The 13th Warrior is a version of Beowulf meant to be more plausible combined with the account of an Arabian ambassador's visit to Scandinavian somewhere around 800CE. Great movie.
It is based on a novel, if I remember correctly "Eaters of the Dead". I think it's an OK movie, enjoyed it. What is brilliant is the scene where he starts to understand the heathen lingo slowly, as sentences begin to emerge from the weird sounds. And then he does the "your mom" retort. Learning a new language actually feels this way, to me. Sitting in the lunch room with the colleagues...
@@johanneswerner1140 great scene. Yes, Eaters of the Dead is the name of the book. The book itself is a telling of Beowulf. A group of Danes are brought to protect a village from a monster...Bulwyf was Beowulf. The idea was to explain Beowulf without magic or mythological creatures. The Fire Wyrm, was actually the invaders in a line carrying torches, for instance... and the troll were men dressed as bears.
@@johanneswerner1140 from google... Is Eaters of the Dead a retelling of Beowulf? Eaters of the Dead - Wikipedia Crichton explains in an appendix that the book was based on two sources. The first three chapters are a retelling of Ahmad ibn Fadlan's personal account of his actual journey north and his experiences with and observations of Varangians. The remainder is a retelling of Beowulf.
Oh my goodness that was such a good interview. Dr. Crawford is such an interesting speaker. I'm so glad it went well. Hope he got to have some good refreshments afterwards. ♥
I guess I'll throw in my own contribution to the "why are vikings so popular right now" discourse. I think that an important aspect of vikings in the popular mind is that vikings are pirates, and we already love Caribbean pirates. Despite the historical realities of pirates being pretty cruel, bad people, in popular culture we have come to view pirates as adventuresome free spirits that are in control of their own destinies. Vikings, like Caribbean pirates, can be used as an escape from a world that is often drab and distressingly complex, to one where the challenges we face might be dire, but they're straightforward. Incidentally, many apocalypse narratives also fit this trope, and we've seen a sharp increase in interest in those as well.
I wouldn't say it's about pirates (vikings also weren't really pirates in the same sense, they did raid, sure, but they were also traders and settlers and explorers) or violence, but just escapism. I think the reason people cling to things like Vikings or Ancient Rome or even fantasy stories like the Lord of the Rings, is simply because of the modern world. Those "other worlds" are lower tech, less crowded, more wild and fantastical and seem to us as full of adventure and heroes. Our own world on the other hand seems small, hectic, heroless and crowded.
Nice discussion at about 27:00 about why the view in popular culture about vikings shifted around the turn on the millennium. I guess it is different here in Scandinavia, but the vikings were once seen as a part of our history that people weren't proud or interested in, and that seems to have shifted around in the mid/late 1800s iirc. I guess its a different perspective when there's rune stones just a couple of bus stops away :D As for not being authentic because your not from here, or look like your from here... F that. You're authentically you and you're clearly very knowledgeable on Old Norse and the literature.
The Northman is grim, but there is at least one scene that I think was intended to be humorous. The part where early on in the murders suspicion turns on the Christians because “their god is dead who knows what kind of evil deeds they would do.”
I'm thinking about the people's craving for more stuff like LotR and I'm surprised Finnish language and mythology didn't get such cultural reception as Norse mythology since elven language in LotR is so close to Finnish if nothing else. It makes me kind of sad that Finnish mythology got forgotten along the way while Norwegian mythology is at its cultural recognition peak.
Another take on the why vikings are so popular: Marvel. Loki, Thor, Odin, Heimdall... these names are more synonymous with their Marvel counterparts than the myths they are based on.
An admireer of Dr. Crawford and his modest, unassuming and droll style, I thought this was a good breakdown of the cinematic vs the intellectual. I'm frustrated a good half of what he said was inaudible.
