I originally watched it when it came out, but anyway I think Ragnar Lodbrok won, I feel like his insults were just a lot better than Richard the Lionheart's
Probably already mentioned, but one of Ragnar’s sons was named Ivar “The Boneless” Ragnarsson. There are two reasons for this: The Saxons meant it as an insult (boneless…..get it?) while the Norse meant it as his fluid fighting style seeming like he had no bones. In the Vikings show, however, he is called Boneless as he is a cripple, his legs have no use but he is a strategic genius to compensate.
I liked the way that they made ivar in the show, the practical stuff like the order of the raids etc was intact while some family trees where gently changed as well as some individual details such as ivar's crippleness, also lloyd admitted to have gotten the visual and some of the lines from the show(he said it in the making of of the erb)
Historically, he likely either had brittle bone disease, or gigantism to the point he had trouble walking or moving around. He’s said to have been a massive man, or brittle bones would make the most sense. But we know that people with gigantism can often need help moving around as they grow too large for their bones to support. Also, the only battle we have direct accounts of him fighting in, he was being carried on a shield, so yeah. He was more a tactician than a brute warrior. Still badass tho
@@rodneythundercock Funnily enough Rangar is the least historically accurete of them as there there very little documentation on his actual feats while his sons are very well documented. It is said that Ragnar is a collection of many different notable vikings which did many different amazing things such as raid Britain aswell as sieging and conquering Paris. Rollo converting is based on a story that one of the vikings from the siege of Paris switched sides. Ivar is sometimes depicted legless in some of his artworks suggesting amputations but it varies quite a lot artist to artist. His brothers are decently accurate aswell. However it still an adaptation of a norse myth so take all of it with a pinch of salt
The use of “cake” after “jaffa” is a reference to the english snacks jaffa cakes, im not sure if anyone else has cleared that up already but I just thought id say because im english and that bar made me smile.
@@rileymobley9570 it’s hard to explain, over here anyway, they are like biscuits that have a soft inside, probably more similar to a cheesecake but its made of one layer of chocolate, some orange jelly like filling, and a biscuit base
They are a sponge type cake filled with a jam made from jaffa oranges. Then coated in chocolate. They started in 1927 and got really popular in the u.k.
The language on the english court at that time was french because of the french influence. That's why the King of England should probably speak english.
Name the monarch that didn't speak French in their own court. In the Netherlands, French was standard until Juliana became queen (1948). Most HRE princes and kings spoke French. Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great spoke French...
I think french was the language of most courts. Not just english but i think also germany and stuff. But in the german court, they still spoke german. And as Libermania said, Richards parents were also french. That probably plays a role there too ^^
Also I seem to remember Richard loved Aquitaine way more than England, I think there was even a quote about him being willing to trade all of England for being able to rule Aquitaine. Dude was basically the French king of England.
@@Phantom_of_Black I think i remember something like that. But i wasn't sure if it was accurate when i heard that. (Had nothing to do with the source it came from. I just didn't checked with an second source or read more into that topic)
hey helpful icelandic here Ragnar is said to have died in a pit of snakes. The no bone part is in reference to his son who was Ævar the boneless who could not walk due to his bones.
The not being able to walk thing is a myth. There are loads of theories about Ivar’s nickname but the main ones are: 1) Ivar was unable to perform sexually 2) Ivar was so elite at hand to hand combat he was said to be like a snake due to being so nimble and stealthy, and therefore nicknamed boneless
Viking (and largely medieval) age history buff here: According to the Sagas, Ragnar died after being captured by King Ælla of Northumbria, who then threw him into a pit of snakes. This launched the Son's of Ragnar invasion where Bjorn Ironside of Sweden, Ivar the Boneless (so called for unknown reasons, possibly due to birth defects), and Halfdan Whiteshirt (Hvitserk) invaded large portions of England as Ragnar had apparently dreamed of the ultimate goal of settling in England due to the land being largely more fertile and hospitable than the Arctic region covering most of Scandinavia. Ivar the Boneless is said to have been the one to kill Æellla and avenge his father, performing a Blood Eagle on Ælla (very gruesome and interesting form of ritual execution) The line about Richard not speaking English is because the nobility of England at that time spoke French since the reign of William the Conqueror, Richard in fact mostly lived in France, having two French parents(one from occitane but eh semantics).
not sure but I do believe I heard that the name Ivar the boneless came from the fact that his legs was unusable and he was taken to battle on top of a shield, it is believed his legs bones was primarily just Cartilage, as a birth defect. that however did not prevent him from being a raiding Viking as he was a brilliant strategist, and tactician, in fact other members of his raiders revered him so much they where carrying him on his shield to any place he wanted to go in even when in battle.
@@ryjolad That's one of my favorite theories on it, but it is also possible it was from people saying he was a coward, or people saying he was incapable in the bedroom. Even if it didn't start out as a moniker from him being unbeatable, he almost surely turned it into that.
@@artsysabs technically, the đ should curve, but I haven't found that symbol on my phone. If you are at a full keyboard, you can type (Alt+2,4,0) to get the proper symbol, the đ is (Alt+2,7,3)
the pit of snakes was directly talking about Ragnar's death when he was captured by King Aella of Northumbria. The Boneless is a reference to his son Ivar the Boneless who led the Great Heathen Army and conquered the Danelaw until his death. nobody is 100% sure where the nickname of "the boneless" came from. some say it was because he actually couldn't walk because he had weak bones, and some said it was because he was so fluid on the battlefield that he looked like he had no bones
I’m convinced that the fighting style explanation was made up for AC valhalla. I haven’t been able to find any sources for this. Also, we only have a direct account of him actually *fighting* in one battle, during which he was being carried on a shield. He was mostly known and respected for his tactics and wisdom.
