Thank you to our sponsors MyHeritage - don't forget to sign up for a free 14-day trial here 👉bit.ly/SurviveHistory The fantastic groups featured in this episode are Blodorn Englar and Halda Reenactment 🪓 Don't forget to subscribe to the channel and let us know what you think in the comments below! 😉
Here's a question for you , according to a NZ documentary speculates that a few stones found in certain places around NZ on hill tops are like viking marker or navigation stones ......to me I think yeah a freak storm could have caught a ship and through shear luck and their ability to live off the sea they may have made it to NZ. There's legends of red haired giants in NZ and there's a specific line of Maori born with red hair......you think they could have made it
Finaly a balanced and factual take on the Norsemen, as a Norwegian who lives in one of the old regions that was a center of power in the Viking era, its neat to see. Well done
@@Corsair721 I recall it chiefly being Denmark and Norway (or at least the local groups in those areas) who went viking in England, while most Swedes went for Russia and Miklagård instead. Geography, eh?
@@davidthor4405 And Norwegians went east, Danes went south and Swedes went west. Harald Håråde, the last viking king served in the Varagian guard in Miklagard, and made a name for himself there. So I think that idea needs some revision. Since then as now, money turns the wheels of the world
@@Corsair721 Hmm, all excellent points. Geography is, of course, not an absolute rule for accessibility, which others do tend to chalk it up to, even if it does make ventures in some directions easier. And the Norse, being a big maritime culture, would obviously not have been stopped from going places by a few more kilometers at sea.
Production value on the channel is crazy, many props to the re-enactors giving us a glimpse in what it'd look like. In this same vein some suggestions that might have material: - could you survive as ww2 bomber crew / fighter pilot? - could you survive as a sailor in the age of sail? - could you survive as a hunter gatherer?
as someone who comes from Trøndelag wich was one of the regions where the vikings sets out from, I love that you guys tells how our ancestors actually was not and not turn them into senseless monsters like some tends to do, thank you a lot for the work you guys do
Well, yeah. They were fighting for food and expansion because of climate change. The mass murder, enslavement, human trafficking and rape just kinda happened by accident.
Norwegian from Bergen here. The young men who made up the parties who looted Britain were in fact actually complete lunatics. While Steiner school teachers and the like try to paint Vikings like the romantic poets of the northern sea but the truth lies somewhere between their take on history and on tge other hand, the bloody stereotype of a berserk warrior murdering children on a mead soaked mushroom trip.
@@PalmettoNDN I doubt you just slip and do those things by accident lol they were just normal at the time, neither better or worse than others of the time.
@@PalmettoNDN Just like english people at the time. English people also accidently murdered, r a p ed, trafficked and enslaved others, even other british people. Wow
I love that you hook up with reenactment groups! this really helps to bring everything alive of course. I hope people join up with these types of groups.
Most groups are more than happy to have filming crews with them as its acts as free advertisement in a way. It also means that more people get an idea for what the hobby actually is, rather than just assuming its larp.
I did an acestory dna test. It turns out I am exactly 60% Irish or Celtic and 40% Scandinavian. My family originated from Cork and Munster, moving over to Liverpool at some point during the potatoe famine. Cork was a viking stronghold and winter camp for many years during the Viking age. so seeing how one of my ancestors made the journey is fantastic.
You do realize that Celts are very heavily norse? If you are celt and scandanavian, your likely heavily Norse. The celts of today are mixed with scandanavians. And even if that wasn't the case. The tribes of Germania are literally all related, they lived alongside eachother for 1,000s of years. We are all brothers!!!!!. I am also Celto-Norse. There's no percentages when you have the blood of Norse and celt they are the same people.
@@Thekoryosmenstribepodcast thats not entirely correct. Norse and Celtic People are related in the sense that both are Indo-European people, but they have been separated for a considerable amount of time. While brittanic or northern french celts and swedes are somewhat related to eqch other, southern french celts are more related to celtiberians and modern day spaniards. In the end, if OP takws another dna test, these percentages are likely to change. Our understanding of ancestral dna relatong to individuals is not refined enough to determine actual percentages.
They have some things missing but are on the right way. 1: it was compulsory for every man to have a shield and a spear in the norse countries. 2: they did not chose a single weapon, but carried multiple weapons. If your spear breaks, an axe can be good. 3: under the chainmail, they would wear the “gambeson” or “armatura imbottita” (in Italian). To distribute the weight of the chainmail, they had a belt around the waist, cutting in half the weight on the shoulders (they you also use to hold the shield and attack) But these are only battle related things, and minor ones. They said a lot, and the reenactment was really educational. Thank you for your work
Most of what youre saying is true but scandinavians during this time period wouldnt wear gambeson under armor. In fact nobody would as its kind of a century or two later thing (by some accounts can be traced back to 10th century but mainly popularised in 12th and 13th and onwards). Vikings in this time would be wearing just simple linen tunics shirts or coats under their armor. Given the colder climate of scandinavian winters these clothes would be thick and layered enough so that they wouldnt really need a gambeson anyway. But in general according to my knowledge at least it is now commonly accepted that you dont actually need as much padding underneath the armor as was commonly believed a few years ago Also gambesons never occur in contemporary depictions until 13th century if i remember correctly. If you look at real depictions of vikings they in fact wear just tunics and hats and a gambeson is never seen either
watch a documentary about Mongolia. Those often go into the tribal living were people are still living close to how Mongol tribes lived in the past. ua-cam.com/video/3Tg6EQ4Dio0/v-deo.html this might not be bad. I watched some years ago on TV. So finding a really good documentary is not easy. when talking about Mongolia people usually go into tribal living and not into the Mongolian city life.
