (Feature photo: Author, Glima wrestling Master and Viking age expert, Lars Magnar Enoksen in The Herland Report studio.)
VIKING TV series: Snorri Sturluson and the Warrior Stories of Scandinavia: Gifted by lyrical flair and good memory, he had now been requested by the King of Norway to write the epic sagas of the Kings.
If he could write down the origins of the Vikings, the great deeds and acts they accomplished while still alive and the forging of their Kingdoms – he would immortalize them.
These stories are rich in both charm and dread. They follow the valiant Kings of old who dwelled in the Northern mountains and seas, and decided to carve out a Kingdom there, and call it the land of the Northmen.
Through the beauty of Norse rhyming, the stories of these men had so far been recorded in an endless amount of poems.
This is an article in a series as we address the Viking Age:
- Harald Hardrada: Viking Warrior king of Norway, commander in Constantinople.
- Snorri Sturluson and the warriors of Scandinavia.
- The Viking cradle of Odin, Norse history and migrations in Scandinavia.
- 1066: The last Viking Norway king Harald Hardrada attacks England at Stamford Bridge.
- The VIKING raids, expansion and the creation of Russia.
- Viking King of Norway, Harald Hardrada and Orthodox Christianity in Scandinavia.
Snorri Sturluson and the Warrior Stories of Scandinavia: Snorri’s innovation was to translate them into written sagas of how the Vikings and their descendants forged the throne of ancient Norway.
Norway is an ancient land. Its origins are clouded by myth and mystery. Its tall and majestic mountains have witnessed many untold events.
But the mountains do not share their secrets, so it is up to us to uncover them. We must therefore collaborate with both medieval and contemporary historians; Viking poets and current-day archaeologists; to illuminate the truths of how this Northern outpost was made a Kingdom.
What we are left with is a comprehensive set of life stories, told in a captivating and visually compelling manner, that does justice to both the medieval sagas and the scholarship of history.
The stories of the Viking age so vividly described by Snorri Sturlason is riddled with cunning geopolitics, fierce battles, notorious raiding, and bitter betrayal.
However, it also displays grand statesmanship, unyielding loyalty and friendship, love affairs and unbreakable marriages, sacrificial courage and stirring valour on the battlefield.
Thus, the following story fills us with a range of emotions – dread, charm, and inspiration – and sparks our intellectual curiosity.
