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Anti-Hero posted:The Rus were Northmen (mainly Swedes) who went East in to Russia via the Volga and founded a kingdom. "Rus" is believed to come from the Norse word to row. They ruled over the native Slavs and were eventually culturally and linguistically assimilated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roslagen Roslagen is still today the name of the area to the immediate north of Stockholm, including the archipelago. Further to the west (a few hours by ship) is where the trading town Birka was located. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birka Lord Tywin posted:Yep, a lot of Viking traders agreed to be baptized whenever they entered a Christian town since they usually got some nice poo poo for it and it made trading easier, I don't know if they converted to Islam as well for easier trading but I doubt it since I can't imagine that they would be cool with the whole circumcision thing. Converting to christianity didn't make trading easier, non-christans were banned from trading entirely. (AFAIK there was no rule regarding islamic conversion in Miklagrd/Constantinople.) The Kievan Rus (around where the Ukraine is today) actually auditioned religions, among them islam. Some sources say the Rus been invited by the locals as a ruling class, sort of like management consultants. Anyway, the Rus had to consolidate their power in the region, and thus needed one common religion. I guess it is hard to motivate your loyal subjects when there are ten different shamanistic religions with wildly differing views on what happens after death etc. So they invited different priests to tell them about the advantages and disadvantages of their religions. Islam lost out on the whole "no pigs and booze"-rule. It was also the Rus who had the communal snotbucket that ibn Fadlan was so revolted by. I believe he may have exaggerrated a bit there, but the islamic sources are still miles ahead of the christian when it comes to describing the Norse cultures accurately.
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Mar 25, 2013 19:58
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According to the sources, they didn't like Islam because they didn't want to give up alcohol and pork, they didn't like Judaism because they thought that their god had clearly forsaken them, and they didn't like the Catholic rite because Latin Mass was too stuffy and boring. They also wanted to maintain good relations with Constantinople due to the massive trade they did through the Black Sea.
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Mar 25, 2013 20:55
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Kampfbereit posted:It was also the Rus who had the communal snotbucket that ibn Fadlan was so revolted by. I believe he may have exaggerrated a bit there, but the islamic sources are still miles ahead of the christian when it comes to describing the Norse cultures accurately. Yeah the primary accounts from Ibm Fadlan are very interesting to sider since they provide a outside perspective on the culture but due to being a outsider he picked up lots of interesting information on things such as contrasting the burial rites between cultures.
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Mar 25, 2013 20:58
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For those wondering about Rollo's battle verse this video has it. "Up onto the overturned keel Clamber, with a heart of steel Cold is the ocean's spray And your death is on its way With maidens you have had your way Each must die some day!" Like a lot of people here I had low expectations but am pretty well hooked now. It's not the greatest thing ever but plenty of  which is just fine and entertaining in its own right. Pagan Europe makes for some fascinating history.Would liked to have seen better use of Gabriel Byrne though. Maybe as a rival, more grizzled captain competing with Ragnar for plunder and glory in the west instead of his current evil overlord character.
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Mar 25, 2013 22:24
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Luigi Thirty posted:According to the sources, they didn't like Islam because they didn't want to give up alcohol and pork, they didn't like Judaism because they thought that their god had clearly forsaken them, and they didn't like the Catholic rite because Latin Mass was too stuffy and boring. They also wanted to maintain good relations with Constantinople due to the massive trade they did through the Black Sea. According to the meticulous religious scholarship of 13th Warrior, they could have happily guzzled mead and still been all good with Islam. No work around for the Pork though.
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Mar 25, 2013 22:51
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For anyone wondering, only the first 4 episodes of the show were being shown a week early. Now you'll have to wait until the actual night it airs to see it.
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Mar 25, 2013 23:15
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Eh, my vast anecdotal experience with Muslims indicates that you can convert em to pork eaters easily enough. By vast, I mean my one Muslim friend who has lived in the US for like 10 years.
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Mar 25, 2013 23:16
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Bacon and eggs is a hell of a drug
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Mar 25, 2013 23:20
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I am loving this show but finding the Skald to be a little too "300" for my tastes. Also, Someone earlier posted about Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Shore" series. Lords of the North is the first book. I strongly suggest picking it up. It owns bones.
