Thank you for doing this AMA! I'm sure you'll have enough questions about berserkers so I'll leave that for someone else.

I'm interested how Christianity and Norse paganism intersected. In a lot of popular media, Norse pagans treat the Christian God as just another deity/member of the pantheon - do we know how Norse pagans actually viewed the concept of God?

Similarly, when converting from paganism to Christianity, did the pagans see it as no longer believing in any of the Norse gods or more like shifting their allegiance from one god to the other?

In the game, there are many roman structures still standing, in London for example there s a relatively intact amphitheatre, a triumph arch, huge statues, roman temples and an aqueduct. How historically correct is that for the time AC Valhalla is set?

Early Medieval Norse, Saxons, etc. and 'barbarian' peoples of antiquity in general have a long history of poor historically accurate portrayals in art and media going back hundreds of years to the horned helmets and caveman-esque fur onesies of the romantics. When did those inaccurate portrayals shift to the current trend of a counter-culture mixing pot of dreadlocks, leather bondage gear, metal band face paint, mongolian throat singing, etc. That we see in this game, the series Vikings, the Netflix series Barbarians, etc.? Was it a particular series or media franchise?

On that note what games, shows, movies, comics, etc. would you recommend that show northern 'barbarian' people thru an accurate lense?

In parts of the game Eivor has to go cloaked in Anglo-Saxon areas to avoid being identified and attacked.

How welcome were Anglo-Saxons and Vikings in each others settlements? And were there typical giveaways for each side in appearance that would allow someone to pick you out in a crowd?

This is, in particular, for /u/thefeckamidoing but perhaps also /u/Kelpie-Cat; can you address the complexity of layers of indigenous, Gaelic-speaking, and Norse -speaking peoples of Ellan Mannin Veg Veen; The Dear Little Isle of Man - and how they interacted, faded, etc. on their path to the modern island? I'm vague on when/how the Scandinavian speakers blended in with a Gaelic population and yet left their own imprint on government and whatever else. Any insight would be appreciated! Cheers!

I know you don't have anyone specialising in climate but figured someone might know about it because of its effect on so many things:

I live in England and one of the things which really struck me was how much snow the game shows on mountains, implying that the climate was much cooler during this period, because the game seems to be set in summer or autumn, and I've never seen snow on mountains in England outside of winter (and even then it's rare). Was it significantly cooler? Did the climate fluctuate a lot during this time period? Is the game just made by Canadians who think all mountains are covered in snow year round?

A character in the game picks up on a distinction between Danish and Norwegian accents. Were there (linguistic/cultural/religious) distinctions among the Northmen along these “nationalistic” boundaries? Do we have any sense of how these distinctions compared to those between Danes and Saxons (who were, after all, still related).

A somewhat related question: in what ways did the “Viking” invasions differ from the earlier Saxon invasion of England?

Finally, I love to listen to audiobooks about the time period I’m playing in. I picked up “Vikings: A New History” by Neil Oliver for this play through. Any thoughts on that particular book? Any others that you’d recommend?

It seems like everything Norse themed is either called Valhalla or Ragnarok. What are some other nouns that you think would make good names for Viking media?

More broadly, what parts of Viking Age culture do you think are underappreciated or underrepresented in media, especially in the rush to make the Vikings a bunch of badass long beards?

One thing i noticed in the trailer was there were sexy shaman ladies dressed only in cloth-- in the cold north. What would they really wear? Was the armor also accurate to the times? Looks too high medieval for me.

Haven't played the game, but the parts about vikings sparing the women and children instead of enslaving and selling them in the trailer - that's not accurate is it?

What did you feel was the most historically accurate thing in the game?

u/sagathain, /u/eyestache i'm curious with the viking longships. The common picture is that of a longboat with just a unroofed deck(?) where the vikings row their oars and where the mast is. Are these really the ships vikings used to cross seas and oceans? For long trips such as from Scandinavia to England, even to North America, how can the vikings sail in such boats without the cabin part to rest. Wouldn't they have died of exposure?

How big were the Roman forts in Britain? In the game even their ruins are enormous (the castles look almost as big as Krak des Chevaliers, for example) and they are still used as castles. How much of this is artistic license? Did the Romans really need huge castles/forts in Britain of all places?

Viking Raids are quite notorious in popular culture and seem to be anything between attacking another village nearby to reaching other continents and ran sacking large cities. What do we really know about Viking raids?