This video deserves 10x as many views, phenomenal work. I'm attending a Renaissance fair tomorrow and I'm glad I finally got around to watching this because it's amazing history.
@@survivehistory I really appreciate it. The Renaissance Fair was awesome, and the historical portion of it was just so cool to experience and appreciate. I look forward to more videos!
This channel is criminally underrated. How you guys don't have multiple millions of subscribers yet is beyond me. I hope that you guys get the big break you deserve.
I'm going to start using, "...and so they died" any time anyone brings up a "watery flow". In all seriousness, thank you for your hard work, research and excellent presentation! Fantastic channel.
This is awesome. These videos feel like back when the History Channel used to be good. I love how UA-cam has given a platform to people like you guys, keep up the good work.
They would wear a thick wool or leather coif under the helmet too that went down around the chest and back some. The mail wouldn't be near the bare skin.
One theory I've heard, and support after testing it myself in several reenactment battles, is that the hood that he was wearing would be worn up, acting as the padding under the helmet.
I have soldiered in a foreign war and afterward earned college recreational credit in archery. College degrees in law enforcement and Corrections. Paid to be the last man standing amid street fighting and prison riots. Executed court orders. Was once solicited by France to join their Foreign Legion;
14:15 we do have evidence of spectacle helms not necessarily from when the vikings landed but the the Sutton hoo helmet is an anglo Saxon spectacle helm. So when the vikings landed wouldn't be too unreasonable to think the anglo Saxons didn't have anything similar. Reminder the anglo Saxons aren't too culturally distinct from the norse. The key difference at this time was religion and language
He also needed to pull his tunic a bit above the belt so that it bunches a little there. With how he was wearing it, it seemed to be restricting his leg movement somewhat. Honestly same with the mail. I suspect that his entire kit was borrowed from someone else that was a bit taller than him.
@themoron3270 Not really, they refer to "modern Scandinavia" and not to the Scandinavian peninsula. If they were talking about the Scandinavian peninsula then you would be correct in your reply but they refer to Scandinavia which includes Denmark. Also this video is about Vikings and Denmark plays a great part in that era as well so it is really weird to exclude Denmark on the map.
Thanks. Not sure it's the right niche but if anyone's interested in-ultra depth Medieval Scandinavian warfare from battle tactics to historical units and from army organization to strategy I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's videos series. Keep up with the great work
I'm just curious if we'll get any content that isn't related to war? I think it would be equally engaging seeing if someone could survive the hard work as a charcoal maker, a cloth maker, a farmer, a miner, an armourer etc. Though, I suppose that might infringe on the series "Worst jobs in history". Still, it'd be interesting to get some content that isn't related to being a soldier in this or that era.
@@supersarge24 Yeah, I've been an avid subscriber of that channel for several years. It's great, but I was wondering about this channel and whether or not the name is a misnomer.
Haven't watched it yet but i think I would survive it i speak Icelandic Norwegian Danish and it helps im from Iceland so i know thier culture and gods so i could speak with them rather easily
I'm wondering... at the armour section he shows a sword with a very broad crossguard for the time. I recall even Frankish swords had a miniscule crossguard? It looks more like a sword from the 1000s or later to me
You’re absolutely correct. The sword is dated to 950/1000. Which is why I didn’t go into detail on the typology. Our group covers a 100 year time period and we wanted a sharp for the demonstrations.
@@tomrobinson3041 Did I see right that it's a sword made by Wojciech Szanek? I have a sword made by him, and I thought I recognized the makers mark on your sword, but it was a bit hard to make out.
@@TocsTheWandereryou’re absolutely correct that is his mark! The sword was originally a combat blunt but broke, so I reforged the tang and made it a sharp.
The Vikings made from (on average) between 0-3% of genetic impact on Britain unlike Ireland which had far more settlement between 5-15% (on average) but the linguistic impact was quite significant for Both the English and Irish language.
for your next video, could you make one about being an english archer during the hundred years war, it can be any period, the edwardian phase, caroline or lancastrian!
Great video, first one I've watched on the channel and I'll be working my way through all your other content. At least part of my Dad's side of the family is from deep in the Danelaw (and I have some slightly Nordic features, or so I've been told), whereas I grew up in Wessex and my parents now live within sight of the Westbury White Horse marking the sight of the Battle of Ethandun/Edington. So my loyalties are a bit torn!
