Comments on: Top Ten Myths About Vikings

By: Sigrun

Sigrun — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 05:48:08 +0000

Thank you so much for all this info. I’ve shared it with many who still think vikings wore horned helmets and where a tribe and a nation. So many misconceptions….so little time… and the fact that still today we are learning, its websites like yours that help us get it right and motivates us to keep reseaching. Thank you.

By: Randall

Randall — Sun, 30 May 2010 15:54:21 +0000

Regarding Eric’s comment about the perception of vikings generally being referred to as Norsemen without apparent concern to the existence of Danish and Swedish vikings:

The etymology of the word “norseman” effectively brakes down to mean “man from the north.” In addition to the place we know as Norway, the area comprising present day Sweden and Denmark is located to the north of the vast majority of the land mass which composes the rest of Europe. The Danish and Swedish vikings would have arrived from a place north of many of the lands they visited, making “Norsemen” an appropriate descriptor for them as well.

By: Eric Stoner

Eric Stoner — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:10:31 +0000

From a BBC documentary on Vikings – It seemed (at least early one) that most Vikings were referred to as Norse, or Norsemen, despite the fact that Danish and Swedish Vikings were also known. I’m not sure how this came about, perhaps because the majority of these Viking Raiders were Norse.

By: thomas

thomas — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:54:12 +0000

this is a very nice article.

reading #6 an article on the subject came to my mind.

Coupland, S., The Vikings on the Continent in Myth and History, History Vol. 88 Issue 290, 2003, p. 186 – 203.

maybe it is of interest for you, but probably you’ll know it already. an abstract can be found here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-229X.00258

By: alleykat

alleykat — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:07:58 +0000

This is a very interesting site.
The Ukrainian Cossacks also had a similar hair-do, they apparently shaved it all, but left abunch of hair grow long from the top of their head. Do you know of any connection here?

By: Tapsa

Tapsa — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 07:30:41 +0000

I was working one summer in my youth at a fishing factory in Norway. There the norwegians used to test the sharpness of their knives cutting their hair at the back of their head, so their hair were much longer on the front side.

By: Viking Rune

Viking Rune — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:56:22 +0000

Hi Paul. Thanks for the feedback. Jones' work is one of the best researches on Vikings I've ever read. As for the ceremonial horned helmets of the Vendel period, I wrote an article on that topic, entitled Odin as Weapon Dancer.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:51:55 +0000

Excellent site. I, too am of Viking Descent. Have you read Gwyn Jones’ single volume History of the Vikings? If so, I’d love feedback if that’s allowed. Gwyn also agreed with the absence of horned helms on the battlefields but they were ceremonially used along with winged helmets on the gods and Herr Wagner liked them and that, I think is why we see them today.

By: LaRue Foster

LaRue Foster — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:39:27 +0000

It appears that the Normans adopted the hairstyle favored in the province of Aquitaine, which some writers indicate was noted for its unusual hairstyles. Regardless, that begs the question of why the Normans shaved the backs of their heads. One writer suggests it was to ensure a better fit for their helmets, but this seems unlikely since their chain mail coifs were worn under the helm–and chain mail could not have been comfortable pressing against the scalp.

Probably the hairstyle has no greater significance than merely a passing fashion with no other reason. Still, I’d dearly like to know why. At the least, the style was ugly, but one could say the same of many hairstyles today.

Any ideas on this topic?

By: Ray Elkins

Ray Elkins — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:24:28 +0000

As a DNA-proven Viking-Irish descendant, I do appreciate your site very much. Helps a lot in trying to figure out where I came from and who I am!