@@rodneythundercock yeah I had researched the topic heavily before AC valhalla and found nothing remotely similar to that theory. i was wondering where it came from because everything I found was related to the erectile dysfunction or some kind of bone disease that made it harder to walk or unable to walk all together. he does seem to always be praised for his tactics, though
@@sonofabiscuit873 there is one passage, I wish I could tell you where from. Probably Ragnarssona þáttr that describes him in battle as “like a snake hunting for prey” or some such. And I think that’s where people get it from.
"the King of England should probably speak English" is a reference to the fact that Richard mostly spoke French, and that the time that he didn't spend crusading was spent in his lands in France. That's also why at 8:53 they made him say "mon ami" (my friend)
not to mention, he befrended his greatest foe, Salahuddin. That's 100% a stretch, and simply my interpretation. Salahuddin and Richard the Lionheart exchanged letters and gifts regularly for the rest of their lives, so it would fit, if Ragnar was a worthy foe the crusader king would possibly do the same.
6:34 He didn't speak English due to the simple fact that he wasn't English, he was French. He was from the House of Plantagenet who were from Anjou in France.
Yeah the pit of snakes was a direct reference about how ragnar died. He was thrown in a pit full of venomous snakes after being captured and tortured by king aelle. Also, the someone with no bones refers to one of ragnar's son who was called Ivar the boneless :)
Ragnar's legend _begins_ with his death, provoking his sons to pillage and conquer Britain. Repeat: Ragnar Lodbrok is only remembered because his sons made sure Catholics _would_ remember them.
As with all ERB videos, this is pretty dense with references. Legendarily, Ragnar was thrown in a pit of snakes by the king of Northumbria, and of the sons who came to avenge him, the most successful was Ivar the Boneless (which I consider a pretty badass nickname). Also, you do know why they're called the Minnesota VIKINGS? There's a particular artifact that's tied to. Richard the Lionheart was legendarily shot by a kitchenboy, and died of gangrene from the wound. As all Normans, he spoke French natively. Runes are a VERY interesting topic, if anyone wants to hit me up. I'm no expert, but I can point you along the way. It's not just an alphabet, it's how they're written that's important. Overall, I gotta hand this one to Ragnar. Better burns.
Richard wasn’t actually Norman, but was from Anjou (and I believe his mom was actually from occitania in southern France), but did speak French and never really spent a ton of time in England at all.
@@CrusaderZade nah, about 50% of Richard's lines was him stroking his ego with the other 50% about dissing Ragnar, in reality Richard was too focused on being a dick that he completely missed the mark... again. XD
I didnt know who these people were this time so i was super stoked to see you made this. Love the videos! Spent hours watching you break them down. Fun stuff.
"King of England should probably speak English" wasn't referencing at all at how the language has changed. It is very, _very_ unlikely that Richard III knew how to speak English, given that he spent (I think) less than a year in total in English soil during his whole life, basically only using England as an ATM to fund his campaigns from France, where he actually lived and ruled from.
Berserkers drank a "magical potion" made most likely of fly agaric mushroom. That functions similar to alchohol and they combined that with a self-induced rage that was built up before battle. Going naked had two advantages. First, they move easier with reduced risk of getting entangled, less chance of overheating and can spend more energy attacking their enemy. Second, in melee combat you will get hurt even if you are wearing a full plate armour. You will get small cuts and bruises. That is normal even in todays combat. Clothes back in those days during military action were normally dirty, even by their standard back in early medieval age. So by going naked there were less chance of getting infections from combat.
The reference to "One of your Things" refers to the Althings, which were roughly equivalent to UN summits, where all the various Jarls and local kings of the Vikings would meet, discuss treaties, feast, and so on.
Fun fact: Richard the Lionheart is also known in Spanish as Ricardo Corazon de León and always thought it sounded as the most telenovelastic name in all of history.
Pits of snakes sites from Wikipedia "A snake pit is, in a literal sense, a hole filled with snakes. In idiomatic speech, "snake pits" are places of horror, torture and death in European legends and fairy tales. The Viking warlord Ragnar Lodbrok is said to have been thrown into a snake pit and died there, after his army had been defeated in battle by King Aelle II of Northumbria."
I've heard berserkers woukd drink mead laced with psychadelic shrooms, but it could have just been them entering a trance-like state where their focus was not self preservation. There's skulls found with teeth having carvings along them, which could have been rubbed in with black coloring minerals or even dirt. They would even chew the edges of their wooden shields as they stared down their enemies. Total insane warriors.
The twisted spine like the end of the Plantagenet line was a reference to Richard III who was the last king of that same line (and is believed to have had scoliosis with many references made to his "hunch back" and uneven shoulders).
9:10 Ragnar's legend _begins_ with his death, provoking his sons to pillage and conquer Britain. Repeat: Ragnar Lodbrok is only remembered because his sons made sure Catholics _would_ remember them. 11:00 'Berserk' literally means 'bear skin' which would be what they wore, _probably_ to serve as a warning to friendly troops not to get too close to the drugged-up veterans. Also known for starting to gnaw and bite at their shields, these guys were pretty definitely chemically in a state of hysterical strength.
I’m pretty sure the ding dang dong is a reference to frere Jacque/brother John nursery rhyme. “Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping? Brother John? Brother John? Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing. Ding dang dong, ding dang dong.” Which also has some confusion to its origin (since Richard is French it could also explain why the rhyme is popular in French.)
Not sure if i got all of them right but Pit full of snakes - Ragnar suppostedly died by being thrown into pit full of snakes Things - "things" were norse meetings i think, im not entirely sure but at least the icelandic parliament that was founded like in 10th century is called Althing No bones - reference to Ivar the Boneless, the viking that arrived in northumbria to avenge Ragnar Also there is some historic base to naked berserkers, though berserkers normally fought in animal pelts
^ Confirming the Things / Althings. Norse community gatherings at which all governmental-type business would be done. ^ Confirming as well the note about berserkers. Some language enthusiasts think the word may come from "bare-sarkers", meaning warriors who fought only in minimal armour, but I don't think anyone has confirmed that, it's just one theory.