@@John-un3ljThe symbol in question appears before the timestamp I put, the timestamp is there because there was talk of ethnic diversity among Vikings. I'll probably rewatch the begining of the clip and give you a new timestamp
@@ZS-rw4qq I sent a reply but for whatever reason it didn't post. I think it has to do with the fact that I included a link explaining the history & context of the kolovrat. In any case, yes, the kolovrat is today usually seens as a symbol relating to slavs but the foundation for that claim is dubious at best & fraudulent at worst as it's popularity & meaning to slavs is a late 20th century invention by a russian 'extremist' - you can read more about it by googling 'Origins of “kolovrat” symbol - Projekt Forlǫg', I tried to post the link directly but my response was never posted. As for slavs in the great heathen army, I have yet to find anything even hinting at it. Worth pointing out is that the vikings' relation to the slavs was one of conquest, subjugation & enslavment. The main reason for the norse to even settle in eastern europe was, primarily, in order to capture slaves that would then be sold on to the byzantines, the arabs & the persians in exchange for, mainly, silver.
@@ZS-rw4qq It's not impossible that there were a few Slavic people in the Great Heathen Army, but it was unlikely. The real reason that's there is because this is a group of reenactors that let each of their members customize their gear (probably withing certain authenticity standards). The front, though we don't see it, likely has a design that is used by other members of the group, so given that the kolovrat is on the inside of the shield, it's likely a way for the owner to not mix up his shield with someone else's.
No I wouldn’t. I have zero dark ages combat experience- swords, shields, archery, spears, none of it. I’m a pretty big guy that lifts weights, I might fetch a good price at the slave market, with the caption “great slave for lifting things. He’ll pick up anything you tell him to if you hit him hard enough.”
Love this series ! Although the map in the beginning doesn’t highlight Denmark as a Scandinavian country !😅 As a Dane a bit disappointing 😉 none the less love these episodes and always look forward to new material ! Great work !
Another fantastic video! I am absolutely loving your content, definitely my favourite channel! A subject I'm very interested in is the navy during the Georgian period, maybe a subject you could cover in a future episode, could you survive in the navy during the age of sail?
The axe is interesting. Ever see a framing hammer? Long handle, not that large a head. Just like the Viking axe. This is because of kinetic energy which K.E. = 1/2 m v2 mass and velocity squared. So double the mass (heavier head) double the kinetic energy, but double the velocity (speed) 4 times the energy. So swing the hammer or the axe fast for maximum impact. I'm surprised the axe wasn't pointy at the end like a bodkin arrowhead. And tapering backwards, so it would be easier to pull out of a shield, armor or skull. (The way that axe is could hook on its narrower section behind the head. Suggests to me that these axes were as much a woodworking tool as a weapon. )
Many people are unaware that the word 'Viking' is a verb. Being a viking wasn't the prime occupation of these people. Being a farmer, fisherman, blacksmith, or IT helpline call centre operative was generally their primary role, and 'going viking' was more of a sideline, or occasional thing (somewhat more serious than an average hobby). In all likelyhood, very few of the members of the village / tribe would be owners of a sword, due to the VAST cost (Equivelent to a Lamborghini or Ferrari nowadays). This was because the raw material required (iron) was rare, and the skill required to convert iron ore into a workable piece of metal, and then into a sword was even more rare, and consequentially costly, and VERY secretive, with the techniques being kept within the family and passed down father to son. The majority of people who 'went viking' would have been equipped with a spear or axe rather than a sword. Horned helmets.....FORGET Hagar The Horrible, horned helmets are pure fiction, probably originating from Wagners 'Der Ring des Nibelungen'. The Norsemen were incredibly skilled sailors, boatbuilders, navigators, fishermen, blacksmiths (and also highly skilled workers of precious metals in some cases) and farmers, and certainly not the 'Mono-skilled' fighters who couldn't do ANYTHING other than rape and pillage unarmed monasteries, and small undefended coastal communities. As usual, and excellent, interesting and informative video, thank you for the upload!
So fun fact: the term "berserker" comes from the term for the warriors that wore bear skins, berserkir. There was a lupine version of these warriors (which was depicted in the video) called the ulfhedniir or ulfhednar. These were often men who had been shut out from normal society and according to some sources wore the skins as a way of embodying the spirits of bears and wolves, becoming less man and more wild. According to some sources, they also consumed certain mushrooms and "potions" to enter a trance or rage when they went into battle. Supposedly they were a bit prone to friendly fire because of these hallucinations.
@@tavish4699 While I'm not educated as well about ulfhednar as I should, berserkers were definitely not socially outcasts. There are also 2 theories about the actual meaning of the word "berserk". 1: As mentioned above, that they would wear a bear skin, or rather a bear shirt, as that's what "serk" means. There are several theories about why they would do it, but most often it's thought it was gifted by their lord as a sign of favor or that they were a strong warrior. Another theory is that if a warrior went out into the wilds and hunted a bear, they would wear the bear skin as a proof of their deed and strength, and would be called a berserker. 2: That it actually means "bare shirt", as in they went into battle without a shirt/tunic, though this is honestly unlikely as other sources we have indicate that it was seen as "womanly" to bare your chest in public, as women would do it to breastfeed. That being said, we do not have a complete list of their cultural norms and practices, so we can't say for certain this this stigma against men baring their chest held over into battle as well.
