Viking Trekkies

records weaves its impact into pop culture through many avenues … one of the strangest is the Viking affect on big name Trek, specially the following era.

Ever in view that that collection observed the airwaves, I’ve regularly puzzled if one or extra of its writers were descended from peoples who continued raids from the North after which used this display to exact their model of revenge.

I’ve usually been interested by the have an effect on that the Viking technology had on western civilization, that is good sized. here are however a few examples:

1. Vikings created the first governing legislature of ‘common’ residents in history, calling their parliament a issue, which is also wherein the English language derived that word.

2. Viking regulation became the primary in Europe, as a minimum, to behavior trials with a jury of the accused’s peers.

3. It was without a doubt 500 years before every other subculture would design a deliver that would journey as unexpectedly as a Viking dragonship (and allow’s no longer forget that the ones ships sailed to North america 500 years earlier than Columbus did).

four. 4 of the seven days of the week — inside the English language — are named after Viking gods:

a. Tuesday, for Tyr – the god of fact,

b. Wednesday, for Odin – the ‘Allfather’ of Viking gods,

c. Thursday, for Thor – the ‘thunder’ god, and

d. Friday, for Frigg – Odin’s first spouse.

(a few scholars argue the latter is named for Frey, the god of fertility, however I’ll stick with the Oxford Dictionary model, which offers the respect to Frigg.)

5. William the Conqueror was a Viking descendant; enough said. Vikings dominated England for 300 years, so much of their language stimulated English. The suffix ‘-by means of’ is the Viking phrase for ‘village,’ subsequently city names which include Rugby and Grimsby, to call only . The suffixes ‘-bury’ and ‘-berry’ are Anglicized spellings of the word ‘berg’ (pr: ‘berry’), the Viking phrase for ‘mountain,’ subsequently names such as Shrewsbury, Queensbury and Shaftsbury consult with close by landmarks.

somewhere else, the Slavic peoples’ call for Vikings became ‘Rus,’ meaning ‘rowing guys.’ Viking dominance of the Slavic river structures turned into so standard that the location became known as ‘Russia.’ In France, King Charles the easy become so fed up with Viking attacks on Paris that he ceded them land in alternate for a cessation of raids. The French phrase for Viking became ‘Norman,’ and the ceded vicinity became called Normandy. The Viking chieftain who prevalent these phrases become the famous Rolf the Walker (so named because of his peak, as no horse become big sufficient to hold him); Rolf, by the way, turned into the forebear of William the Conqueror. besides, you get the concept. The Vikings can be long gone, but their mark on our lives, even these days, is indelible.

nonetheless, it’s mildly unexpected to peer the Viking stamp on one of the maximum famous technological know-how fiction collection of the modern-day era. no longer tremendously, their ‘presence’ seems to be personnified with the aid of the villains.

Take the Klingons. until they have become uneasy allies of the Federation, they were the scourge of that galactic quadrant which bordered ‘ours.’ Their interstellar warriors’ final honor changed into to die bravely and loudly in warfare. well, lower back within the day, that changed into every Viking’s final honor, too. Such bravery was visible as the only way to earn an eternity in Valhalla, Odin’s fortress of the ‘chosen’ slain, in which best the maximum valiant would reside forevermore in Viking nirvana, which consists of combating all day and partying all night time. I cannot keep in mind the episode, but it appears the Klingons notion that become a first rate way to while away the afterlife, themselves.

those guys were holdovers from the unique megastar Trek series and the next era writers didn’t have the license to make them a great deal more sinister than that. So, they went farther into area to locate  other Viking caricatures.

One become the Ferengi. The casual Trekkie may think them to be stimulated by Shakespeare’s stereotypical ‘Shylock’ inside the merchant of Venice, however the studied Viking historian notes a deeper connection of names. Vikings were regarded to be traders as a good deal as fighters, and were very difficult bargainers in each sense of the word. ultimately, the King of Byzantium (which became Constantinople and is now referred to as Istanbul) capitalized on both of these developments and created a regiment of Viking mercenaries to become his personal elite typhoon troopers, called his Varangian shield. The origin of this identify turned into a Viking term that mentioned a ‘sharer of spoils,’ and Varangians indeed have become the first-class-paid troops of their time. Their final purpose turned into exquisite wealth, and most of them got it in one manner or any other.

The last of the great Vikings, Harald Hardraada — who also reigned as a brilliant Norwegian king — hung out as a Varangian. Legend said he stood seven ft tall, probable because his physical stature become such that he without a doubt did tower over his adversaries. This declare turned into, no doubt, ‘stretching’ fact a piece, however he turned into a great deal extra common in look for a Varangian than are the Trek race they stimulated! Comparisons among Varangians and Ferengi can be subtle, however there is no mistaking the connection. not anything was subtle, though, approximately the Trek writers’ subsequent and maximum ominous incarnation of Viking stereotypes — the Borg.

Even the name is Nordic. ‘Borg’ (sincerely said ‘bor-ee’ in antique Norse) is the Viking phrase for ‘castle,’ which conjures an correct imaginative and prescient of their spacecraft.

Vikings fought as a collective. in a single famous instance, at some point of one of these annual sieges of Paris, the French king du jour wanted to negotiate a settlement. He was quoted as asking, “who is your leader?” The reaction is one of the maximum famous in Viking lore: “We’re all equals!” Sound familiar, Trekkies?

Vikings have been regarded for assimilation, too. but, theirs changed into the other of the Borg. Vikings who settled in overseas lands tailored to the neighborhood customs. William, for example, spoke French. Kiev turned into a Viking outpost and the primary ‘royal’ own family there has been of Viking blood. Their offspring took Slavic names and spoke the neighborhood language. but, as I stated in advance, the Viking have an impact on did continue to be. there has been best one Viking empire — King Knut’s realm of Scandinavia and the British Isles lasted for 30 years — but traces of Viking lifestyles and way of life spanned all of Europe.

at some stage in the Viking era, almost each mass prayer in a european church became prefaced by way of ‘supply us, O Lord, from the wrath of the Northmen.’ at the same time as I do surprise if that’s how Guinan (performed by way of Whoopi Goldberg) and her planet prayed (they have been many of the Borg’s conquests), it’s clear that’s how the Federation felt. until the corporation found a manner past due within the series, resistance turned into futile.

That’s clearly greater than the Trek’s writers may want to say. They couldn’t and didn’t withstand taking their liberties with Viking lore. despite their efforts, though, the most noble of all Viking deeds stays entrenched within the star Trek universe, given homage before each episode. perhaps that’s the remaining irony, due to the fact in an technology whilst other cultures feared to task past view of their coastlines, the Vikings — as evidenced via their voyages to the new global in a thousand advert — boldly went in which no man had long past earlier than.