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He sailed along the coasts of France, Spain, Italy and was one of the few Vikings who sailed to the north of Africa. Bjorn spent most of his life raiding and exploring. Bjorn was a powerful Viking leader and naval commander and joined his legendary father, Ragnar Lothbrok, who initiated the raids in France.
#Famous nordic warriors full#
He was a skilled archer and his favorite weapon was the spear and could jump his own height in full body armor.ījorn was a legendary king of Sweden who lived in the 9th century.
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According to the Njáls saga he was a powerful athletic man. People described him as nearly invisible in battle. Gunnar Hamundarson was an Icelandic leader in the 10th century. She was a strong willed woman who joined several exploration missions. In 1000 Sweyn ruled the majority of Norway and became the first Danish King of England after repeatedly invading the country.įreydís Eiríksdóttir was born around 970 and daughter of Erik the Red. Freydís became famous because she fought of enemies herself while being pregnant. Forkbeard snatched the throne and Harald got exiled and died shortly afterwards. In the mid 980's he rebelled against his father, Harald Bluetooth. The Viking Sweyn Forkbeard was king of Denmark during 986 to 1014 and father of Harald the 2nd. He got this name because of his wide reputation as a war lord. In 1046 he went back to Norway to reclaim the Norwegian throne and earned the name Hardrada, meaning 'hard ruler'. When they lost, Harald fled to modern Ukraine, spending 15 years there and also in the Byzantine Empire where Hardrada became a mercenary and military commander in the Kievan Rus' and the Varangian Guard. Before his time as a king he went to war with his half brother, the king at that time, when he was 15. Hardrada was a Viking who ruled Norway from 1046 to 1066 as Harald the 3rd.
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Later he became the king of Norway with a little help by killing the competition his half-brothers. In the remaining four years he raided the coasts of Lappland, Bjarmaland, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France. For about 4 years he spent raiding the Baltic coasts and those of Denmark, Frisia and Germany. As most Vikings did, Eric Bloodaxe "embarked on a career of international piracy", in other words, he was a true Viking raider.
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This hardcore Viking was also nicknamed Eric Bloodaxe. In this article I'll describe the most respected and famous Vikings of all time. They were strong, skilled and even righteous. As one might know, the Vikings sailed to England, France and even to parts of the Mediterranean Sea.īesides fear, the Vikings earned a lot of respect from other countries. They became good fighters, good ship builders and they didn't shy away from a good trade. I don't want to get political here, but it's the same that happened to other countries that got 'discovered', the only thing is, the Vikings didn't stay! Vikings stayed loyal to their community, so they returned to their loved ones.īecause of this urge for adventure and exploration the Vikings became very skilled in what they did. Vikings explored and raided and then they left to where they came from so that they could sustain their own community even more. Most of the times the Vikings were supporting their own community. But I might insult some people, so I leave that aside. One might be able to compare the Vikings to the Scots when they were suppressed by the english in the 13th century. The truth however is that Vikings worked hard to earn their living.
#Famous nordic warriors movie#
Not that long ago a movie got released called "Thor: Ragnarok" where an attractive blonde male superhero with a cape is carrying Mjölnir (Thor's hammer). Vikings were quite ruthless.Īnother type of Viking you might know is the type portrayed in the comics made by Marvel. The most classical and somewhat cliché way, is that of the barbarian type warrior with horns on his helmet, drinking beer when they could and slaying everything that was in their way.Īlthough that last bit can't really be denied. In the past the Vikings were portrayed in many ways. Since the Vikings series, broadcasted on History Channel, the Vikings have become more popular than ever.
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