The Vikings: Immoralized In Popular Culture

Vikings are fascinating. Though this is not a strong thesis, it is a true statement, one that will hopefully be backed up as I argue the actual thesis of this paper. Vikings have been immortalized in popular culture, inspiring everything from operas and classic fantasy novels to video games and Swedish death metal bands. Clearly the Vikings have an appeal to them rivaled by few other people groups throughout history. I can safely say that I have always found Vikings and their culture profoundly interesting, and a chance to learn more about them was not something I was going to pass up. Like any ethnic group, the Vikings have a very unique culture. Hardy and explorers by nature (Lemonick), the Vikings developed intricate customs and followed a very detailed

Theft was abhorrent and intensely frowned upon, even to the point that it was one of the few crimes that would condemn the perpetrator to pain and suffering in the afterlife. On the other hand, raids were seen as an honorable challenge, in which the winning party would claim all of the loot. Of course, Vikings were the better fighters the vast majority of the time, and did not really have much loot to give off to anyone who bested them. Some bizarre upholding of these values is depicted in this anecdote provided by Short:
A story from chapter 46 of Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar illustrates this distinction. While raiding a coastal farm, Egill and his men were captured by the farmer and his family, who bound all of the raiders. In the night that followed, Egill was able to slip his bonds. He and his men grabbed their captors' treasure and headed back to the ship. But along the way, Egill shamefully realized he was acting like a thief, saying, "This journey is terrible and hardly suitable for a warrior. We have stolen the farmer’s money without his knowledge. We should never allow such shame to befall