He doesn't like the Northman.... what!?!? I agree they went over the top with the violence, especially in the raiding scene. But everything else was perfect. By far most Culturally accurate Viking movie ever made
I agree. It's by far the best movie in this genre - easily. He's right about the tone of the movie (I also liked The 13th Warrior for the same reasons Jackson did), but it's still the unchallenged #1.
The movie seems to have an agenda, namely, to portray who are, like you and me, just people, with very human motivations, as mindless killers, because it's "badass." It ignores the countless instances of compassion, gift-giving, pledges of loyalty, poeticism, beauty, self-sacrifice, generosity, hospitality, and kingliness that are all over the sagas. Even berserkers were religious ecstatics first and foremost, rather than violent savages, and their warfare was steeped in poetic inspiration, ecstasy, protection of kin, and the divine. Read the last stanza of Beowulf, then compare him as the quintessential hero with the over-muscled goofball from this movie to see the extreme contrast between the reality of the time period and Hollywood. Just because they wore the right clothes and had the right weapons doesn't mean the gist of the movie was, in fact, how it was.
IMO the raiding scene was straightforward and realistic. What do you think happened to the children when the residents of a town were massacred? Crawford knows families are regularly barred up in halls and burnt alive in the sagas, and children are very often the victims of the protagonists.
Love seeing Dr. Crawford in front of a live audience!
didnt know john wick knows so much about vikings
Hahah. Great man 😄
My favorite comment ever lol
❤😂love your observation!!!
have you seen his shooting stuff?
It's actually his brother Jack Wick
Thank you for posting this!
The 13th Warrior is a version of Beowulf meant to be more plausible combined with the account of an Arabian ambassador's visit to Scandinavian somewhere around 800CE. Great movie.
Yep, one of my all times favorite.
It is based on a novel, if I remember correctly "Eaters of the Dead". I think it's an OK movie, enjoyed it.
What is brilliant is the scene where he starts to understand the heathen lingo slowly, as sentences begin to emerge from the weird sounds. And then he does the "your mom" retort.
Learning a new language actually feels this way, to me. Sitting in the lunch room with the colleagues...
@@johanneswerner1140 great scene. Yes, Eaters of the Dead is the name of the book. The book itself is a telling of Beowulf. A group of Danes are brought to protect a village from a monster...Bulwyf was Beowulf. The idea was to explain Beowulf without magic or mythological creatures. The Fire Wyrm, was actually the invaders in a line carrying torches, for instance... and the troll were men dressed as bears.
@@johanneswerner1140 from google...
Is Eaters of the Dead a retelling of Beowulf?
Eaters of the Dead - Wikipedia
Crichton explains in an appendix that the book was based on two sources. The first three chapters are a retelling of Ahmad ibn Fadlan's personal account of his actual journey north and his experiences with and observations of Varangians. The remainder is a retelling of Beowulf.
❤️
You have a very pleasant, calm way of talking about the topics that interest me a lot. Thank you from a long-term subscriber from Germany.
Oh my goodness that was such a good interview. Dr. Crawford is such an interesting speaker. I'm so glad it went well. Hope he got to have some good refreshments afterwards. ♥
Performance was fire. ❤
I guess I'll throw in my own contribution to the "why are vikings so popular right now" discourse.
I think that an important aspect of vikings in the popular mind is that vikings are pirates, and we already love Caribbean pirates. Despite the historical realities of pirates being pretty cruel, bad people, in popular culture we have come to view pirates as adventuresome free spirits that are in control of their own destinies. Vikings, like Caribbean pirates, can be used as an escape from a world that is often drab and distressingly complex, to one where the challenges we face might be dire, but they're straightforward. Incidentally, many apocalypse narratives also fit this trope, and we've seen a sharp increase in interest in those as well.
I’ve always thought the interesting part of this is that it indicates gangbangers will be cultural heroes in a few centuries.
