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Join the Great Vikingtour ! 7 - 13 may 2010
Pretour to the Swedish AGM 13-16/5
Numbers of participants are limited!
For more information: Please feel free to roam this site!
The Vikings of Sweden is still as committed as ever on going berserk. The only difference between now and back in the days is that we don’t pillage, steal or rip the heads of the innocent, nor do we bare hands on women.
Other than that we are just as inclined to party on for several days. And party on for several straight days is exactly what we will do 2010-05-07 until we set sail and travel by boat to the Swedish AGM 2010-05-13. Those of you who have the true Viking-spirit will probably last partying on a few more days at our AGM. We will try to teach you the ways, means and methods of the Nordic Vikings!
On this site you will find all the information you need to be able to participate. Braiding your hair will be up to you, but perhaps we might have a suggestion or two on this matter as well…
The clubs of Swedens area 5 is at full speed sharpening the swords, brewing the traditional mjöd and preparing the vast amounts of moonshine that will get a true Viking above and beyond. As soon as the clubs has formed their forces and announced their conquering plans we will let you know by putting the information on each day of the Great Vikingtour up on the site!
This Section is just for fun
Etymology of the Vikings
In Old Norse, the word is spelled víkingr. The word appears on several rune stones found in Scandinavia. In the Icelanders' sagas, víking refers to an overseas expedition (Old Norse fara í víking "to go on an expedition"), and víkingr, to a seaman or warrior taking part in such an expedition.
In Old English, the word wicing appears first in the Anglo-Saxon poem, "Widsith", which probably dates from the 9th century. In Old English, and in the writings of Adam von Bremen, the term refers to a pirate, and is not a name for a people or a culture in general. Regardless of its possible origins, the word was used more as a verb than as a noun, and connoted an activity and not a distinct group of individuals. To "go Viking" was distinctly different from Norse seaborne missions of trade and commerce.
The word disappeared in Middle English, and was reintroduced as Viking during 18th century Romanticism (the "Viking revival"), with heroic overtones of "barbarian warrior" or noble savage.
During the 20th century, the meaning of the term was expanded to refer not only to the raiders, but also to the entire period; it is now, somewhat confusingly, used as a noun both in the original meaning of raiders, warriors or navigators, and to refer to the Scandinavian population in general. As an adjective, the word is used in expressions like "Viking age", "Viking culture", "Viking colony", etc., generally referring to medieval Scandinavia. The pre-Christian Scandinavian population is also referred to as Norse, although that term is properly applied to the whole civilization of Old-Norse-speaking people. In current Scandinavian languages, the term Viking is applied to the people who went away on Viking expeditions, be it for raiding or trading.
The term Varangians made its first appearance in Byzantium where it was introduced to designate a function. In Russia it was extended to apply to Scandinavian warriors journeying to and from Constantinople. In the Byzantine sources Varangians are first mentioned in 1034 as in garrison in the Thracian theme. The Persian geographer Al Biruni has mentioned the Baltic Sea as the Varangian Sea and specifies the Varangians as a people dwelling on its coasts. The first datable use of the word in Norse literature appears by Einarr Skúlason in 1153. According to Icelandic Njalssaga from the 13th century, the institution of Varangian Guard was established by 1000. In the Russian Primary Chronicle the Varangian is used as a generic term for the Germanic nations on the coasts of the Baltic sea that likewise lived in the west as far as the land of the English and the French
The word Væringjar itself is regarded in Scandinavia as of Old Norse origin, cognate with the Old English Færgenga (literally, an expedition-goer).