Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, skeptic, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two.
Sättuna excavation team member Peter Forrester is a big fan of Finnish folk metallers Finntroll. The other day he played me a funny untitled bonus track from the group's 2007 album Ur jordens djup ("Out of the depths of the Earth"). The song sits at the end of the album's closing track "Kvällning" after a quarter of an hour of silence. Here's a translation of the Swedish lyrics.
The troll was sitting on a rock and called out, "Hey!
Who has spilled my mead?"
But none of the animals in the woods or [...]
knew who had spilled the troll's drink.The troll was sitting on a rock and called out, "Hey!
Who's trampled my toadstools?"
But none of the animals in the woods or bogs or under the vault of the sky
knew who had trampled the entire field.
The troll was sitting on a rock and called out, "Hey!
Bread and bacon for the wise ones!"
Rats [...]
who knew that was all the troll had left.And the rats were gibbering at the troll, "Hey!
The Christians have spilled your mead
The Christians have trampled your toadstools
The Christians have beaten your brothers!"Then the troll became angry and got up from his stone.
He went to the land of the Christians and burned down their ugly church.
[More blog entries about music, metal, Finland, Finntroll, lyrics; musik, hårdrock, Finland, Finntroll, sångtext.]
Comments
They're very popular here in the United States. See below: http://www.grizzlybay.org/SarahPalinVikings.jpg
Posted by: Hypatia | September 21, 2008 1:29 PM
Scholar claims to find medieval Jewish capital
Posted by: Tegumai Bopsulai, FCD | September 21, 2008 3:25 PM
Hey! and howdy from Texas. I read that real Vikings did not have horns on their hats. That was supposed to be Celts that were horned. So, as you live far enough north to know what real Vikings put on their heads, what did they wear? (Loved the troll song, by the way. Thanks for the translation. I only had a semester of Norwegian in night school in my high school years, over 3 decades ago, so I'm a little rusty! I would never have figured it out by myself -- even with Babelfish).
Posted by: DianaGainer | September 21, 2008 6:37 PM
Horns make a helmet useless for actual combat, as you will get your neck broken when the enemy's sword catches on the horn. There are a couple of horned ceremonial helmets/hats from the pre-Roman Celtic world and Scandinavia. The Viking Period has left only one well-preserved helmet, from a burial at Gjermundbu in Norway, and it is a businesslike hornless number.
The Vendel/Viking Period cult of Odinn appears to have included ritual drama where performers would wear helmets with the heads of Odinn's two ravens forming a kind of horns. They are only known from depictions and would have been useless in combat.
Posted by: Martin R | September 22, 2008 12:30 PM
Perhaps what was called a 'winged' or 'horned' helmet in early medieval sources was a brimmed helmet, like a chapel-de-fer or a morion? Such forms are usually associated with late medieval or renaissance warfare, but there are no technological limits that would prevent early medieval smiths from producing something similar. Some Umayyad wallpaintings in Jordania show archers wearing such helmets. Carolingian manuscripts also show such headgear, especially when depicting imperial bodyguards or 'antique', biblical or classical scenes; perhaps the illustrator used the only Romans he knew, the Byzantines, as a model?
The Vikings had of course lots of contacts with Muslims and
Byzantines, and a brimmed warhat would make a lot of sence for heavy infantry fighting with battleaxes.
Posted by: johannes | September 23, 2008 5:23 AM
I am not aware of any Early Medieval written sources mentioning winged or horned helmets. Please enlighten me.
AFAIK, winged & horned helmets were invented by 19th century artists and Wagnerian opera costume designers.
Posted by: Martin R | September 23, 2008 12:59 PM
Martin,
my source was Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars: Anglo-Celtic Warfare, A.D.410-1066, by the ubiquitious David Nicolle. I will check the original David Nicolle text for his sources, if I can find the time.
Posted by: johannes | September 24, 2008 10:57 AM