They didnt actually strip their clothes off, thats a common missconception due to a missunderstanding in the translation. They were usually armored but also wearing bearskin (some wore wolfskin). Berserk was interpreted to mean "bare shirt" resulting in people believing they were not wearing their shirts. From my understanding the usage of drugs was also a missconception, usually the berserkers just hyped eachother up for long periods of time before a battle, they also usually didnt "go berserk" until close combat, so they would rush headfirst into battle, but once they stood face to face in close quarters they would berserk and scream at the top of their lungs while attacking their enemy with very skilled combat.
So glad to see you had reacted to this! Was just watching your older ERB reactions, and was hoping that you'd have found this one along the lines - it's one of my favorite of all time, even if it is incredibly new, just for how many historical deep cuts there are, paired with some intense disses and flows. (Oh, additionally, if you haven't been told - there are special lyric pages from ERB's website that break down each of the lines and the references behind them! It's super helpful for stuff that doesn't click at first, like the "kid with no bones" line or "whacked by a ten year old", and is a neat niche for learning.)
10:42 they were eating Panther caps and Fly agaric muschrooms, very common mushrooms in the northern hemisphere. It's not fully known if that's true but it's the most accepted theory.
Not sure if anyone in comments said, but the thing the berserkers took that frenzied them for battle, was the fly agaric mushrooms, that raised their body temp hence them being naked they literally feel hot from it. It also heightens aggression to the point its hard to discern friend from foe.
6:54 Yeah, I would agree. At the earliest, Shakespeare's time. Or, at least around Charles I/II's time, if Milton's also a good reference point to go by.
I've always wanted them to do an astronomy battle. I know they did Newton vs. Nye ft. Astrophysics black guy, but that was more of a physics battle, and I'm thinking more along the lines of Galileo vs. Edwin Hubble or Carl Sagan
Yeah I'd say that one is arguably even more of a science communicator battle than a science battle lol, though of course it's rich with sciencey references and I do love the battle. But there's definitely room for more space stuff to be debated and argued over, I agree, would love to see them do more with that theme!
"They go to Constantinople, which is kind of like base camp for the Crusades." It sure was the base camp in the 4th Crusade, poor Roman's always having their empire fracture into pieces, and always coming back together.... until.... well... they didn't.
"I'll twist your spine like the end of the Plantagenet line!" This is actually a really hard bar. The House of Plantagenet was a Royal house whose family held the English throne from 1154, with the upbringing of Henry II, until 1485. Richard III died in battle. Richard III had SEVERE Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis where his entire spine curved. (Look it up, it's crazy) But in this verse, he basically states that he will twist his spine just like Richard the III and end his line. Correct me on that if I'm wrong.
Here's some references that were missed/not explained for those that don't know. 1) Ragnar Lodbrok supposedly died from execution by a pit full of venomous snakes. It also doubles up as a double entendre on Richard saying he's a master of the sword and mace, because mace is also known as pepper spray, and spitting in rap is a way of saying they're rapping hard bars. 2) The "My battering ram slams through your shield wall" has a hidden sexual innuendo, it's actually hotly debated that Richard the Lionheart may have had homosexual affairs with his heterosexual affairs, as per his confessions and penitences. I am sure you can put the reference together. 3) The Things is the Viking's version of like a particular area-wide parliament. Most of the big names in their communities would come to discuss basically anything about daily life in the community. These could be village-wide, municipality-wide, region-wide, or entire country-wide. A lot of the topics came down to the rivalries within the Viking families/clans, trading plans (because yes, Vikings did also trade, not just pillage and burn things to the ground), request for help during times of low supply, and even the Moot, to elect their higher leaders. In a way, they actually did have a democracy similar to how we do, where people that represent us make a lot of law making decisions. Viking leaders were often called Jarls (Earls). 4) Lodbrok's son, Ivar the Boneless, had many reasons why he was nicknamed thus, but one of the most accepted reasons for that alias was due to him having erectile dysfunction. 5) For those that don't know, the "Trinity" plays a double meaning. Firstly it was the holy Trinity in Christianity, y'know, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. The second meaning is that the 3rd Crusades were fought by what was known as the "Holy Trinity", because it included England, France, and Germany. All of which were Christian of sorts. 6) Another reference for those that didn't know, "Whacked by a 10 year old", is because Richard the Lionheart died after being shot in the shoulder by a crossbow, and supposedly the assassin was a small child who wanted vengeance from his parents being killed during the war. Now the age of the child is a little debated, but it was accepted that it couldn't be too young or the child wouldn't even be able to draw the crossbow, even with a stirrup, and it wasn't of fighting man age (14-16) because the investigation report found a child. What's more interesting is that Richard the Lionheart actually forgave the child for shooting him. He gave the boy some money to return home and gave the boy an official pardon for the crime. I believe Richard being honorable as a warrior wanted to die as a warrior, and not from being a feeble old man stabbed in the back in some English court. Richard the Lionheart officially died from the wound festering into gangrene some time later. 7) Richard the Lionheart's only known son, Philip of Cognac, was from an affair he had outside his marriage. 8) The "Plantagenet line" bar is actually a REALLY hard burn. Richard the Lionheart was like the 2nd - 3rd in the line and ended with Richard III, who probably had some form of scoliosis. The skeleton in his tomb has actually been seen with a twisted spine. Which is why Ragnar made that remark about twisting Richard the Lionheart's spine like the end of the Plantagenet line. 9) Shaggy pants like Zoinks, comes from Lodbrok's last name translating into "shaggy-trousers" or something like that 10) The Sean Connery reference is actually because Sean Connery made an appearance during the end of the movie as Richard the Lionheart in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. 11) Much of Ragnar's 2nd verse is actually a play on the French folksong/nursery rhyme Frère Jacques (Brother John). 12) Richard the Lionheart was actually captured and held for ransom by the Duke of Austria, Leopold. I think it's said the money they wanted for Richard's release was so ridiculous that England gave up like 1/4 of their entire wealth for his release. Which of course lead to the rise in taxes in order to recover from such a tremendous debt. Overall as far as the battle goes, I liked Richard's flow more, especially in his 2nd verse, but Ragnar had much more brutal bars.
not sure how long it took to be compiled but there is an erb wiki that could potentially be a useful starting point for looking into some of the references when uncertain :)
There's merit in the idea the berserkers stripped naked. If cloth got into a wound and the wound wasn't cleaned thoroughly (which could be really, really hard) the remaining scraps could fester and cause infection. No clothes, no foreign bodies, reduced risk of infection.