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Mar 25, 2013 23:32
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E: I have that book on my iPad and I didn't even know it had anything to do with this type of stuff. ^^^^ The sad part is, what finally convinced him to try it out was those boneless spareribs you get from Chinese food places. The booze might have helped though. It was really, really funny watching him order lunches the next couple of weeks after that. I think everything had bacon on it.
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Mar 25, 2013 23:32
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Deadpool posted:For anyone wondering, only the first 4 episodes of the show were being shown a week early. Now you'll have to wait until the actual night it airs to see it. gently caress, and I've been looking forward all day to it getting online. A whole week more 
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Mar 25, 2013 23:45
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Admiral Goodenough posted:gently caress, and I've been looking forward all day to it getting online. A whole week more Dangit. Will it still be on Youtube when it's the right week? Cuz I still don't have HD for this channel, and Hulu actually manages to look pretty darn good when it's working well.
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Mar 26, 2013 01:34
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Oh that sucks. I've found myself looking forward to this show every week! I should probably rewatch E3 and E4 anyway before E5 comes out, my memory sucks for TV shows.
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Mar 26, 2013 01:50
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720p ftw.
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Mar 26, 2013 05:09
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Mucktron posted:But also agreeing that Jarl is just an awful character. He's lacking the believably of say.. Spartacus's Batiatus who did horrible things, but was so well written that you understood his logic behind his most awful of choices, and yet Jarl's "evilness" feels incredibly by-the-numbers pigdog posted:I agree completely, "by-the-numbers" is exactly how Jarl's character is written. However, I couldn't compare it to Sparatacus' Batiatus, who was more like an anti-hero of the show (particularly Gods of the Arena) rather than a villain. If anyone in this show was to be compared to Batiatus, it would probably have to be Ragnar himself. He's a man with ambition who is looking to move up in the world, and he's working within a moral realm that fits his era but is out-of-bounds for ours. So while we definitely view him as the protagonist of the show and want him to succeed, he does do some things that should really make us feel uncomfortable. Deadpool posted:For anyone wondering, only the first 4 episodes of the show were being shown a week early. Now you'll have to wait until the actual night it airs to see it. This is great news for us television-watching spoiler-hating plebians.
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Mar 26, 2013 13:50
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The Trial was a real good episode. Having to wait two weeks for the next is torturous. 
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Mar 26, 2013 14:41
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Serendipitously I had just finished the Hardcore History podcast episode Thor's Angels right before discovering this show. The show is good, the podcast is awesome, I highly recommend it if you want to get some more Migration Period history (focusing more on continental events, however).
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Mar 26, 2013 17:27
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 Yay Learning!
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Mar 27, 2013 02:28
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Rocksicles posted:
This is why I'm okay with the show being on History, even if it's a little loose with the actual facts. It makes me go look up the real facts.
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Mar 27, 2013 02:31
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I'm a research nut. borderline sperg i dare say, i can't watch something that interests me and not research it. Sometimes for weeks. My woman calls me a retard for not going to university with her, but building pays the bills.
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Mar 27, 2013 02:47
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Family Values posted:Serendipitously I had just finished the Hardcore History podcast episode Thor's Angels right before discovering this show. The show is good, the podcast is awesome, I highly recommend it if you want to get some more Migration Period history (focusing more on continental events, however). i just finsihed the Thors Angels podcast, loving amazing. The guy obviously love this poo poo. How do you get the to the earlier podcasts?
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Mar 28, 2013 01:33
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Rocksicles posted:i just finsihed the Thors Angels podcast, loving amazing. The guy obviously love this poo poo. Yeah it's a pretty awesome look at Western European and how things slowly came together after the collapse of the western half of the roman empire. Plus a great look at the wide variety of assholes from the dark ages such as the vikings and magyars.
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Mar 28, 2013 02:49
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Did nobody watch Vikings tonight, or did Game of Thrones distract everyone? I haven't yet but I'm about to fire it up. Was just surprised no one bumped the thread. Let this be a reminder.
