Do those demons look like a bit familiar?
Anyways, we start this episode on the ship as our heroes (erm... or at least protagonists) sail home. They've taken several monks as slaves to sell in the markets of Kattegat. But as a hilariously naive question on The Viking Answer Lady put it... "Is it true that the Vikings had slaves? I can't imagine that such a heroic people would practice such a demeaning custom!"
Because rape, pillage, burning and sacrificing enemies is heroic, but HOW could they make some of those captives WORK? Ohhh the demeaningness!
Anyways, yes, they had slaves. Not many, and it was unlikely that a family as humble as Ragnar's would have a slave (of course, his circumstances in the show allow for it) but there was a very strong religious reason to think that slaves were okay.
Scandinavians basically believed that there were three different kinds of people. Thralls, Yeomen and Jarls. I'll get into why there are three different kinds in a different episode when they directly mention the creation myth, but they believed that someone who was a thrall was born to be subjugated and put into slavery. Even if you were later freed, you would be loosely owned by your master for three generations more. Later in the series Aethelstan asks Ragnar if he is still his slave and Ragnar says, "Does it matter?" Well, in Viking culture, no. Aethelstan could be a freed man who bought back his freedom and did the necessary rituals to gain full citizen rights... but he would be tied to Ragnar's family until his grandchild kicks it.
Anyone love Bjorn asking Aethelstan what was up with his hair? Part of me wanted to say, "Dude, you have the literal exact opposite of a mullet, what give you the right to judge?" But being that Bjorn's locks are pretty historically accurate, snarky remarks probably wouldn't fly.
The name of the monk's weird haircut is a tonsure, if anyone cares to know. In medieval times, it was a mark of being part of the clergy, in imitation of the Apostle James. Furthermore, if you let your tonsure grow out, it was seen as the same as turning your back on your post, and you would get one warning. If you didn't re-shave your head within a month after the warning, you were officially banned from the clergy.
Makes a little more sense why Aethelstan was so desperate to shave his head again.
OMG, I don't care if Jesus told you too, you don't shave dry!!!
Next in the show, we see the insidious Jarl Haraldson forcing a kid to dig for him. He explains to the child that anything a man has hoarded up will be afforded to him in the next life. This is true... or as true as religion can be. In the Heimskringla, which was written by my bro Snorri Sturluson, Odin decrees that everyone must be burned with their possessions, and the ashes either scattered at sea or buried. When they reach Valhalla, they will have use of anything that was buried under the ground or burned with them.
Although I'm fairly certain Odin wouldn't be okay with the Jarl creating a haugbui. This is a type of draugr (undead) that would be tied to the place it was buried. It would attack people who strayed too close to the burial mound, and if you were killed by it, you would turn into one as well.
No, not that kind of.... actually... I'll allow it.
Draugr are also described as men who were so attached to their treasure horde that they would rest uneasily once dead, unable to leave it alone long enough to make the journey to the land of the dead. If I didn't know better, I would say that the Jarl is going to turn this into Ye Olde Walking Dead once he kicks it.
Finally, the Vikings make it back to Northumbria. This scene is one of my favourites. I LOVE the use of different languages, the tension between the groups, the way they portray the distrust between groups and the fact that it really happened.
Wait, what?
Yes! This actually happened in the year 787. Before the vikings raided Lindisfarne, they raided the Bay of Portland.
They say the spoils of PBR and fixies were great
No, not that Portland. It's the bay near Dorset in southern England. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes it thus:
And in his days came first three ships of the Northmen from the land of robbers the reve then rode thereto, and would drive them tot he kind's town; for he knew not what they were; and there was he slain. These were the first ships of the Danish men that sought the land of the English nation.
So the chronicle actually describes how the Reve (sheriff) went to greet the Vikings, likely as traders. What was said is mostly unknown, but I wouldn't be surprised if it went down much like it did on the show. It wasn't Ragnar and it wasn't the second raid... but once again the History Channel has managed to add in their own flair to events while maintaining the important themes and events. Yay!
Stay tuned for next time when I discuss shieldmaidens, capital punishment and how to properly work a shield wall!
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