The reference to the pit of snake marks the occasion when a Viking called Ragnar Hairy trousers was executed by being thrown into a pit of Adders ( the only viper in Britain). Richard 1 notoriously spent very little time in England ( he hated the country) and only spoke French. He also preferred the company of his favourites rather than his wife. He used England as his private cash cow. He was killed by crossbow fired by a child because he thought arrogantly he was out of range and therefore wasn’t wearing armour.
The show I saw about the Berserkers, said they would ingest the mushrooms, and then save their pee, and drink that to get the actual effects from the shrooms. The kind they used would have to go through first pass metabolism to change the natural substance into the psychoactive one they wanted. I think it was a documentary about poison and drugs, but I cannot remember for sure.
I give it to Richard for, who invented the royal me? We. Whose the predominantly fictional MC? Thee. That was pretty good, not to mention the other jabs he had at him historically but, man, that won it for Richard for me.
@Mr. Terry History. The pit full of snakes line was a reference to how Ragnar died, because it's believed that Ragnar died in a pit of snakes. The avenged by a kid with no bones line is a reference to Ragnar's son Ivar the boneless.
Medieval History major here. Pit full of snakes is how Ragnar died - according to the chronicles. He was thrown in a pit of generous snakes by King Aelle of North Umbria
Richard had pissed off Duke Leopold of Austria by throwing down Leopold's standard when he took Acre and was accused of orchestrating the murder of Leopold's cousin, Conrad of Montferrat. When the Pope excommunicated Duke Leopold, he sent Richard over to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI until England raised the ransom to get him back.
If you ask me, my opinion on a good ERB match-up, I got a couple off the top of my head. Margaret Thatcher vs. Otto von Bismarck, The Iron Lady vs the Iron Chancellor, Mansa Musa vs Menelik I, more of a pop culture reference with Westside vs Eastside represented with West Africa vs East Africa Mali vs Ethiopia. Benito Mussolini vs Karl Marx, one of the founders of fascism vs. Their enemies the communist, Pachacuti vs Montezuma the two great empires of the Americas before European colonization. That's probably a lot more that can't think of right now but will be pretty cool to see.
I dont remember most of them, but most big Vikings warrior had a title that translated to something like "the tall" or "the boneless" or "the iron fist".
The pit full of snakes reference is because Ragnar is usually said to have died by being thrown into a pit full of snakes by King Ælla of Northumbria in ~865. The person with no bones was Ivar the Boneless, either named so because he was minus one leg or because he literally couldn't get it up...
King Aella of Northumbria executed Ragnar by throwing him into a pit of snakes. It's said that was the impetus for the Great Heathen Army. "Kid with no bones" is Ivar the Boneless, one of the leaders of the Great Heathen Army. The whole "ended worse than Game of Thrones" was pretty much a reference to his time as the main character of the TV show "Vikings". His son Hvitserk killed his ex-wife, Lagertha, who earlier had killed his wife Aslaug. (Wasn't his fault, though. Hvitserk had been messed up psychologically by Ivar and had turned to alcohol and drugs to get away from his suffering, and was hallucinating when he came across Lagertha. He killed her thinking she was Ivar.) (And nobody come at me whining about spoilers. The show's over and has been over for a while now.)
The reference to speaking English was actually the fact that Richard only spoke French. He probably knew how to speak English, but chose to have French as his primary language. It wasn't until around 200 years later that kings of England got back to speaking English as their first language after the Norman invasion. (Henry IV)
"Leaving monks in chunks on Northumbrian lawns" was probably a reference to the 793 raid of Lindisfarne, which is usually referred to as the beginning of the Viking Age.
The pit of snakes is a reference to one of the ways Ragnar was supposedly executed. Boneless refers to one of his sons. Ivar the Boneless. Who was believed to have suffered from the genetic disorder osteogenesis imperfecta. Which make bones very brittle. He couldn't walk and had to be carried or rode in a special sled.
Very late, but when Richard mentions “chomping up your family” he’s also referencing the story/accusation of him being a cannibal. Apparently, while marching, he asked for pork, but there was any available, so he made curry out of a POWs head, and said to his army that while there were Saracens, his army would never be hungry
The Viking warlord Ragnar Lodbrok is said to have been thrown into a snake pit and died there, after his army had been defeated in battle by King Aelle II of Northumbria.
7:10 Also, it's a nod to the fact that Richard was from the Plantagenet dynasty, a Norman dynasty that spoke, well, Norman (medieval language that would later evolve into French).
Given the extremely dubious nature of Ragnar's actual existence, I feel like a better matchup for him would have been King Arthur. The only real records we have of him are stories written in the 13th century, hundreds of years after would have been alive (9th century CE). It would be like if America had no records of its own founding, and then Hollywood came along in the 1980s and made a trilogy of how George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Thomas Jefferson all had the same father, the legendary Ragnar Americabrok, and then people 800 years later were stuck debating the historical merits of this movie trilogy.
Ivar the Boneless is described in the sagas as needing to be carried into battle on the shields of the men, if I'm remembering correctly. Because of this, the most common interpretation is that he had a bone disorder, and he could barely walk without breaking anything. There's an alternative interpretation that he couldn't... raise his sword, let's say. But, that seems to be less supported. Assassin's Creed Valhalla takes an unusual approach in that he's nimble in battle, so he's described as moving as though he has no bones. That doesn't seem to be supported by the literature, though, and most scholars seem to believe that he had brittle bones. Berserkers are thought to have taken fly agaric (the red spotted mushrooms in Mario and Alice in Wonderland) rather than what we know as shrooms, which are chemically different and have different effects. Fly agaric is also a candidate for soma/haoma in Indo-Iranian scripture. It's supposed to affect your conception of relative size in comparison to your environment, as well as having stimulant effects.