Spoiler-ish: There's a plotline about how the Danes want to use Ceowulf as a puppet king in an attempt to pacify northern Mercia. Did they really care to play politics like this and to what end rather than just taking control directly?

The Shieldwall is a pretty famous fighting tactic of the Vikings and the time period, but shows like Vikings or games like Valhalla tend to show everyone just splitting up to bash at each other 1V1. Now thats kind of the go to move for shows and games for everything, but what would real battle tactics and formations be like?

Have a question for u/goiyon- sorry its a bit obscure but it’s one of those moments where I see something and get totally curious on.

So in 855 I have Rorik effectively taking Frisia and running a very stable enclave of Norse until the 880’s.

There is a reference I saw, however, that says he lost power in 867 when he was driven from Frisia by a group referred to as the Cokingi. We know he was back in charge by 870.

My question- who were these guys?

Sorry for it being so specific, but as I was looking over some of the lesser known aspects of Norse domination (and Frisia is up there with the Norse conquest of Brittany in overlooked regions) I saw this and got intrigued.

How influential were Frisian based Norse in supplying manpower for the various campaigns taking place? I get the impression it was a much ‘quieter’ region compared to others, but did they just join in the general raiding elsewhere?

Thanks for this guys.

The character Yanli says she is from Zhengshou or somewhere similar and receives a package of spices from her parents.

Would it have been possible or even likely to have Chinese people there in England at the time and the possibility of a mail service between the two countries?

The Norse had quite a reputation for attacking holy places (most famously the monastery Lindisfarne). To what extent is that reputation deserved? And what do we know about how the Norse felt about such attacks? Did they take any precautions against divine retribution?

Let’s talk about sex gender, baby!

I’ve often seen the Birka Grave with the Female warrior used to argue that there was far more flexibility among Norse gender roles, either in the sense of allowing women in professions long assumed to be restricted to men or in the sense of recognizing something akin to modern transmasculine people. Neither of which fit well with the stereotype of “””dark age barbarians”””. What do we know about gender in Viking society? Is there consensus on who the Birka grave belonged to?

What's the Old Norse version of Hwæt?

Early in the game there’s a brief moment where Eivor says , ”Cats are sacred animals.”

Were cats significant in Viking culture in any way?

So, my questions are towards sexuality, gender and sex. I’d love to have them answered.

1. How were interracial relationships or sexual interactions between Saxons and Vikings seen?

2. In Assassin‘s Creed Valhalla you can have homosexual interactions and relationships. Did Vikings appreciate this behavior or was it seen as something repulsive or negative? And was there a difference if it was between two women or two men?

3. There are a lot of butch women (for example Tonna, the mercenary you meet early on when you arrive in Englaland). Was this a common thing for Vikings and did Saxon women eventually adopt this for themselves?

And another question unrelated to sexuality: how did the Saxons and Vikings communicate? Did Vikings eventually learn English (?) or did they come up with an entirely new language that incorporates elements of English (?) and Danish / Norse (?)?

Thank you very much for taking your time to answer our questions!

I've heard the legend that goes something like "The norse pillager invading the home took hold of a gold purse, dumped the gold, and kept the purse" I was told this was because he didn't care about gold or valuables as we see it, he cared for objects that had a practical use, such as the bag, and that reflected on their society as well.

4 questions: Is there any truth to that legend, and how accurate would it be to say that the raiders ignored modern currencies in favor of items with utility uses like weapons, storage, etc?

The vikings had trouble sacking a small area of coastal cities in modern southern U.K., but otherwise were decisively victorious is many many other sackings around the continent, what about these cities made it harder for the vikings to hit? What was their next actions towards those cities when they couldn't win?

EDIT 1: Typo, I haven't played the game, or seen much of anything on it, I'm just curious about these 2 things, I hope that's okay

How big were the longhouses in reality?

Why did vikings avoid the East coast of Scotland? My understanding is that pretty much every part of the British Isles was settled by the Scandinavians at some point so why not go to one of the closest geographic locations?

did 10ft humans actually exist back then?

was every second warrior a woman back in the Viking era?

is there anything in this game that's remotely accurate?

are the haircuts in this game even genuine or is it just what millennial software developers think they should look like?

My question is for /u/bristoneman. How much fact is there in regards to the sons of ragnar invasion? Is most of what we know mostly norse sagas re written and christianised years after or is there enough evidence to say most of what we know is true?

