Everything about Viking Revival totally explained
Early modern publications dealing with
Old Norse (
Viking Age) culture appeared in the
16th century, for example
Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (Olaus Magnus,
1555) and the first edition of the
13th century Gesta Danorum (
Saxo Grammaticus), in
1514. The pace of publication increased during the
17th century with Latin translations of the
Edda (notably Peder Resen's
Edda Islandorum of
1665).
The
Viking revival proper took off in the period of
Romanticism (19th century), taking the form of
Romantic nationalism in Scandinavia (
Scandinavism), and a "septentrionalist" ("Scandophile") romantic infatuation with the Old North in Britain.
Sweden
According to the Swedish writer
Jan Guillou, the word
Viking was popularized, with positive connotations, by
Erik Gustaf Geijer in the poem
The Viking, written at the beginning of the
19th century. The word was taken to refer to romanticized, idealized sea warriors, who had very little to do with the historical Viking culture. This renewed interest of
Romanticism in the Old North had political implications: A myth about a glorious and brave past was needed to give the Swedes the courage to retake
Finland, which had been lost in
1809 during the
war between Sweden and Russia. The
Geatish Society, of which Geijer was a member, popularized this myth to a great extent. Another author who had great influence on the perception of the Vikings was
Esaias Tegnér, another member of the Geatish Society who wrote a modern version of
Frithiofs Saga, which became widely popular in the Nordic countries, the
United Kingdom and
Germany.
Great Britain
A focus for early British enthusiasts was George Hicke, who published a
Linguarum vett. septentrionalium thesaurus in
1703–
5. In the
1780s,
Denmark offered to cede
Iceland to Britain in exchange for
Crab Island (
West Indies), and in the
1860s Iceland was considered as a compensation for British support of Denmark in the
Slesvig-Holstein conflicts. During this time, British interest and enthusiasm for Iceland and Nordic culture grew dramatically, expressed in original English poems extolling Viking virtues, e. g.
Thomas Warton's "Runic Odes" of
1748:
» Yes — 'tis decreed my Sword no more
Shall smoke and blush with hostile gore » To my great Father's Feasts I go,
Where luscious Wines for ever flow. » Which from the hollow Sculls we drain
Of Kings in furious Combat slain.
Literature
- Andrew Wawn (2002) The Vikings and the Victorians. Cambridge ISBN 0859916448
Further Information
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