I dont know if anyone answered but the "pit of snakes" is a reference to Ragnar´s death, both in the tv show and one of the historical speculations about Ragnar´s death, he was thrown in a pit full of snakes by King Aella of Northumbria (i believe that´s his name ?)
Who won?
yes
New profile pic
We all won
DEE
I originally watched it when it came out, but anyway I think Ragnar Lodbrok won, I feel like his insults were just a lot better than Richard the Lionheart's
Best Bars: Ragnar Lodbrok
Best Flows: Richard The Lionheart
Biggest Loser: Minnesota Vikings
Like #69!
Also, Ragnar’s DING DANG DONG flow in his 2nd verse killed it.
His reaction was priceless xD
Winner: Rise of Kingdoms
Hotel: Trivago
The winner is always Lincoln riding on his eagle.
Probably already mentioned, but one of Ragnar’s sons was named Ivar “The Boneless” Ragnarsson. There are two reasons for this: The Saxons meant it as an insult (boneless…..get it?) while the Norse meant it as his fluid fighting style seeming like he had no bones. In the Vikings show, however, he is called Boneless as he is a cripple, his legs have no use but he is a strategic genius to compensate.
I liked the way that they made ivar in the show, the practical stuff like the order of the raids etc was intact while some family trees where gently changed as well as some individual details such as ivar's crippleness, also lloyd admitted to have gotten the visual and some of the lines from the show(he said it in the making of of the erb)
Historically, he likely either had brittle bone disease, or gigantism to the point he had trouble walking or moving around. He’s said to have been a massive man, or brittle bones would make the most sense. But we know that people with gigantism can often need help moving around as they grow too large for their bones to support. Also, the only battle we have direct accounts of him fighting in, he was being carried on a shield, so yeah. He was more a tactician than a brute warrior. Still badass tho
@@rodneythundercock Funnily enough Rangar is the least historically accurete of them as there there very little documentation on his actual feats while his sons are very well documented. It is said that Ragnar is a collection of many different notable vikings which did many different amazing things such as raid Britain aswell as sieging and conquering Paris. Rollo converting is based on a story that one of the vikings from the siege of Paris switched sides. Ivar is sometimes depicted legless in some of his artworks suggesting amputations but it varies quite a lot artist to artist. His brothers are decently accurate aswell. However it still an adaptation of a norse myth so take all of it with a pinch of salt
@@rocketjumper5419 I was talking about Ivar. I said nothing about Ragnar himself, specifically because we have no actual historical accounts
Better explanation than I gave. Well said.
The use of “cake” after “jaffa” is a reference to the english snacks jaffa cakes, im not sure if anyone else has cleared that up already but I just thought id say because im english and that bar made me smile.
same :)
I thought Jaffa was a type of cake, thanks for confirming my suspicions to an extent
@@rileymobley9570 it’s hard to explain, over here anyway, they are like biscuits that have a soft inside, probably more similar to a cheesecake but its made of one layer of chocolate, some orange jelly like filling, and a biscuit base
I literally had no idea what that was. Thank you
They are a sponge type cake filled with a jam made from jaffa oranges. Then coated in chocolate. They started in 1927 and got really popular in the u.k.
As a Vikings fan that was a cold low blow. Colder than their defense last season. That diss hurt me more than than this Twins season.
That blow was lower than the Timberwolves' win rate
@@mrawesomexyz okay now that's a good one.
Weird how many Minnesotans you can find on TH-cam.
- Chuckles in Patriots -
Well where else would you find them? Watching the Vikings?
The language on the english court at that time was french because of the french influence. That's why the King of England should probably speak english.
Name the monarch that didn't speak French in their own court. In the Netherlands, French was standard until Juliana became queen (1948). Most HRE princes and kings spoke French. Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great spoke French...
You can add Russian court, that speak only French and barely russian. Or Frederik 2 that despite speak German and prefer French.
I think french was the language of most courts. Not just english but i think also germany and stuff. But in the german court, they still spoke german. And as Libermania said, Richards parents were also french. That probably plays a role there too ^^
Also I seem to remember Richard loved Aquitaine way more than England, I think there was even a quote about him being willing to trade all of England for being able to rule Aquitaine. Dude was basically the French king of England.
@@Phantom_of_Black I think i remember something like that. But i wasn't sure if it was accurate when i heard that. (Had nothing to do with the source it came from. I just didn't checked with an second source or read more into that topic)
hey helpful icelandic here Ragnar is said to have died in a pit of snakes. The no bone part is in reference to his son who was Ævar the boneless who could not walk due to his bones.
Ivarr not Ævar.
@@dylanmatthewper2003 Isn't that how You pronounce 'I' in old Norse? Like the old British sailors way of saying yes, "Aye Aye captain."
@@dylanmatthewper2003 Æ's the pronunciation of I in his name
The not being able to walk thing is a myth. There are loads of theories about Ivar’s nickname but the main ones are:
1) Ivar was unable to perform sexually
2) Ivar was so elite at hand to hand combat he was said to be like a snake due to being so nimble and stealthy, and therefore nicknamed boneless
@@thomashills7000 Could just be he didn't eat any cod fish oil which leads to bone deformity that far north. Big problem for in land settlements
Viking (and largely medieval) age history buff here: According to the Sagas, Ragnar died after being captured by King Ælla of Northumbria, who then threw him into a pit of snakes. This launched the Son's of Ragnar invasion where Bjorn Ironside of Sweden, Ivar the Boneless (so called for unknown reasons, possibly due to birth defects), and Halfdan Whiteshirt (Hvitserk) invaded large portions of England as Ragnar had apparently dreamed of the ultimate goal of settling in England due to the land being largely more fertile and hospitable than the Arctic region covering most of Scandinavia.
