So to start of with some fun name fact Ylva is an old Swedish name meaning She-Wolf. The masculine form of it is Ulv, which means Ulv. Helga derives from heilagr, meaning holy or blessed. Thors and Thorfinn both comes from Thor. The Norse god of Thunder, famous for killing Jotuns, drinking and appearing in Marvel Comics. There isn´t really a lot of speciifc stuff to talk about in this episode, except for how Longships operate and why Bjorn is eating a mushroom (Maybe slight spoilerish, this part is at the bottom). So I will mainly talk a bit about the norse concept of honor and legal system. Viking Longships were build to be able to sail both way. This greatly aided them in their raids and in sailing down rivers, as it meant they didn´t have to turn the ship around. They could just sail up to a village, land on the shore, and then push the ship back to sea and row away. I suspect this is also why the assassins aren´t afraid to sail their ships down such a narrow and closed off passage. They know they can just turn the sail and sail back. The Norse sometimes had a rather odd concept of honor, something Flokis sneaky act of hiding a guy reminded me of. and like a lot of other honor focused cultures, they would often try to find loopholes or rationalize things for themselves. I once fell over an Icelandic story, where a group snuck into a home and stole its belongings. When they walked away, they were so ashamed of their dishonorable conduct, that they went back, burned the farm and killed everyone there. Making it into a good, proper, raid. The point being that acting like a thief in the night was dishonorable, but it was totally fine to take what you had the strength for. The core of the Norse "Honor System" centered around being trustworthy (If you are not good for your word, no-one can trust you), being hospitable (Both a sign of wealth, and also a necessity in Old Scandinavia/Iceland, where it gets cold quickly, is constantly dark and the weather is shitty. Finally one had to be able to take revenge against those who had wronged you and yours. Something born out of the decentralized nature of the old Norse justice system and style of rulership, where any sort of authority would often be far away. One had to be trustworthy so that others knew they could count on you, and didn´t just leave you to die. One had to be hospitable, as one self might one day need hospitality on a journey. And finally one had to make sure others knew not to fuck with you or yours. As can perhaps be expected, this lead to a lot of feuds between families. To sum it up, your reputation were everything. Being called a coward were a deadly insult and if it was not followed by violence, it was seen as proof that you were one. While stuff like ambushes or just suddenly starting killing someone (But not if you were a guest or host, that was generally seen as really bad), stuff like poisoning someone or using sorcery were seeing as being cowardly, and could lead to being outlawed. The vikings considered killing someone to be fair game, if they were able to defend themselves and react to it. Hence they considered killing someone in their sleep or killing the old and disabled to be dishonorable acts. The Norse concept of Murder vs killing relates more to the method, rather than motive. Hence stuff like arson or poisoning were seen as dishonorable acts, as it left the person no way to react to it or defend themselves. Meanwhile ambushing them were not nesseerily seen as dishonorable, as long as it could be said they gave the person a chance to defend theselves. Such as ambushing them while their men were there and they were wearing armor and weapons. The term Outlaw has its origins in old Scandinavian culture. As the term implies it means that someone have been declared to be outside the law. They are seen as legally dead, their wife a widow, their children orphans and their belonings sized. The Outlaw no longer had any rights and could be freely killed. Aiding an outlaw could also get you into trouble. This was the harshest punsihment you could suffer, and it was generally given for stuff like murder (Killing someone who couldn´t defend themselves), rape (of a free woman) or theft (Taking responsiblity for ones actions is important, so stealing on the sly was viewed very badly). Due to the decenteralized nature of the justice systems, most criminal acts were taken care of internally. Either through fines or through duels (Such as the holmgang, a duel on an island). Being declared Outlaw, however, was done at the Thing (Big community meeting). I don´t remember what happens next episode (Or much of this arc, actually, has been quite some time since I read it), but there might be some spoilers in this. It concerns why Bjorn is eating a mushroom. Berserkers were quasi-mythological warriors who were said to enter a trance/frenzy when they went into battle, fighting without fear or noticing their wounds. The term Berserker comes from the bearskins they were said to wear. Some speculate that they were a religios order belonging to a cult worshipping the Bear (I don´t know what exaclty this entrailed). They were also said to consume mushrooms or special brews. They were said to go into battle foaming at the mouth and screaming in fury. And that they gnawed on the rim of their shields before a battle to contain themselves. Some myths also claim certain berserkers were able to transform into bears. The word berserk comes from this. Bjorn means Bear in.
Of course Thornfinn snuck on the boat! He really did not take no from an answer. XD Unfortunately Thorfinn and all of the other crewmates Including Ari, are gonna see what actual battle is like. Speaking of Ari, we can’t believe he wants to marry Ylva!! Too bad he’s too busy to notice the girl who has a blatant crush on him! Speaking of crushes, Floki definitely has a very personal grudge against Thor, but he knows his strength and doesn’t want to send his own soldier off to be killed. We wonder if Floki is scared to fight Thor one on one…. ALSO, feel free to subscribe if you're not already! We’re trying to get to 100,000 subscribers!
1-Floki had one man hidden just in case negotiations fall apart. Askeladd and Bjorn saw through his plot and killed the assassin to make a point. 2-Thors acting cold towards his female baby and wife shows his past life as a viking. He was cold and indifferent but family life changed him. That's why he left that life behind and retired.
