Did you know that when Charlemagne invaded Saxony he would baptize all the villagers he captured, and then immediately have them executed while they were in a state of presumed grace and thus would enter heaven? He also had his soldiers cut down an immense and ancient oak that was held by the Saxons to be the avatar of Yggdrasil here on earth. Some say that the initial viking raids, which targeted monasteries, were in retaliation for this act of blasphemy against the Norse gods...
I think Lindisfarne was just a soft target with massive unguarded wealth. I mean it’s a no brainer for an easy raid. None of the sagas were contemporary to the raiding era and sources during the dark ages are always suspect, so we’ll never really know, but idk, I think they were just being practical. Which is a much less fun story, I know🫣
Did you know that when Charlemagne invaded Saxony he would baptize all the villagers he captured, and then immediately have them executed while they were in a state of presumed grace and thus would enter heaven? He also had his soldiers cut down an immense and ancient oak that was held by the Saxons to be the avatar of Yggdrasil here on earth. Some say that the initial viking raids, which targeted monasteries, were in retaliation for this act of blasphemy against the Norse gods...
Ugh Charlemagne😑
I think Lindisfarne was just a soft target with massive unguarded wealth. I mean it’s a no brainer for an easy raid. None of the sagas were contemporary to the raiding era and sources during the dark ages are always suspect, so we’ll never really know, but idk, I think they were just being practical. Which is a much less fun story, I know🫣
The timing of the raid was almost a decade after the destruction of Irminsul so yeah, it seems a stretch. But you never know for sure!
We definitely don’t. Gods what I wouldn’t give for some primary sources from actual Vikings! Can you imagine?? Would be so cool.
It would be cool...we would know why Ivar Ragnarsson was called "the Boneless" and we'd maybe know exactly what the Blood Eagle really was!
So many questions!