Ivar the Boneless is said to have been the one to kill Æellla and avenge his father, performing a Blood Eagle on Ælla (very gruesome and interesting form of ritual execution)
The line about Richard not speaking English is because the nobility of England at that time spoke French since the reign of William the Conqueror, Richard in fact mostly lived in France, having two French parents(one from occitane but eh semantics).
not sure but I do believe I heard that the name Ivar the boneless came from the fact that his legs was unusable and he was taken to battle on top of a shield, it is believed his legs bones was primarily just Cartilage, as a birth defect. that however did not prevent him from being a raiding Viking as he was a brilliant strategist, and tactician, in fact other members of his raiders revered him so much they where carrying him on his shield to any place he wanted to go in even when in battle.
Ivar was called "boneless" becouse of he had unbrekable bones. That is popular theory becouse of in saga He was great warrior.
@@ryjolad That's one of my favorite theories on it, but it is also possible it was from people saying he was a coward, or people saying he was incapable in the bedroom.
Even if it didn't start out as a moniker from him being unbeatable, he almost surely turned it into that.
Richard didn’t speak an older form of English, he just didn’t know English.
Yes, and neither did the 5 Kings before him since the Norman Conquest. Even if they did, there would have been little use of it.
@@deadking8224 they spoke French
@@matthart3502 Norman French to be exact
Came to comment this.
Lođbrok literally translates to Shaggy Pants. That is for that Shaggy Zoinks! Line
Ay finally found someone who knows what that bar means :D
@@artsysabs technically, the đ should curve, but I haven't found that symbol on my phone. If you are at a full keyboard, you can type (Alt+2,4,0) to get the proper symbol, the đ is (Alt+2,7,3)
@@artsysabs Thats false, Lodbrok means Shaggy breeches
@@edwardkenway7982 I do not speak Nordic languages, so I will get it a bit wrong. I am learning Irish, though!
@Extreme PlaysYT Minnesota has a team of football players called the Vikings...I do not think they have won the Super Bowl
the pit of snakes was directly talking about Ragnar's death when he was captured by King Aella of Northumbria. The Boneless is a reference to his son Ivar the Boneless who led the Great Heathen Army and conquered the Danelaw until his death. nobody is 100% sure where the nickname of "the boneless" came from. some say it was because he actually couldn't walk because he had weak bones, and some said it was because he was so fluid on the battlefield that he looked like he had no bones
Ivar the boneless...and some people said it was because of erectile disfunction...pick your poison people
Or erectile disfunction 😂
I’m convinced that the fighting style explanation was made up for AC valhalla. I haven’t been able to find any sources for this. Also, we only have a direct account of him actually *fighting* in one battle, during which he was being carried on a shield. He was mostly known and respected for his tactics and wisdom.
@@rodneythundercock yeah I had researched the topic heavily before AC valhalla and found nothing remotely similar to that theory. i was wondering where it came from because everything I found was related to the erectile dysfunction or some kind of bone disease that made it harder to walk or unable to walk all together. he does seem to always be praised for his tactics, though
@@sonofabiscuit873 there is one passage, I wish I could tell you where from. Probably Ragnarssona þáttr that describes him in battle as “like a snake hunting for prey” or some such. And I think that’s where people get it from.
me: watches the intro
Mr Terry: *sad Mr Terry noises*
"the King of England should probably speak English" is a reference to the fact that Richard mostly spoke French, and that the time that he didn't spend crusading was spent in his lands in France.
That's also why at 8:53 they made him say "mon ami" (my friend)
not to mention, he befrended his greatest foe, Salahuddin. That's 100% a stretch, and simply my interpretation.
Salahuddin and Richard the Lionheart exchanged letters and gifts regularly for the rest of their lives, so it would fit, if Ragnar was a worthy foe the crusader king would possibly do the same.
6:34 He didn't speak English due to the simple fact that he wasn't English, he was French. He was from the House of Plantagenet who were from Anjou in France.
11:11 Another joke: The church bells (on towns) were used as alarm whenever something happened, specially when a viking ship was seen on the horizon.
I'm so glad I got to see a Vikings fan watch this and react to it. Lmaoooo
Yeah the pit of snakes was a direct reference about how ragnar died. He was thrown in a pit full of venomous snakes after being captured and tortured by king aelle.
Also, the someone with no bones refers to one of ragnar's son who was called Ivar the boneless :)
Ragnar's legend _begins_ with his death, provoking his sons to pillage and conquer Britain.
Repeat: Ragnar Lodbrok is only remembered because his sons made sure Catholics _would_ remember them.
Damn, Mr Terry took a blow to the jaw in that opening. Richard doesn't care who goes down
I’m not even a Vikings fan, let alone football, but that made me feel the pain that everyone from Minnesota felt
As with all ERB videos, this is pretty dense with references.
Legendarily, Ragnar was thrown in a pit of snakes by the king of Northumbria, and of the sons who came to avenge him, the most successful was Ivar the Boneless (which I consider a pretty badass nickname).
Also, you do know why they're called the Minnesota VIKINGS? There's a particular artifact that's tied to.
Richard the Lionheart was legendarily shot by a kitchenboy, and died of gangrene from the wound. As all Normans, he spoke French natively.
Runes are a VERY interesting topic, if anyone wants to hit me up. I'm no expert, but I can point you along the way. It's not just an alphabet, it's how they're written that's important.
Overall, I gotta hand this one to Ragnar. Better burns.
Commenting to vote for you expounding on runes
Richard wasn’t actually Norman, but was from Anjou (and I believe his mom was actually from occitania in southern France), but did speak French and never really spent a ton of time in England at all.
Well one the possible explanations for the Boneless nickname was erectile dysfunction....
Not that badass lol
You know this reaction is gonna be good when the history teacher doesn't know everything and needs help.