I'd love to hear about the development of popular representations of the Viking Age during the 20th century, past its origins in Scandinavian romantic nationalism. What are the works of fiction that has had an enduring impact on how the laymen imagine Vikings today?

I'm not totally sure if these are strictly Viking Age questions, but they seem close enough to be worth asking here.

First, is there a particular reason that Beowulf references Sigmund as a dragonslayer, when other sources(eg the Volsunga Saga) have him not killing a dragon, but being the father of someone who did? I've been wondering about this since I read the poem but haven't really been able to find a good answer. I assume it's probably just a matter of different cultures telling the same story in different ways, but I'm holding out hope that there's some neat reason that I just don't know yet.

Second, do we have any way to judge whether Sturlusson's assertion of the Æsir being "men of Asia" reflects any kind of earlier belief? Would Sturlusson himself have believed it, or was it just part of the explicitly-stated goal of undermining pagan beliefs?

Sorry if these aren't actually in the scope of the thread, but both of these have been bugging me for a long time now. Either way, thanks so much!

Sorry if this was already asked here but in recent media (vikings, the last kingdom, valhalla, god of war, etc), vikings tend to be portrayed a certain way: Shaved sides and back of the head with long hair on top, sometimes braided into something fancy. Some are covered heavily in tattoos.

I wonder what the historic basis for this is. Those haircuts are super high-maintenance, I don't believe that vikings shaved each other's heads every other day and carefully braided their hair (because try doing this yourself, won't work, you need somebody else to do it for you) when they've had viking stuff going on. Also, how would they go about getting tattoos without dying from infections? Not like there were disinfectants around at the time.

Thanks for the AMA! I live locally in East Anglia and the early medieval in the British Isles is a fascinating period.

Pirating is nearly ubiquitous across time and space. We know the Romano-British had trouble with seaborne raiders 400 years before the era in question. The Irish were known sea raiders in the west of the region.

So whilst the Vikings were out Viking, tramping around the continent, what stopped the Viking's homes from the same fate?

Side note: There is a manga called 'Vinland Saga' set in 11th century England that was recently animated into a series. Highly recommended!

A lot of the best known fans of vikings in popular culture: Wagner, Varg Vikernes, Hitler, are equally notable for their rabid anti-semitism (and racism in general). How have more recent representations of the vikings engaged with this element of vikings appeal, if at all?

Edit: and vaguely related question, but did real vikings and Jewish people have much to do with each other?

The game takes place in 873 I believe.

I see a lot of people complaining that there are no one handed swords, but realistically how common was it to find swords outside of nobility during this time period?

How poorly or well are the sons of Ragnar represented in the game ? Both in terms or character and appearance

historically were there any BIPOC vikings?

There's a stereotypical picture about Vikings enslaving Irish people, but slavery had been around pretty much forever. Did the Vikings actually transform slavery in Ireland at all, and if so in what ways?

What do we know about the experience of enslaved people, particularly is there anything from their point of view in some way (probably not)?

Nobody has asked about berserkers so I guess I'll have to!

It's my understanding that there isn't any evidence they actually existed - what's their history in literature?

Is there any explanation for the Norseman who allegedly single handedly held Stamford Bridge against the English before they stabbed him through the bridge from below?

So I'm sure you all just love the depiction of Vikings and Norse in AC Valhalla, but that does make me wonder. What are your personal favourite movies/games/shows of the Viking Age? Are any even remotely accurate or to romantic?

A question for u/mediaevumed I think. How accurate are the Viking face paints, tattoos and hipsterish hair styles that seem to show up in modern Viking media?

Did the Anglo Saxons speak Old English? Would Viking settlers have been able to communicate with them easily without an interpreter, even if Vikings and others spoke Old Norse and other early Germanic languages?

How much of our understanding of Norse mythology and history is obscured by the fact that we rely on a lot of Christian sources to understand their ways?

What do you folks think about the theory that the invasion of England was in part a reprisal for the slaughter of Saxon pagans in Germany by Charlemagne? I'll link a video that goes into it at length with an edit.

Link: https://youtu.be/xivovaVyVdI?t=1243 this has a timestamp, but you can additionally go forward maybe 10 minutes to where she's talking about the Danes taking in Saxon refugees etc.