@Donkeysaurus Rex it already is: see (some) hip hop
I wouldn't say it's about pirates (vikings also weren't really pirates in the same sense, they did raid, sure, but they were also traders and settlers and explorers) or violence, but just escapism. I think the reason people cling to things like Vikings or Ancient Rome or even fantasy stories like the Lord of the Rings, is simply because of the modern world. Those "other worlds" are lower tech, less crowded, more wild and fantastical and seem to us as full of adventure and heroes. Our own world on the other hand seems small, hectic, heroless and crowded.
@@donkeysaurusrex7881 there's a very good argument to be made that they already are in the communities they come up out of
Go Jackson!! You are a legend!
Nice discussion at about 27:00 about why the view in popular culture about vikings shifted around the turn on the millennium. I guess it is different here in Scandinavia, but the vikings were once seen as a part of our history that people weren't proud or interested in, and that seems to have shifted around in the mid/late 1800s iirc. I guess its a different perspective when there's rune stones just a couple of bus stops away :D
As for not being authentic because your not from here, or look like your from here... F that. You're authentically you and you're clearly very knowledgeable on Old Norse and the literature.
Bump for engagement! Just started watching this, I'm sure I'll have more to say when I finish it.
Great interview
The Northman is grim, but there is at least one scene that I think was intended to be humorous. The part where early on in the murders suspicion turns on the Christians because “their god is dead who knows what kind of evil deeds they would do.”
Yeah, I always thought that was meant to be funny to the audience, if not for the characters.😅
Another slapstick scene was when no-nose tries to withdraw the Drengr sword in daylight but he can't.
I think your idea of putting long genealogies into foot or endnotes is a great idea.
I'm in need of all the help I can get with Scandinavian names.
I'm thinking about the people's craving for more stuff like LotR and I'm surprised Finnish language and mythology didn't get such cultural reception as Norse mythology since elven language in LotR is so close to Finnish if nothing else. It makes me kind of sad that Finnish mythology got forgotten along the way while Norwegian mythology is at its cultural recognition peak.
51:37 - The seiðr is strong with this one...
Another take on the why vikings are so popular: Marvel. Loki, Thor, Odin, Heimdall... these names are more synonymous with their Marvel counterparts than the myths they are based on.
Subtitles made me chuckle - 'You can't cut it with real publications... that's why you're talking to the unwashed glasses' 😆
I'd love to read a Cowboy Jedi Code
(54:20) Monty Python’s Flying Circus S3 E1 approximately 7 minutes into the episode
An admireer of Dr. Crawford and his modest, unassuming and droll style, I thought this was a good breakdown of the cinematic vs the intellectual. I'm frustrated a good half of what he said was inaudible.
Hey I’m from Kentucky
🥳
Same. Wish I would have heard about this before the very last minute. Easy drive from Louisville to Lexington for me.
Gamer.
He doesn't like the Northman.... what!?!? I agree they went over the top with the violence, especially in the raiding scene. But everything else was perfect. By far most Culturally accurate Viking movie ever made
You can watch his opinion on the movie in the video he made about it.
I agree. It's by far the best movie in this genre - easily. He's right about the tone of the movie (I also liked The 13th Warrior for the same reasons Jackson did), but it's still the unchallenged #1.
The movie seems to have an agenda, namely, to portray who are, like you and me, just people, with very human motivations, as mindless killers, because it's "badass." It ignores the countless instances of compassion, gift-giving, pledges of loyalty, poeticism, beauty, self-sacrifice, generosity, hospitality, and kingliness that are all over the sagas. Even berserkers were religious ecstatics first and foremost, rather than violent savages, and their warfare was steeped in poetic inspiration, ecstasy, protection of kin, and the divine. Read the last stanza of Beowulf, then compare him as the quintessential hero with the over-muscled goofball from this movie to see the extreme contrast between the reality of the time period and Hollywood. Just because they wore the right clothes and had the right weapons doesn't mean the gist of the movie was, in fact, how it was.
IMO the raiding scene was straightforward and realistic. What do you think happened to the children when the residents of a town were massacred? Crawford knows families are regularly barred up in halls and burnt alive in the sagas, and children are very often the victims of the protagonists.