By the way, Ragnar won.
Nah Ragnar's last line was too weak.
@@CrusaderZade Richard spent too much time amping himself up for okay disses- save for one not even aimed at Ragnar at all.
@@CrusaderZade nah, about 50% of Richard's lines was him stroking his ego with the other 50% about dissing Ragnar, in reality Richard was too focused on being a dick that he completely missed the mark... again. XD
Another reactor I saw, a rapper, does much better on breaking down the historical (and other) references in ERB than just about anyone else I've seen.
he lost
I didnt know who these people were this time so i was super stoked to see you made this. Love the videos! Spent hours watching you break them down. Fun stuff.
whenever a new historically charged ERB drops, i'm always excited for mr. Terry to cover it ^^
All of Richard's lines can be understood with the watching of "Vikings"
Also by playing Assassin's Creed Vahalla.
I’m pretty close to Minnesota (on the border in Wisconsin) too, Mr. Terry, so I felt that too
"King of England should probably speak English" wasn't referencing at all at how the language has changed. It is very, _very_ unlikely that Richard III knew how to speak English, given that he spent (I think) less than a year in total in English soil during his whole life, basically only using England as an ATM to fund his campaigns from France, where he actually lived and ruled from.
Nailed it. In France, they have many statues of him. There’s even a statue at the city I came from.
Absolutely correct. He was not known in his time as Richard I of England, but Richard Cœur de Lion in France.
*Richard I
@@lt3746 he was still king of England, he just wanted to conquer so much. Like the french lands he conquered and all the other places.
@@CharlesHapsburg I was more speaking to how he was perceived by many while he was alive.
Berserkers drank a "magical potion" made most likely of fly agaric mushroom. That functions similar to alchohol and they combined that with a self-induced rage that was built up before battle.
Going naked had two advantages.
First, they move easier with reduced risk of getting entangled, less chance of overheating and can spend more energy attacking their enemy.
Second, in melee combat you will get hurt even if you are wearing a full plate armour. You will get small cuts and bruises. That is normal even in todays combat. Clothes back in those days during military action were normally dirty, even by their standard back in early medieval age. So by going naked there were less chance of getting infections from combat.
My second thought after hearing this was "When will Mr. Terry drop his video???"
2:10 - "...the number one Dick." Because his name was Richard. Riiiight.
6:22 - "you *heired* on the side." Wonderful pun!
They did Mr. Terry like that!?
*Sad Minnesota noises*
Kensington noises I'm making.
I heard sad St Peter noises from my buddy when I showed him this. And glorious Fremont noises from my step mother.
The reference to "One of your Things" refers to the Althings, which were roughly equivalent to UN summits, where all the various Jarls and local kings of the Vikings would meet, discuss treaties, feast, and so on.
Fun fact: Richard the Lionheart is also known in Spanish as Ricardo Corazon de León and always thought it sounded as the most telenovelastic name in all of history.
All I could think when I was watching this a couple days ago was "I can't wait until mr. Terry reacts."
Pits of snakes sites from Wikipedia
"A snake pit is, in a literal sense, a hole filled with snakes. In idiomatic speech, "snake pits" are places of horror, torture and death in European legends and fairy tales. The Viking warlord Ragnar Lodbrok is said to have been thrown into a snake pit and died there, after his army had been defeated in battle by King Aelle II of Northumbria."
I've heard berserkers woukd drink mead laced with psychadelic shrooms, but it could have just been them entering a trance-like state where their focus was not self preservation. There's skulls found with teeth having carvings along them, which could have been rubbed in with black coloring minerals or even dirt. They would even chew the edges of their wooden shields as they stared down their enemies. Total insane warriors.
I think the Jaffa line was a double reference. The event and YOGSCAST Simon's favorite food.
We as a people were waiting for you to react to this, and we thank you.
Damn I was just rewatching the erb reactions and now I got this! My favorite history teacher ever
The twisted spine like the end of the Plantagenet line was a reference to Richard III who was the last king of that same line (and is believed to have had scoliosis with many references made to his "hunch back" and uneven shoulders).
9:10
Ragnar's legend _begins_ with his death, provoking his sons to pillage and conquer Britain.
Repeat: Ragnar Lodbrok is only remembered because his sons made sure Catholics _would_ remember them.
11:00 'Berserk' literally means 'bear skin' which would be what they wore, _probably_ to serve as a warning to friendly troops not to get too close to the drugged-up veterans.
Also known for starting to gnaw and bite at their shields, these guys were pretty definitely chemically in a state of hysterical strength.
9:23 Best grumpy cat impression of 2021!
"What drug did Berserk Vikings take?" sounds like a similar thing to PCP in context of what your saying.
Its crazy to see how much your channel has grown since i been here
Keep up the great videos!
The “kid with no bones” line is about Ragnar’s second son Ivar the Boneless Ragnarrson, who was infirm from birth and had trouble walking.
Ding Dang Dong gave me big elementary school flashbacks, singing Frere goddamn Jacques.
Are you sleeping?
Are you sleeping?
Brother John?
Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing
Morning bells are ringing
Ding dang dong
Ding dang dong
@@paulsaxberg6399 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NOW IT'S IN MY FUCKING HEAD
That takes me back
@@lt3746 Takes me straight back to hell.
I actually got the rap battle as an add for Rise of Kingdoms on this video. Lmao
2:40 it’s how Ragnar (mythically?) died
I’m pretty sure the ding dang dong is a reference to frere Jacque/brother John nursery rhyme. “Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping? Brother John? Brother John? Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing. Ding dang dong, ding dang dong.” Which also has some confusion to its origin (since Richard is French it could also explain why the rhyme is popular in French.)
"If I wanted to fight loser vikings, I'd go to Minnesota!"
*Sad Mr. Terry Noises.*
12:27 I wanna see more of the dog
Holy crap good eye! We totally need to see more of the pupper!!!
Hey Mr Terry, just wanted to say I love your videos, keep up the great work!