Good video , I bought a myheritage test kit some time ago , turns out im 70% scandinavian , 25% english and 5% celtic. Im gonna assume my ancestor was part of the great heathen army.
Amazing content every video is gold please make many many more I’d even donate if you throw a link in the video 💪💪 old history channel vibes one of the things that made me fall in love with history as a kid
video suggestion: Could you survive as a Union soldier during the Georgia Campaign (Sherman's March to Sea) or, could you survive as an Imperial soldier during the Boshin War.
Thank you to our sponsors MyHeritage - don't forget to sign up for a free 14-day trial here 👉bit.ly/SurviveHistory
The fantastic groups featured in this episode are Blodorn Englar and Halda Reenactment 🪓
Don't forget to subscribe to the channel and let us know what you think in the comments below! 😉
You know is actually vikinger not viking, vikinger is a verb that mean to go on a raid, so someone who goes viking is a vikinger!
Here's a question for you , according to a NZ documentary speculates that a few stones found in certain places around NZ on hill tops are like viking marker or navigation stones ......to me I think yeah a freak storm could have caught a ship and through shear luck and their ability to live off the sea they may have made it to NZ. There's legends of red haired giants in NZ and there's a specific line of Maori born with red hair......you think they could have made it
thank you guys for the amazing content!! ❤
I see the Slavic in you now. Got that Klitschko brothers look. Any boxing fans? Am I wrong
Could you do a video about the celtic age, the round house, celtic farmstead etc
Man I swear every drop of content from this channel is gold
High praise - thank you!
not a single bad video on their channel
@@sippsleezy5452 IKR
Still lesser views
You didnt say it right. This is tv level content and i just subbed! Lets see if this channel could pull off a documentary lol.
Finaly a balanced and factual take on the Norsemen, as a Norwegian who lives in one of the old regions that was a center of power in the Viking era, its neat to see. Well done
The danish were invading england
@@willum-463 yes amongst people from what would become Sweden and Dennmark too.
@@Corsair721 I recall it chiefly being Denmark and Norway (or at least the local groups in those areas) who went viking in England, while most Swedes went for Russia and Miklagård instead.
Geography, eh?
@@davidthor4405 And Norwegians went east, Danes went south and Swedes went west. Harald Håråde, the last viking king served in the Varagian guard in Miklagard, and made a name for himself there. So I think that idea needs some revision. Since then as now, money turns the wheels of the world
@@Corsair721 Hmm, all excellent points. Geography is, of course, not an absolute rule for accessibility, which others do tend to chalk it up to, even if it does make ventures in some directions easier.
And the Norse, being a big maritime culture, would obviously not have been stopped from going places by a few more kilometers at sea.
Production value on the channel is crazy, many props to the re-enactors giving us a glimpse in what it'd look like.
In this same vein some suggestions that might have material:
- could you survive as ww2 bomber crew / fighter pilot?
- could you survive as a sailor in the age of sail?
- could you survive as a hunter gatherer?
I think the short answer is
90% No
80% No
60% No
@@anthonylulham3473 100% lol 😂😊
@@anthonylulham3473Bomber crew is almost a definite no, people where considered Ace Bomber Crews for surviving 4 Missions.
Reenactors should be shorter
Yeah, dead ass serious@@plagueoperator7438
as someone who comes from Trøndelag wich was one of the regions where the vikings sets out from, I love that you guys tells how our ancestors actually was not and not turn them into senseless monsters like some tends to do, thank you a lot for the work you guys do
I love how my country was a Viking country, Norway and the culture back in that time was very cool
Well, yeah. They were fighting for food and expansion because of climate change. The mass murder, enslavement, human trafficking and rape just kinda happened by accident.
Norwegian from Bergen here. The young men who made up the parties who looted Britain were in fact actually complete lunatics. While Steiner school teachers and the like try to paint Vikings like the romantic poets of the northern sea but the truth lies somewhere between their take on history and on tge other hand, the bloody stereotype of a berserk warrior murdering children on a mead soaked mushroom trip.
@@PalmettoNDN I doubt you just slip and do those things by accident lol
they were just normal at the time, neither better or worse than others of the time.
@@PalmettoNDN Just like english people at the time. English people also accidently murdered, r a p ed, trafficked and enslaved others, even other british people. Wow
I love that you hook up with reenactment groups! this really helps to bring everything alive of course. I hope people join up with these types of groups.
Most groups are more than happy to have filming crews with them as its acts as free advertisement in a way. It also means that more people get an idea for what the hobby actually is, rather than just assuming its larp.
A belt around the maille shirt makes a big difference in the weight distribution.