So to start of with some fun name fact Ylva is an old Swedish name meaning She-Wolf. The masculine form of it is Ulv, which means Ulv. Helga derives from heilagr, meaning holy or blessed. Thors and Thorfinn both comes from Thor. The Norse god of Thunder, famous for killing Jotuns, drinking and appearing in Marvel Comics.
There isn´t really a lot of speciifc stuff to talk about in this episode, except for how Longships operate and why Bjorn is eating a mushroom (Maybe slight spoilerish, this part is at the bottom). So I will mainly talk a bit about the norse concept of honor and legal system.
Viking Longships were build to be able to sail both way. This greatly aided them in their raids and in sailing down rivers, as it meant they didn´t have to turn the ship around. They could just sail up to a village, land on the shore, and then push the ship back to sea and row away. I suspect this is also why the assassins aren´t afraid to sail their ships down such a narrow and closed off passage. They know they can just turn the sail and sail back.
The Norse sometimes had a rather odd concept of honor, something Flokis sneaky act of hiding a guy reminded me of. and like a lot of other honor focused cultures, they would often try to find loopholes or rationalize things for themselves. I once fell over an Icelandic story, where a group snuck into a home and stole its belongings. When they walked away, they were so ashamed of their dishonorable conduct, that they went back, burned the farm and killed everyone there. Making it into a good, proper, raid. The point being that acting like a thief in the night was dishonorable, but it was totally fine to take what you had the strength for. The core of the Norse "Honor System" centered around being trustworthy (If you are not good for your word, no-one can trust you), being hospitable (Both a sign of wealth, and also a necessity in Old Scandinavia/Iceland, where it gets cold quickly, is constantly dark and the weather is shitty. Finally one had to be able to take revenge against those who had wronged you and yours. Something born out of the decentralized nature of the old Norse justice system and style of rulership, where any sort of authority would often be far away.
One had to be trustworthy so that others knew they could count on you, and didn´t just leave you to die. One had to be hospitable, as one self might one day need hospitality on a journey. And finally one had to make sure others knew not to fuck with you or yours. As can perhaps be expected, this lead to a lot of feuds between families. To sum it up, your reputation were everything. Being called a coward were a deadly insult and if it was not followed by violence, it was seen as proof that you were one.
While stuff like ambushes or just suddenly starting killing someone (But not if you were a guest or host, that was generally seen as really bad), stuff like poisoning someone or using sorcery were seeing as being cowardly, and could lead to being outlawed.
The vikings considered killing someone to be fair game, if they were able to defend themselves and react to it. Hence they considered killing someone in their sleep or killing the old and disabled to be dishonorable acts. The Norse concept of Murder vs killing relates more to the method, rather than motive. Hence stuff like arson or poisoning were seen as dishonorable acts, as it left the person no way to react to it or defend themselves. Meanwhile ambushing them were not nesseerily seen as dishonorable, as long as it could be said they gave the person a chance to defend theselves. Such as ambushing them while their men were there and they were wearing armor and weapons.
The term Outlaw has its origins in old Scandinavian culture. As the term implies it means that someone have been declared to be outside the law. They are seen as legally dead, their wife a widow, their children orphans and their belonings sized. The Outlaw no longer had any rights and could be freely killed. Aiding an outlaw could also get you into trouble. This was the harshest punsihment you could suffer, and it was generally given for stuff like murder (Killing someone who couldn´t defend themselves), rape (of a free woman) or theft (Taking responsiblity for ones actions is important, so stealing on the sly was viewed very badly). Due to the decenteralized nature of the justice systems, most criminal acts were taken care of internally. Either through fines or through duels (Such as the holmgang, a duel on an island). Being declared Outlaw, however, was done at the Thing (Big community meeting).
I don´t remember what happens next episode (Or much of this arc, actually, has been quite some time since I read it), but there might be some spoilers in this. It concerns why Bjorn is eating a mushroom.
Berserkers were quasi-mythological warriors who were said to enter a trance/frenzy when they went into battle, fighting without fear or noticing their wounds. The term Berserker comes from the bearskins they were said to wear. Some speculate that they were a religios order belonging to a cult worshipping the Bear (I don´t know what exaclty this entrailed). They were also said to consume mushrooms or special brews. They were said to go into battle foaming at the mouth and screaming in fury. And that they gnawed on the rim of their shields before a battle to contain themselves. Some myths also claim certain berserkers were able to transform into bears. The word berserk comes from this. Bjorn means Bear in.
Of course Thornfinn snuck on the boat! He really did not take no from an answer. XD Unfortunately Thorfinn and all of the other crewmates Including Ari, are gonna see what actual battle is like. Speaking of Ari, we can’t believe he wants to marry Ylva!! Too bad he’s too busy to notice the girl who has a blatant crush on him! Speaking of crushes, Floki definitely has a very personal grudge against Thor, but he knows his strength and doesn’t want to send his own soldier off to be killed. We wonder if Floki is scared to fight Thor one on one….
ALSO, feel free to subscribe if you're not already! We’re trying to get to 100,000 subscribers!
1-Floki had one man hidden just in case negotiations fall apart. Askeladd and Bjorn saw through his plot and killed the assassin to make a point.
2-Thors acting cold towards his female baby and wife shows his past life as a viking. He was cold and indifferent but family life changed him. That's why he left that life behind and retired.