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Apr 1, 2013 06:08
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BlazinLow305 posted:Did nobody watch Vikings tonight, or did Game of Thrones distract everyone? I haven't yet but I'm about to fire it up. Was just surprised no one bumped the thread. Let this be a reminder. I did. The plot moved forward in a hella  way (though you probably saw at least some of it coming from the previews last week).
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Apr 1, 2013 06:15
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GOT + Vikings + Borgias + Mad Men + Veep is going to be some solid Sunday night TV. Is it 2005 again?
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Apr 1, 2013 06:29
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Tonight's episode was fantastic. Best one thus far. I love that they're accelerating the conflict with the Earl, because the character remains annoying and the quicker they kill him off/depose him/whatever, the better.
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Apr 1, 2013 06:39
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Anybody know when episode 5 will be online..?
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Apr 1, 2013 09:05
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I only saw the preview for episode 5 but jesus christ, now I can't wait to see it. This is going to be a fantastic episode  vvv haha, perfect. MIDWIFE CRISIS fucked around with this message at 10:38 on Apr 1, 2013 |
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Apr 1, 2013 09:10
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I like this show but it's hard to explain to discriminating Downton-Abbey-loving friends why it's fun to watch. So when they ask what it's like, I say, "Oh it's kinda like a low-budget Game of Thrones and a little like The Tutors and close to Spartacus with a Sons of Anarchy vibe except that..." and then I just yell at them for two solid minutes with my face an inch away from theirs, spattering them with scream-spittle. Also I made this dumb thing that sounded way funnier when I was drunk and watching the show a few days ago: 
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Apr 1, 2013 10:18
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Assuming the last episode is 5, I wasn't too impressed. More cartoonishly evil Jarl doing really mean things. Next episode hopefully wraps this poo poo with his character up. I'm much more interested in Vikings in western Europe than drama at home.
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Apr 1, 2013 11:24
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The new episode is up on history.com. I just finished it and it's looking like they're going to wrap up the Earl plot soon. I'm pretty stoked for Ragnar King of the Vikings.
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Apr 1, 2013 14:43
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The show has been suprisingly good so far but am I the only one who is more annoyed by people compaining about the Jarl than by the Jarl himself?
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Apr 1, 2013 15:49
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Yeah I don't mind the Jarl. He's not the best character but I understand why they have him in the show.
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Apr 1, 2013 15:52
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Noni posted:I like this show but it's hard to explain to discriminating Downton-Abbey-loving friends why it's fun to watch. So when they ask what it's like, I say, "Oh it's kinda like a low-budget Game of Thrones and a little like The Tutors and close to Spartacus with a Sons of Anarchy vibe except that..." and then I just yell at them for two solid minutes with my face an inch away from theirs, spattering them with scream-spittle. Yeah it sort of hits the spot if you couldn't get enough of people chasing each other around with axes after watching both Spartacus and Game of Thrones.
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Apr 1, 2013 16:57
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I'm watching the show online right now and, jeeeeeeeze, I hate that little fat balding dude that the Jarl has for a crony.
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Apr 1, 2013 18:18
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I'd be surprised if they wrote out the Earl/Byrne so (relatively) soon but certainly wouldn't complain if they did. The home intrigues do serve a story purpose but raiding and invading is what brings people back and stirs the interest in Norse history. Also the whole Rollo/Siggy struck me as way too convenient and out of nowhere. And nominating this as the new theme song.
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Apr 1, 2013 18:43
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nutranurse posted:I'm watching the show online right now and, jeeeeeeeze, I hate that little fat balding dude that the Jarl has for a crony. Me too. Every time I look at him all I can think is "Viking Zach Galiafinakis"
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Apr 1, 2013 18:45
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This show continues to be awesome, I liked how Ragnar wasn't totally invincible and actually got hurt, even though he kicked all kinds of rear end.
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Apr 1, 2013 18:58
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Tighclops posted:This show continues to be awesome, I liked how Ragnar wasn't totally invincible and actually got hurt, even though he kicked all kinds of rear end. Yeah the show also has realistic axe combat goodness like when Ragnar charged back into the village and went on a vengeance killing spree. Unlike a sword you pretty much have to go all out with a axe since it's not nicely balanced.
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Apr 1, 2013 20:40
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Those fight sequence were badass and more realistic looking than practically anything.
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Apr 1, 2013 21:21
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