An onion tied the belt doesn’t hurt either
Thank you for making full length episodes and not just quick 20-30 min ones
I did an acestory dna test. It turns out I am exactly 60% Irish or Celtic and 40% Scandinavian. My family originated from Cork and Munster, moving over to Liverpool at some point during the potatoe famine. Cork was a viking stronghold and winter camp for many years during the Viking age. so seeing how one of my ancestors made the journey is fantastic.
You do realize that Celts are very heavily norse? If you are celt and scandanavian, your likely heavily Norse. The celts of today are mixed with scandanavians. And even if that wasn't the case. The tribes of Germania are literally all related, they lived alongside eachother for 1,000s of years. We are all brothers!!!!!. I am also Celto-Norse. There's no percentages when you have the blood of Norse and celt they are the same people.
@Thekoryostribalpodcast wow I never knew this ! Thanks for the information!
@@Thekoryosmenstribepodcast thats not entirely correct. Norse and Celtic People are related in the sense that both are Indo-European people, but they have been separated for a considerable amount of time.
While brittanic or northern french celts and swedes are somewhat related to eqch other, southern french celts are more related to celtiberians and modern day spaniards.
In the end, if OP takws another dna test, these percentages are likely to change. Our understanding of ancestral dna relatong to individuals is not refined enough to determine actual percentages.
Yaaay peace and brotherhood for all a yall
Have you considered you might be part Volvo instead?
They have some things missing but are on the right way.
1: it was compulsory for every man to have a shield and a spear in the norse countries.
2: they did not chose a single weapon, but carried multiple weapons. If your spear breaks, an axe can be good.
3: under the chainmail, they would wear the “gambeson” or “armatura imbottita” (in Italian). To distribute the weight of the chainmail, they had a belt around the waist, cutting in half the weight on the shoulders (they you also use to hold the shield and attack)
But these are only battle related things, and minor ones. They said a lot, and the reenactment was really educational. Thank you for your work
Istg they never give this man a belt.
Most of what youre saying is true but scandinavians during this time period wouldnt wear gambeson under armor. In fact nobody would as its kind of a century or two later thing (by some accounts can be traced back to 10th century but mainly popularised in 12th and 13th and onwards).
Vikings in this time would be wearing just simple linen tunics shirts or coats under their armor. Given the colder climate of scandinavian winters these clothes would be thick and layered enough so that they wouldnt really need a gambeson anyway. But in general according to my knowledge at least it is now commonly accepted that you dont actually need as much padding underneath the armor as was commonly believed a few years ago
Also gambesons never occur in contemporary depictions until 13th century if i remember correctly. If you look at real depictions of vikings they in fact wear just tunics and hats and a gambeson is never seen either
There is no evidence for the Norse wearing gambesons. They would probably wear woolen overtunics and linen undertunics only.
@@kube410 I’ll never stop to learn
@@davidowl767 awesome:) thats the way! me too
Incredible that you can make all these videos following reenactors around, teaching history effectively in the first person. Underrated content!
I would love to see a video on what it was like living in a nomadic Mongol tribe.
Me too ! That would be amazing
watch a documentary about Mongolia. Those often go into the tribal living were people are still living close to how Mongol tribes lived in the past.
ua-cam.com/video/3Tg6EQ4Dio0/v-deo.html
this might not be bad. I watched some years ago on TV. So finding a really good documentary is not easy. when talking about Mongolia people usually go into tribal living and not into the Mongolian city life.
"could you survive the mongol sacking of baghdad?"
Lots of fermented mares milk 😅
@@gronizherz3603 On which side?
this is the type of content to watch on a weekend night for history people
This video deserves 10x as many views, phenomenal work. I'm attending a Renaissance fair tomorrow and I'm glad I finally got around to watching this because it's amazing history.
Thanks so much and have fun!
@@survivehistory I really appreciate it. The Renaissance Fair was awesome, and the historical portion of it was just so cool to experience and appreciate. I look forward to more videos!
This channel is criminally underrated. What an awesome video.
Chuffed to see the channel breach the 100K mark. Let's go!
This channel is criminally underrated. How you guys don't have multiple millions of subscribers yet is beyond me. I hope that you guys get the big break you deserve.
Much appreciated thank you!
Great video man!
I have been looking for a video like this!
Glad we could help!
You should do a video on the bronze age collapse i think that it would be pretty cool and informative for people who might not of heard about it
This is probably the most well thought out, and well told history of my ancestors ive ever seen. Well done sire💪🏻😎
Thanks a lot!
This channel reminds me of watching discovery channel back in the early 00's
Golden age of docuseries. Thanks for still being engaging and educational
I'm going to start using, "...and so they died" any time anyone brings up a "watery flow". In all seriousness, thank you for your hard work, research and excellent presentation! Fantastic channel.
This is awesome. These videos feel like back when the History Channel used to be good. I love how UA-cam has given a platform to people like you guys, keep up the good work.
Appreciate it thank you!
10:00
"And some discharged their guts with a watery flow through their arses."
Damn, dude
Excellent video really interesting didn't want it to finish, can't wait for the next one.
