Top 3 Mysteries from Norse Sagas
1 - The fate of Ormrinn Langi
While converting the Jarldoms in Norway to Christianity, king Olaf Trygvasson took as plunder a massive longship later named Ormrinn Skammi (The Short Serpent). This man was impressed by its design and size, and as he gained more wealth trough raiding as viking he commissioned the greatest longship in history, Ormrinn Langi (The Long Serpent). It is described in the same saga as follows: 34 pairs of rows each side for 68 rowers, a broad and high deck for crossing seas and carrying armies (estimated to be around 45 meters long).
This beast warship was sailed on the Øyrasund strait along with the rest of the royal fleet when Trygvasson was ambushed by his many enemies, the fleets of danes and swedes combined to cover the entire horizon with ships.
The norwegian king had no choice but to face against outnumberingly bad odds the coming armies, where soon blood was told to cover every deck of norwegian ships and danish with swedish armies on them. Ormrinn Langi stood last with Olaf's retinue defending its massive deck until Trygvasson jumped overboard afraid of blades. The swedes were told to have captured Ormrinn langi, but nothing else is known about the fate of the largest longship.
2 - Supernatural encounters in Grettir's saga
There is no figure more fabled and controversial in icelandic sagas than Grettir Asmundsson, a violent outlaw with many strange flaws and characteristics.
After murdering, Grettir is condemned in Iceland to full outlawry and flees to Norway where he is hunted down day and night by the family of the offended, and taking down tens after tens of warriors. This is the easiest part for him, however as the supernormal seems to be against him as well, where he is said to face Draugr (undead) and cave trolls, being a characteristic exclusive to some outlaw sagas.
What is strangest however is Glam the Undead who curses Grettir after he is defeated to be afraid of the dark. From there on, the Saga becomes more and more surreal, it is told that eyes haunted the outlaw from the dark and could not get sleep unless somebody kept watch for him. Another such curse is laid unto him when he makes his last stand on the Icelandic island of Drangey, where he is paralysed by a witch. This Saga is the strangest by far for all the out of the ordinary happenings.
3 - Vinland, do we really know anything about it?
We all like to be that one who says "but the Vikings discovered the americas!", and you'd be right for the archaeological evidence, but the literary one from the sagas is absolutely
strange. For instance, in Erik the Red's saga there is told of some, I will call them "ghost crops", where there is told of self sown wheat (even today, the only evidence for native wheat is in the Middle East) and grapes which are not found natively in North America. Most probably they were either confused or lies to attract investors and settlers.
Even more strange are the encounters with the amerindian nomad settlers named Skrælings which are not identified to a tribe even today. They were initially trading with the norse, but later became hostile. They were many but the icelandic settlers had superior techology and kept their lands for a while. In one battle, a farm was attacked by a warband of Skrælingjar where only a pregnant woman survived. It is told that she managed to scare and rout the attackers alone.
For unknown reasons, Vinland was abandoned, and later in the middle ages it was only a memory and thought by some to be Africa. Nowadays we only know Vinland is in modern day Canada because of the finds.
Top 3 Mysteries from Norse Sagas
1 - The fate of Ormrinn Langi
While converting the Jarldoms in Norway to Christianity, king Olaf Trygvasson took as plunder a massive longship later named Ormrinn Skammi (The Short Serpent). This man was impressed by its design and size, and as he gained more wealth trough raiding as viking he commissioned the greatest longship in history, Ormrinn Langi (The Long Serpent). It is described in the same saga as follows: 34 pairs of rows each side for 68 rowers, a broad and high deck for crossing seas and carrying armies (estimated to be around 45 meters long).
This beast warship was sailed on the Øyrasund strait along with the rest of the royal fleet when Trygvasson was ambushed by his many enemies, the fleets of danes and swedes combined to cover the entire horizon with ships.
The norwegian king had no choice but to face against outnumberingly bad odds the coming armies, where soon blood was told to cover every deck of norwegian ships and danish with swedish armies on them. Ormrinn Langi stood last with Olaf's retinue defending its massive deck until Trygvasson jumped overboard afraid of blades. The swedes were told to have captured Ormrinn langi, but nothing else is known about the fate of the largest longship.
2 - Supernatural encounters in Grettir's saga
There is no figure more fabled and controversial in icelandic sagas than Grettir Asmundsson, a violent outlaw with many strange flaws and characteristics.
After murdering, Grettir is condemned in Iceland to full outlawry and flees to Norway where he is hunted down day and night by the family of the offended, and taking down tens after tens of warriors. This is the easiest part for him, however as the supernormal seems to be against him as well, where he is said to face Draugr (undead) and cave trolls, being a characteristic exclusive to some outlaw sagas.
What is strangest however is Glam the Undead who curses Grettir after he is defeated to be afraid of the dark. From there on, the Saga becomes more and more surreal, it is told that eyes haunted the outlaw from the dark and could not get sleep unless somebody kept watch for him. Another such curse is laid unto him when he makes his last stand on the Icelandic island of Drangey, where he is paralysed by a witch. This Saga is the strangest by far for all the out of the ordinary happenings.
3 - Vinland, do we really know anything about it?
We all like to be that one who says "but the Vikings discovered the americas!", and you'd be right for the archaeological evidence, but the literary one from the sagas is absolutely
strange. For instance, in Erik the Red's saga there is told of some, I will call them "ghost crops", where there is told of self sown wheat (even today, the only evidence for native wheat is in the Middle East) and grapes which are not found natively in North America. Most probably they were either confused or lies to attract investors and settlers.
Even more strange are the encounters with the amerindian nomad settlers named Skrælings which are not identified to a tribe even today. They were initially trading with the norse, but later became hostile. They were many but the icelandic settlers had superior techology and kept their lands for a while. In one battle, a farm was attacked by a warband of Skrælingjar where only a pregnant woman survived. It is told that she managed to scare and rout the attackers alone.
For unknown reasons, Vinland was abandoned, and later in the middle ages it was only a memory and thought by some to be Africa. Nowadays we only know Vinland is in modern day Canada because of the finds.
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