Bonus Q: What's your favorite depiction of the era? For me, 13th Warrior for movies, even if its not accurate it's, i think, authentic to a spirit. For books, I love "the long ships" by Frans G. Bengtsson.

Thank you!

Do we know mich about Guthrum after his defeat by Alfred and conversion to Christianity? Did he practice his new religion? Did he communicate with Alfred?

Hi I know I’m a little to the thread but I am interested in the time period and was wondering if you could recommend any books.

Why did the Vikings raided and attacked England in the first place? What was the rationale behind that?

I notice that the vegvisir is prominent in character design but have heard that is an Icelandic symbol.

Was the vegvisir known or used by Norwegians of the Viking age?

Why does most of North America consider Columbus to be the first European to discover NA when the Vikings discovered it 600 years before him?

In a lot of pop culture and in the game Vikings are commonly associated with axes. How common were axes in warfare and raiding in reality?

In the game, they bring back the RPG focus on hunting - raindeer, animals, etc. What do we know aabout the viking relationship with the environment? Were they particularly bad for it, or did they have a fairly well managed system? While they didn't leave much by way of records, do any contemporary sources talk about what the norse were doing to the land they colonized?

At some point during the game there are some people that speak some kind of Iroquoian-language. Are you aware of some resources that might help translate the Iroquoian language into english? It looks like this: https://i.imgur.com/DuevHxN.jpg

The location in which the action takes place is Vinland (if this helps).

Thank you for doing this, I know im late but I was curious. People tend to see Vikings as people who were blood thirsty murderers who murdered everyone in their sight and when they raided monasteries and villages they would kill everyone there and maybe take some as prisoners to be sold. How true is this? Or did they occasionally let people escape and just not kill everything they see?

Not sure if it appears in AC: Valhalla but I was always interested in the history of Tafl, or the so called Viking chess. Did some version if the rules survive or did we reconstruct it based on our best guesses?

First, thanks for the AMA opportunity, this is my first time asking, ever, on the subreddit so I'll take a crack at it. I apologize for the lengthy text but as someone aspiring to educate on history, I am very determined to grasp on whatever foothold I can.

Some context. Haven't gotten to enjoy the game yet at the time of writing but my mother is a fan of The Last Kingdom books and was impressed by then use of particulars when wearing the general narrative and the efforts the author did to keeping the story grounded but fun. But she asked me a tough request for the upcoming holiday...

She asked me for a map (or a good book containing one) regarding Anglo Saxon England with the rivers and some precise settlements relating to the narrative. Smaller ones, of course but their names allude me.

But I came across a few dilemmas as I was trying to source her a map and if you could clarify these I'd be grateful as I'm still trying to figure out my way around the discipline...

1. Would finding a map directly in tandem with the formation of the Great Heathen Army be sufficient in sort of generalizing the Danish influence in Britain? The reason why I ask is I'm under the impression that similar to other conquering nations, (Alexander changing city names to Alexandria consistently, for example) did the Danes do similar acts of changing settlement names? Or did they focus on being more autonomous in building their footholds? Organically erecting their population vs taking over let's say... a riverfront town and submitting survirors to rule and changing the name of said location?

2. Where exactly do you find maps of historical review in general? Journals? Databases worth mentioning? Normally I'd just plan a day at my college's library but they had one MAJOR book on the subject and because of Covid in my state, well... that's sorta bust. That an just about every YouTube video I find is very general regarding vikings.

And just a cursory question for my own amusement, since I'm reading The Viking Spirit by McCoy at the moment but haven't come across it... Did the Danes have laws regarding "blasphemy" or "heresy"? It's to my understanding I could take less than a day's journey in Scandinavia and come across an entirely different perception of key deities of worship and their interpretation. We're they as strict with using an Aesir's name in vain or using it in a duragotry fashion as the Christians?

Once again, many thanks for the AMA and I appreciate the years of hard work you all do for your particular fields.

Settlement building is a large part of the game. Is there anything known about how settlements worked? Such as how they were ruled, how laws were enforced and if taxes where a thing?

I'd imagine at first they would build in the image of the settlements back in Scandinavia before assimilating more into the local culture(s). Where did it overlap and where did it differ?

1 - I'd love to find some actual documentation of the Native American story I've heard a hundred times about Native Americans showing up in Europe either drifting dead in a dugout or near death that died soon after.