I’m playing assassin’s creed Valhalla for the 2nd time and I wanted to see the holmgang and a fyrd and I loved the mention of king Burgred of Mercia!
This video and all of the other historical events/facts that this crew digs up is well worth watching
I’ve been waiting for this one and it was worth it, great video!
Just came across this channel, very well done. From what I have seen, this is an excellent source of historical knowledge on many fronts.
Thanks so much!
I love these Doco’s. Very thoughtful and well presented. All the work/ research is top notch. Thankyou 😊
Excellent, watchable and informative .
Love the videos, always make my day better when ever you post!!!
That makes us happy too!
Another amazing video! Keep them coming.
Thank you for all of your film crew hard working great videos
I always enjoy these videos, thanks for all your efforts to bring history to life.
They would wear a thick wool or leather coif under the helmet too that went down around the chest and back some. The mail wouldn't be near the bare skin.
One theory I've heard, and support after testing it myself in several reenactment battles, is that the hood that he was wearing would be worn up, acting as the padding under the helmet.
Amazing video. Keep up the great work guys!
Could you survive as a UA-camr for this amazing production? Has to be some unfathomably hard work
THIS CHANNEL IS SO GOOD RAAAAAAAHHH
"Makes it harder to rip and tear open" -starts chainsaw while mick gordon plays in the background-
I have soldiered in a foreign war and afterward earned college recreational credit in archery.
College degrees in law enforcement and Corrections. Paid to be the last man standing amid
street fighting and prison riots. Executed court orders. Was once solicited by France to join
their Foreign Legion;
That was really cool!
14:15 we do have evidence of spectacle helms not necessarily from when the vikings landed but the the Sutton hoo helmet is an anglo Saxon spectacle helm. So when the vikings landed wouldn't be too unreasonable to think the anglo Saxons didn't have anything similar. Reminder the anglo Saxons aren't too culturally distinct from the norse. The key difference at this time was religion and language
Tip: wear a belt when wearing a mail hauberk. It puts a lot of the weight off your shoulders to the hips.❤
He also needed to pull his tunic a bit above the belt so that it bunches a little there. With how he was wearing it, it seemed to be restricting his leg movement somewhat. Honestly same with the mail. I suspect that his entire kit was borrowed from someone else that was a bit taller than him.
The channel captures the old style of History channel without the bullshit dramatisation.
Amazing channel! Thank you for the amazing amount of effort you put into these videos
Glad you enjoy it!
Even the ad segment was great! Is there anything this channel (and History Hit) can't do?
Dude this videos are amazing❤
You did it again! Keep up the great work! (BTW: You forgot to include Denmark on the map at 1:33 as part of Scandinavia)
Denmark is not part of the Scandinavian peninsula, hope this helps
@themoron3270 Not really, they refer to "modern Scandinavia" and not to the Scandinavian peninsula. If they were talking about the Scandinavian peninsula then you would be correct in your reply but they refer to Scandinavia which includes Denmark. Also this video is about Vikings and Denmark plays a great part in that era as well so it is really weird to exclude Denmark on the map.
@@rosenbaek5708 just giving a reason they might have not included it, not discrediting Denmark 👍🏼
And they included Finland which is not a vikingterritory nor part of Scandinavia.
@@themoron3270but is part of scandinavia
A fascinating insight 😊💛🌸
Well done as always
Thank you! Cheers!
You forgot to put Denmark on the map of Scandinavia
pls do more videos. This is a high quality channel
Even if I still see too much scale armor, good video overall
This channel is seriously underrated
Man the quality of this content is insane.
Thanks so much!
Damn it!! Now I wanna watch "The 13th Warrior" again!!
It's such a fun movie!
Thanks. Not sure it's the right niche but if anyone's interested in-ultra depth Medieval Scandinavian warfare from battle tactics to historical units and from army organization to strategy I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's videos series. Keep up with the great work
Excellent video man!
Appreciate it!
I'm just curious if we'll get any content that isn't related to war? I think it would be equally engaging seeing if someone could survive the hard work as a charcoal maker, a cloth maker, a farmer, a miner, an armourer etc.
Though, I suppose that might infringe on the series "Worst jobs in history". Still, it'd be interesting to get some content that isn't related to being a soldier in this or that era.
The channel Townsends focuses a lot on that stuff, as well as historical food. It's mostly 1700s America though, but applies to many places.
@@supersarge24
Yeah, I've been an avid subscriber of that channel for several years. It's great, but I was wondering about this channel and whether or not the name is a misnomer.
Haven't watched it yet but i think I would survive it i speak Icelandic Norwegian Danish and it helps im from Iceland so i know thier culture and gods so i could speak with them rather easily
Who estimated the size of the Great Heathen Army to be 30 men?!?! @ 38:56 Yeah 30 men conquered Three of the four Saxon kingdoms in England 😂😂😂
I've got a question but I don't know if you answer them in the comments.
Is there a reason for not wearing a belt to hold the mail at the waist?
