veteran’s corner

Tom Krabbenhoft

With our Minnesota Vikings once again unsuccessful at a playoff run, it’s appropriate to talk about how successful their namesake Vikings were in history.

Ever hear of Bluetooth? The Ericsson company from Sweden was heavily into developing Bluetooth technology. Its name was inspired by the Viking king of Denmark. In fact, the modern Bluetooth logo combines the Nordic runes for H and K for King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson.

Several legends surround the origin modern technology’s namesake. One: King Harald Gormsson loved blueberries. Who doesn’t? Second, he wore blue clothing. It was hard to dye cloth blue in those days; clothes in that color were reserved for the very richest. A third legend is the most accepted – that Harald had a tooth rotted so bad that it was blue in color.

Harald was a fierce warrior king and also a skilled communicator. He was so skilled at communicating and negotiating, in fact, that he spread Christianity throughout Denmark and Norway, at the same time gaining control over these regions. He kept a fragile peace with German tribes on his southern border. (I’m certain having allies named Erik the Bloodaxe helped in all his endeavors.)

Vikings’ unique, innovative tactics and techniques made them relevant militarily for centuries. Their longboats, each carrying 40 warriors, were very fast. They had a shallow draft, meaning they only required about four feet of water to navigate. From the 8th until about the 13th century, these boats plunged deep into foreign territory. There the warriors would disembark loot and plunder. Then they disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. 

The Viking warriors themselves were tradesmen, farmers, blacksmiths and so on. They also learned fighting skills. Lacking a fear of death gave them a huge advantage in fighting. Almost every warrior had a steel weapon made from bog iron extracted from the plentiful Nordic bogs. The populations they raided seldom had fighting skills or quality weapons. 

The warrior tradition extended to both sexes. Freydis Eiriksdottir, Eric the Red’s daughter and sister to Lief Ericson, was very fearsome. She was also one of the first Europeans to visit North America. The sagas allege she fought off a Native American attack all by herself … while eight months pregnant. 

The Vikings’ reach extended far beyond coastal England and France. Traces of their travels have been found as close to us as Ulen and Alexandria. 

They spread throughout the Mediterranean and beyond, often working as mercenaries. The Byzantine emperors hired Vikings as personal bodyguards; they were called the Vangarian guards. These very elite troops were from so far away from home that their loyalty was solely to the emperor.

All factors combined, the Vikings struck terror, became rich, and influenced society for a very long time – even, it can be said, today.