2 - What is the fascination with Native Americans in Norway (and that area)? I have uncles who've been to Sweden for cultural demos and talks and the people are just amazed at them. Allegedly the woman absolutely love Native Americans. Is this just drunk uncles telling stories or is there some truth in it?

In the game Norse people and Saxons can talk without the need of translation. I wonder were Old Norse and Old English mutually intelligible? If so, to what extent?

Oh wow this has been an amazing thread to read, so many fantastic and eye opening responses. I hope its not to late to ask a question, especially one as broad as the one im going to ask, but it can't hurt right? I was just curious as to what historical detail was most surprising in its accuracy? Its clear ac vahlalla takes a lot of liberties with its source material, with most of it being for understandable reasons. So I was wondering if there was anything that caught your eye and made you think "huh, I didn't think they would include that". It can be for anything too, no matter how mundane. Than you for any responses!

I have a few questions about some of the broader cultural and religious practices depicted in the game. I think the answer here might be similar to many others in the thread, that we only have biased Christian sources, but I'll still ask.

My first question would be on the concept of Valhalla as seen in the game. Specifically, there's a recurring plot point in the game where people want to die "with their axe in hand" and the specific denial of the possibility if they cannot so so. I'm also interested in the general idea of only really having a "positive" afterlife for warriors, especially considering that as repeatedly said here, the Viking age was as much about trade as it was about war. So what do you think, is this a later invention by Christians, or possibly not even them but a mere popcultural idea, or could this actually be an authentic belief? This would lead me to my second question on predetermination. This is also repeatedly brought up in the game, the Idea that everyones fate is already determined and can not be changed.
One post specifically mentioned how Christian writers might have tried to understand Norse polytheism through the lens of Roman polytheism, and both of these remind me somewhat of my cursory understanding of that. I think predetermination is also discussed in Christian theology, so was this an issue at the time where depicting the Norse pagans this way might have been a political choice, or would those ideas just be cross-cultural phenomena that could plausibly be genuine?
Another thing I've noticed is that the depiction of Asgard and the gods in the game appears almost... profane. As in, what they do and what the afterlife promises seems quite similar to the human experience outside of it. I mean, the idea of Valhalla is a place where those who spent their lives fighting can fight some more? The gods also don't seem almighty but subject to the rules of other entities, and magic mostly seems to happen in the form of enchantments, or special cases like Loki shapeshifting, not with the frequency of say, Christian miracles. Someone mentioned that magic / seidr was in general considered unmanly? So could this actually be considered an accurate depiction?
In relation to that: the concept of Ragnarök. Was this considered something that had happened before, or that would eventually happen, or even something "outside" a human concept of time? If it was seen as a past event, did this mean the Norse essentially worshipped dead gods, and if so, was this considered relevant? (and how would Valhalla fit into that, since the whole point is to go there to fight alongside the gods)

And something outside the realm of religion, more on the culture: the game keeps referencing the idea of a warrior poet, prominently with Eivor herself. Was this actually relevant in Norse society or basically an invention of later poets to say "oh look we're totally like those cool vikings"? Or even just bias, like "there's all those sagas about mighty warriors, therefore the ideal must have been the warrior poet"?

Hey guys what nationality were the Vikings? They’re often referred to as Danes so I’m assuming they were from modern day Denmark but then they were also referred to as norsemen. Would the Vikings in this new AC game, the shows Vikings and last kingdom consider themselves to be all from the same broader Scandinavian nationality or were there distinct countries that Vikings came from?

Who exactly is Ragnar and what made him so great compared to other vikings?

Why are the outfits and armor soo historically inaccurate when in real life Vikings had badass looking weapons and armour?

how historically accurate are the outfits? some are just fur and leather and some are made of heavy chainmail/plates. Also shouldn't the vikings change their outfits when they got to England? it obviously wouldn't make sense to wear the same clothes in cold norway when most of the game is in warm england?

The game features a lot of Roman ruins, many of them quite large. Do we know anything about the true extent of Roman building projects in Britain and what their condition would have been like in the 9th century?

What are some recent scholarly books (preferably available on kindle) you'd suggest dealing with Norse and Saxon history? The tomier they are, the better. Even biographies of individual kings are fine, it doesn't have to be a general history or overview.

In my playing of the game, I'm noticing a lot of curses. My question is a simple one really: at the time of the Viking incursions, was Druidry and dark magic in practice in the British isles among the Saxons?