Probably not
This guy gets it
I'm wondering... at the armour section he shows a sword with a very broad crossguard for the time. I recall even Frankish swords had a miniscule crossguard? It looks more like a sword from the 1000s or later to me
You’re absolutely correct. The sword is dated to 950/1000.
Which is why I didn’t go into detail on the typology. Our group covers a 100 year time period and we wanted a sharp for the demonstrations.
@@tomrobinson3041 Oooooh, that makes sense then!
@@tomrobinson3041 Did I see right that it's a sword made by Wojciech Szanek? I have a sword made by him, and I thought I recognized the makers mark on your sword, but it was a bit hard to make out.
@@TocsTheWandereryou’re absolutely correct that is his mark! The sword was originally a combat blunt but broke, so I reforged the tang and made it a sharp.
The Vikings made from (on average) between 0-3% of genetic impact on Britain unlike Ireland which had far more settlement between 5-15% (on average) but the linguistic impact was quite significant for Both the English and Irish language.
My grandmother was supposedly 100% English.
Her family had genealogy records that go back hundreds of years.
Her DNA was 30% Scandinavian.
@@letsdothis9063 if you live in the north east then it’s possible but most likely she had a Scandinavian grandparent that changed their name
@@letsdothis9063 or someone cheated down the line with a swede
North like Scotland maybe but south it was way more than 3% there buddy
The amount of effort put into this is just stunning, keep up the good work 👍
Thank you! Cheers!
for your next video, could you make one about being an english archer during the hundred years war, it can be any period, the edwardian phase, caroline or lancastrian!
PLEASE make more videos
Fantastic and hilarious video thanks
Our pleasure!
Fantastic videos, thank you
Thanks for watching!
1:10 Denmark?
rip denmark
Not the cool ones
@@J29117 but like, the great heathen army and invasion of england. theres a reason its the danelaw
Not only that, but Finland is not part of the Viking age.......
@@J29117 What? You're joking right?
Great video, first one I've watched on the channel and I'll be working my way through all your other content.
At least part of my Dad's side of the family is from deep in the Danelaw (and I have some slightly Nordic features, or so I've been told), whereas I grew up in Wessex and my parents now live within sight of the Westbury White Horse marking the sight of the Battle of Ethandun/Edington. So my loyalties are a bit torn!
Thanks so much! Hope you like the others as well.
11:28 I saw a Slavic symbol on one of the shields earlier, were they also a part of the great heathen army?
What slavic symbol? The spiraling one? It's not slavic. It occurs on germanic artefacts though.
@@John-un3ljThe symbol in question appears before the timestamp I put, the timestamp is there because there was talk of ethnic diversity among Vikings. I'll probably rewatch the begining of the clip and give you a new timestamp
@@John-un3lj2:12 this is the symbol - Kolovrat
@@ZS-rw4qq I sent a reply but for whatever reason it didn't post. I think it has to do with the fact that I included a link explaining the history & context of the kolovrat. In any case, yes, the kolovrat is today usually seens as a symbol relating to slavs but the foundation for that claim is dubious at best & fraudulent at worst as it's popularity & meaning to slavs is a late 20th century invention by a russian 'extremist' - you can read more about it by googling 'Origins of “kolovrat” symbol - Projekt Forlǫg', I tried to post the link directly but my response was never posted.
As for slavs in the great heathen army, I have yet to find anything even hinting at it. Worth pointing out is that the vikings' relation to the slavs was one of conquest, subjugation & enslavment. The main reason for the norse to even settle in eastern europe was, primarily, in order to capture slaves that would then be sold on to the byzantines, the arabs & the persians in exchange for, mainly, silver.
@@ZS-rw4qq It's not impossible that there were a few Slavic people in the Great Heathen Army, but it was unlikely. The real reason that's there is because this is a group of reenactors that let each of their members customize their gear (probably withing certain authenticity standards). The front, though we don't see it, likely has a design that is used by other members of the group, so given that the kolovrat is on the inside of the shield, it's likely a way for the owner to not mix up his shield with someone else's.
Where is Denmark?
Over there, don't you see it??
No I wouldn’t. I have zero dark ages combat experience- swords, shields, archery, spears, none of it. I’m a pretty big guy that lifts weights, I might fetch a good price at the slave market, with the caption “great slave for lifting things. He’ll pick up anything you tell him to if you hit him hard enough.”
Well done. Really nice video with good documentation. Wow
Thank you very much!
Nothing more to say than superb video. Kudos.
Thank you very much!
Love this series ! Although the map in the beginning doesn’t highlight Denmark as a Scandinavian country !😅 As a Dane a bit disappointing 😉 none the less love these episodes and always look forward to new material ! Great work !
My bad
Great episode!!!
Thanks a lot!
Awesome video
Thanks!
Another fantastic video! I am absolutely loving your content, definitely my favourite channel!
A subject I'm very interested in is the navy during the Georgian period, maybe a subject you could cover in a future episode, could you survive in the navy during the age of sail?
what kind of glove where they wearing during the duel??
