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That all sounds a bit far fetched if you ask me. A more likely explanation is trade and cultural exchange [EDIT] and expropriation. The Vikings roamed far and
by rusk 9y ago
That all sounds a bit far fetched if you ask me.
A more likely explanation is trade and cultural exchange [EDIT] and expropriation. The Vikings roamed far and wide [0] [1], and Islam even made it as far as Spain at one stage [2]
As far as they went though they probably never got as far as East Asia where they could have encountered Buddhism.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings#Viking_Age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings#Viking_Age
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings#/media/File:Vikings_exploration_and_territories-en.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings#/media/File:Vikings_ex...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Spain#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Spain#History
- diminish 9y agoDoes "cultural exchange" include looting and pillage? It may seem hard to accept nationalistically for Scandinavians but most Vikings stuff in tombs are the result of not a production economy.
- rusk 9y agoGood point, I fixed it for you :)
- Brakenshire 9y agoBloody Scandinavian political correctness, trying to avoid offending the Vikings! I've read that Vikings were kind of half traders, half raiders. It was a culture of 'bringing back the spoils', I think the word was leader was actually something equivalent to 'ring-giver', and the bond of allegiance was made on that basis. So I suppose you could accomplish that goal in a variety of ways, depending on the circumstances, size of the group, access to weapons, or information, and so on.
- dagw 9y agoI've read Vikings were kind of half traders, half raiders, Also worth remembering the "the vikings" where not some homogeneous society. The term covers a large number of different groups from different countries and different periods of history. Some traded, some looted, some went west, some went east etc.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- unkown-unknowns 9y agoI don't think most people in Scandinavia has any problem accepting this. Pretty much everyone in the world who knows about Vikings know that raping and plundering is what they did for the most part when they set sail to distant shores.