Thank you guys for doing this

I’m curious if in your readings any of you have ever heard of Christians travelling to Scandinavia during the Viking age to explore or trade?

If not were the Christians just uninterested in Scandinavia ? Too scared of the Vikings to try and trade ?

Were Vikings always hostile to foreigners ?

I once read that so little is actually known about the Vikings that the greater majority of what we see in shows/games etc. is just made up. So I wonder, how much do we actually know about the Vikings? How can we know what's known vs what's made up?

I love the Viking age and am doing extensive research into it currently. What Sagas would you recommend to give the best look into normal life of a norsemam, preferably Norwegian but I will take anything. Also would you consider any Norse Kingdoms Empires as they invaded lots of land, traveled and traded extensively, led to technological innovation, and had extensive colonies, so would you consider them an empire filling the power void left by the Roman Empire?

I've heard a lot of theories recently that the Vikings in Britain weren't really invaders, but were painted as such by the locals who resented the fact that there was suddenly a bunch of beautiful, well washed guys arriving.

How much of this is really true? Were they really invading pillagers or were they traders/migrants?

How did the vikings fight? Did they all fight by themselves or as a Greek style phalanx?

The Anglo Saxon Chronicle mentions a naval battle between Alfred and Vikings. How did the Saxon navy compare to the Vikings?

How is the physical depiction of the npcs especially alfred the great?

In one of the game arcs you assist Ubba and Ivar in overthrowing Burgred of Mercia to install their own puppet king Ceolwulf II. In various bits of dialogue Burgred refers to Mercia as 'Holy Mercia' and it's implied that the crown is some sort of sacred relic. Also the Witan is mentioned as electing the King yet the son of Ceolwulf II is referred to as the heir. So I got a few questions from this: how were the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms governed and was there any sort of 'holy' association with kings and/or crowns? And what role did the Witan have in the succession if any? Also how much importance was given to being the heir or Atheling?

I've read some things about Anglo-Saxon England in the past, mostly the unified Kingdom and I vaguely recall something about it being uncertain if the Witan actually played a role in succession.

Oh speaking of Kingdoms I just recalled another thing: there's a bunch of small events you can stumble across and one of them involves some random guy on a small island proclaiming that the island is the kingdom of Norsex and he is the king (he's a bit mad) but that got me thinking: there's a Wessex, Essex, Sussex and Middlesex but no Norsex. Was there ever a group of North Saxons and any kind of Norsex? We got all the cardinal directions and the middle but no north!

This ended up quite a bit longer than I first planned, but the questions kept on coming. Thankyou for your patience!

I have questions about their housing. Are the longhouses we see in the gameaccurate reflections of what they were in history?

In the new Assassin's Creed game there's a very very high prevalence of female vikings. Some clans seem almost exclusively female. How much evidence to we have of female Viking combatants?

According to the game, the god Odin altered his fate, what was his fate originally and how did he lose his eye?

Is it true that myth of Ragnarok and Loki as main villain only become thing after Norse came into contact with Christianity?

Thank you for doing this! Hopefully a quick one. In the game, the Norse characters comment that they are Norse and from Norway. Would someone from that area of the world call themselves Norse in 900? Would their neighbors in England recognize that nomenclature?

Thank you so much for this I have so many questions. Did the Anglo-Saxons ever launch retaliatory raids against Scandinavia during the Viking Age?

A hopefully straightforward question on Viking economics - what is all that silver and gold from raids for, aside for increasing the hoard? Trading, if yes - with whom? Given poor farmland in Viking home countries - internal trade seems unlikely goal. And neighbors who could trade essential goods are the ones being raided, can't picture them as happy to create trade relations

It would be interesting to know the role psychedelic drugs played, if any, in Norse pagan culture?

There is a reference to use in the first few hours of the game. It would be interesting to understand the accuracy of this and any role they played in Viking Raids on England!

How common was the use of the word England, at the time of the game? The kingdom will only be formed a few centuries later, but I see the word everywhere in the game

One thing that bugged me is that Seg meet Basim and Haythem in Constantinople, yet every character is dumbfounded by the Roman Ruins. Like you guys met in the capital of the (Eastern) Roman Empire, which would of looked way more advanced than Roman Britain's ruins. I suppose it's for the mystery. Just a minor annoyance.