The axe is interesting. Ever see a framing hammer? Long handle, not that large a head. Just like the Viking axe. This is because of kinetic energy which K.E. = 1/2 m v2 mass and velocity squared. So double the mass (heavier head) double the kinetic energy, but double the velocity (speed) 4 times the energy. So swing the hammer or the axe fast for maximum impact.
I'm surprised the axe wasn't pointy at the end like a bodkin arrowhead. And tapering backwards, so it would be easier to pull out of a shield, armor or skull. (The way that axe is could hook on its narrower section behind the head. Suggests to me that these axes were as much a woodworking tool as a weapon. )
OH BOY! I love this channel! GIVE ME MORE!
On it!
Many people are unaware that the word 'Viking' is a verb. Being a viking wasn't the prime occupation of these people. Being a farmer, fisherman, blacksmith, or IT helpline call centre operative was generally their primary role, and 'going viking' was more of a sideline, or occasional thing (somewhat more serious than an average hobby). In all likelyhood, very few of the members of the village / tribe would be owners of a sword, due to the VAST cost (Equivelent to a Lamborghini or Ferrari nowadays). This was because the raw material required (iron) was rare, and the skill required to convert iron ore into a workable piece of metal, and then into a sword was even more rare, and consequentially costly, and VERY secretive, with the techniques being kept within the family and passed down father to son. The majority of people who 'went viking' would have been equipped with a spear or axe rather than a sword. Horned helmets.....FORGET Hagar The Horrible, horned helmets are pure fiction, probably originating from Wagners 'Der Ring des Nibelungen'. The Norsemen were incredibly skilled sailors, boatbuilders, navigators, fishermen, blacksmiths (and also highly skilled workers of precious metals in some cases) and farmers, and certainly not the 'Mono-skilled' fighters who couldn't do ANYTHING other than rape and pillage unarmed monasteries, and small undefended coastal communities. As usual, and excellent, interesting and informative video, thank you for the upload!
It’s also incorrect to say that Viking was a job. I know you think you sound intelligent but this is not it
@@Karamazov9 It was a job, just as being a soldier is a job. But it wasn't a lifelong profession, unless your life was cut short in combat.
@@Karamazov9 rude berk
just found this channel, oh hell yea
Welcome aboard!
So fun fact: the term "berserker" comes from the term for the warriors that wore bear skins, berserkir. There was a lupine version of these warriors (which was depicted in the video) called the ulfhedniir or ulfhednar. These were often men who had been shut out from normal society and according to some sources wore the skins as a way of embodying the spirits of bears and wolves, becoming less man and more wild. According to some sources, they also consumed certain mushrooms and "potions" to enter a trance or rage when they went into battle. Supposedly they were a bit prone to friendly fire because of these hallucinations.
that is a myth. please stop spreading misinformation.
please stop spreading misinformation :)
@@gordonlekfors2708 pls stop saying it’s misinformation without giving counterarguments:)
@@tavish4699 While I'm not educated as well about ulfhednar as I should, berserkers were definitely not socially outcasts. There are also 2 theories about the actual meaning of the word "berserk".
1: As mentioned above, that they would wear a bear skin, or rather a bear shirt, as that's what "serk" means. There are several theories about why they would do it, but most often it's thought it was gifted by their lord as a sign of favor or that they were a strong warrior. Another theory is that if a warrior went out into the wilds and hunted a bear, they would wear the bear skin as a proof of their deed and strength, and would be called a berserker.
2: That it actually means "bare shirt", as in they went into battle without a shirt/tunic, though this is honestly unlikely as other sources we have indicate that it was seen as "womanly" to bare your chest in public, as women would do it to breastfeed. That being said, we do not have a complete list of their cultural norms and practices, so we can't say for certain this this stigma against men baring their chest held over into battle as well.
Im watching this rn and the quality looks good
Hopefully we get Wars of the Roses next
Good video , I bought a myheritage test kit some time ago , turns out im 70% scandinavian , 25% english and 5% celtic. Im gonna assume my ancestor was part of the great heathen army.
History Hit's loss is our gain. Great stuff.
Title should be could you survive being a Rohirim. Great video, Death!!!
Yup, my family hail from Wessex. Near Edington.
Big up Wessex 👌🏻(I'm from Dorset)
Amazing content every video is gold please make many many more I’d even donate if you throw a link in the video 💪💪 old history channel vibes one of the things that made me fall in love with history as a kid
Thank you so much! All donations to our Kofi page are really appreciated! ko-fi.com/survivehistory
video suggestion: Could you survive as a Union soldier during the Georgia Campaign (Sherman's March to Sea) or, could you survive as an Imperial soldier during the Boshin War.
I sure could, with an mg42, unlimited ammo, and big muscles >:)
You’re right I’d probably still die
thank you sooo much
Hello from across the northern sea! Today we only come to drink beer and watch football 😄✌
Great content, very well presented...and not a Dan Snow in sight lol
Now We want to see "Could you survive as a soldier in the Thirty Years War"