Which type of language is written in the game? Is it legitimate too, fir instance did they use Elder Futhark

I'm a bit late to the party, but I was wondering in which ways Saxons and Scandinavians viewed keeping slaves/thralls differed? Also, Eivor seems to be talking pretty openly about same sex relationships with Saxons. As Christians, wasn't this strictly prohibited for them?

Whats the historical consensus on Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye? Real person or bundle of myths like his 'father'?

Were there marriages between anglo saxons and danes for alliences?

I know I'm late to the party, so I understand if this gets completely missed/ignored. This isn't also quite Viking related, but it does relate to old Danish/Saxon history, so maybe the more Danish/Saxon/general history buffs like /u/textandtrowel or maybe /u/Steelcan909 would know the answer or at least where to look.

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I've had a passive hobby of researching my family history for a decade or so now. It's something I do maybe for a few days at a time during my free time, then do nothing about until the urge hits me again after another month or two. My family has been in America for centuries (we're actually coming up on 400 years on this side of the Atlantic). However, I've managed to trace the paternal line of my family to Holstein in the late 1500s, but that's as far as I can trace. My actual question is this: Is there any source that any of you may know of where someone may be able to at least somewhat accurately trace lineage in Denmark through the Middle and possibly even into the Dark Ages? I realize it's a long shot at best that anyone in this particular thread would know, but I figured I'd ask just in case.

I know from my amateur research that things get real fuzzy the further back you go. Things weren't recorded or the records were lost to the ages or in the transition of one ruling party to another. I just figure I'd ask someone who might actually know a thing or two to see if there's any potential sources I haven't come across. Heck, for all I know, they were more German than Danish so there's nothing anyone here could do to help, but I'm really interested in tracing my lineage as far back as I possibly can, so I figured I'd shoot my shot here. Thanks in advance to anyone who might have any information at all.

There is a conversation with the NPC Ceolbert, an apparently fictional son of Ceolwulf II. He expresses surprise when told that the player character is not a Dane, but comes from Norway instead, which he apparently hadn't heard of before. Is it all all reasonable that a noble's son from Mercia would be unaware of the existence of Norse "countries" other than Denmark?

Probably won't get an answer but Hadrian's Wall is portrayed as a still-significant (if obviously unmanned) fortification during the time of the game. Would the wall really have still be that well maintained 400 years after the fall of Rome or would it have likely been much more pillaged for stones.

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Also (if possible) how was the wall viewed by the Anglo Saxons?

Hi there,

I see a lot of books recommended that relate to the Viking age and culture. Are there any books, podcasts or YouTube channels I can dip my toes in relating to the Anglo-Saxon period up to the battle of Hastings?

I am quite interested in the major elements that shaped the English geopolitical landscape.

The time has come to stop lurking! Glad i could do that with you guys. I have played the game and saw that Ivarr the boneless is portrayed as a sadistic warrior and generally careless about human life. This theme is, more or less, the same as in the "Vikings" tv series. I would like to ask if there are some historical sources about this man's violent attitude. I would also like to ask if you know how different the Ragnarrson's brothers were, regarding various aspects of personality, such as religious view, how they ran their kingdoms, what they thought of one another and so on. Any information is welcome! I hope my post was clear. I apologise in advanced, since english is not my first language

To what extent do you feel the game sanitizes the vikings to make them the “good guys” and the Anglo-Saxons the “bad guys?”

Sorry if this is too late but it's driving me insane! I have begun playing AC: Valhalla and in the Essex area of the game, there is a settlement called Wulfaswic.

I have tried Googling what this place is now called but have been unable to find any answers.

I live in the area and it is exciting to see places that I know such as Colcestre (now Colchester) and Malduen (Maldon) and I need to know what Wulfaswic has become!

Thanks in advance!

Not sure if these can be answered but...

How did seidr differ from explicitly religious practices? Was there a distinction?

Where do runes factor into seidr, or is that system considered separate?

What are the roles of Odin and Freyja in seidr and the use of runes?

What aspects of magic did they represent?

Are there any other norse gods that were associated with or invoked during seidr?

Why were seidmenn considered argr?

Was a male seidrmadr always labelled an ergi?

How were ergi punished?

Are there any specific accounts of the sorts of practices or rites involved in seidr?

Why did you concentrate the story on the invasion of England instead of basing some of it in the rest of the British Isles. Dal Riata & the Picts etc. would have been much more interesting.