Not sure if i got all of them right but
Pit full of snakes - Ragnar suppostedly died by being thrown into pit full of snakes
Things - "things" were norse meetings i think, im not entirely sure but at least the icelandic parliament that was founded like in 10th century is called Althing
No bones - reference to Ivar the Boneless, the viking that arrived in northumbria to avenge Ragnar
Also there is some historic base to naked berserkers, though berserkers normally fought in animal pelts
^ Confirming the Things / Althings. Norse community gatherings at which all governmental-type business would be done.
^ Confirming as well the note about berserkers. Some language enthusiasts think the word may come from "bare-sarkers", meaning warriors who fought only in minimal armour, but I don't think anyone has confirmed that, it's just one theory.
They didnt actually strip their clothes off, thats a common missconception due to a missunderstanding in the translation. They were usually armored but also wearing bearskin (some wore wolfskin). Berserk was interpreted to mean "bare shirt" resulting in people believing they were not wearing their shirts.
From my understanding the usage of drugs was also a missconception, usually the berserkers just hyped eachother up for long periods of time before a battle, they also usually didnt "go berserk" until close combat, so they would rush headfirst into battle, but once they stood face to face in close quarters they would berserk and scream at the top of their lungs while attacking their enemy with very skilled combat.
Have you seen the ERB wiki? They break down each line, you could give even deeper info on top of that! And just use it as a reference and help
So glad to see you had reacted to this! Was just watching your older ERB reactions, and was hoping that you'd have found this one along the lines - it's one of my favorite of all time, even if it is incredibly new, just for how many historical deep cuts there are, paired with some intense disses and flows. (Oh, additionally, if you haven't been told - there are special lyric pages from ERB's website that break down each of the lines and the references behind them! It's super helpful for stuff that doesn't click at first, like the "kid with no bones" line or "whacked by a ten year old", and is a neat niche for learning.)
10:42 they were eating Panther caps and Fly agaric muschrooms, very common mushrooms in the northern hemisphere.
It's not fully known if that's true but it's the most accepted theory.
Please react to "How Medieval Kings Would See Today" by Fire of Learning.
Who doesn't love them a bit of Mr terry
Not sure if anyone in comments said, but the thing the berserkers took that frenzied them for battle, was the fly agaric mushrooms, that raised their body temp hence them being naked they literally feel hot from it. It also heightens aggression to the point its hard to discern friend from foe.
6:54
Yeah, I would agree. At the earliest, Shakespeare's time. Or, at least around Charles I/II's time, if Milton's also a good reference point to go by.
Ragnar was sentenced to death by being thrown into a pit of snakes.
Ivaar Ragnarsson was known as "Ivaar the Boneless"
I've always wanted them to do an astronomy battle. I know they did Newton vs. Nye ft. Astrophysics black guy, but that was more of a physics battle, and I'm thinking more along the lines of Galileo vs. Edwin Hubble or Carl Sagan
Yeah I'd say that one is arguably even more of a science communicator battle than a science battle lol, though of course it's rich with sciencey references and I do love the battle. But there's definitely room for more space stuff to be debated and argued over, I agree, would love to see them do more with that theme!
the astrophysics black guy is neil degrasse tyson lol
Ragnar Sigurðsson was his real name. Loðbrok was a nick name meaning “shaggy bridgets/pants”
"They go to Constantinople, which is kind of like base camp for the Crusades."
It sure was the base camp in the 4th Crusade, poor Roman's always having their empire fracture into pieces, and always coming back together.... until.... well... they didn't.
"I'll twist your spine like the end of the Plantagenet line!"
This is actually a really hard bar.
The House of Plantagenet was a Royal house whose family held the English throne from 1154, with the upbringing of Henry II, until 1485. Richard III died in battle. Richard III had SEVERE Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis where his entire spine curved. (Look it up, it's crazy) But in this verse, he basically states that he will twist his spine just like Richard the III and end his line.
Correct me on that if I'm wrong.
Here's some references that were missed/not explained for those that don't know.
1) Ragnar Lodbrok supposedly died from execution by a pit full of venomous snakes. It also doubles up as a double entendre on Richard saying he's a master of the sword and mace, because mace is also known as pepper spray, and spitting in rap is a way of saying they're rapping hard bars.
2) The "My battering ram slams through your shield wall" has a hidden sexual innuendo, it's actually hotly debated that Richard the Lionheart may have had homosexual affairs with his heterosexual affairs, as per his confessions and penitences. I am sure you can put the reference together.
3) The Things is the Viking's version of like a particular area-wide parliament. Most of the big names in their communities would come to discuss basically anything about daily life in the community. These could be village-wide, municipality-wide, region-wide, or entire country-wide. A lot of the topics came down to the rivalries within the Viking families/clans, trading plans (because yes, Vikings did also trade, not just pillage and burn things to the ground), request for help during times of low supply, and even the Moot, to elect their higher leaders. In a way, they actually did have a democracy similar to how we do, where people that represent us make a lot of law making decisions. Viking leaders were often called Jarls (Earls).
4) Lodbrok's son, Ivar the Boneless, had many reasons why he was nicknamed thus, but one of the most accepted reasons for that alias was due to him having erectile dysfunction.
5) For those that don't know, the "Trinity" plays a double meaning. Firstly it was the holy Trinity in Christianity, y'know, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. The second meaning is that the 3rd Crusades were fought by what was known as the "Holy Trinity", because it included England, France, and Germany. All of which were Christian of sorts.
6) Another reference for those that didn't know, "Whacked by a 10 year old", is because Richard the Lionheart died after being shot in the shoulder by a crossbow, and supposedly the assassin was a small child who wanted vengeance from his parents being killed during the war. Now the age of the child is a little debated, but it was accepted that it couldn't be too young or the child wouldn't even be able to draw the crossbow, even with a stirrup, and it wasn't of fighting man age (14-16) because the investigation report found a child. What's more interesting is that Richard the Lionheart actually forgave the child for shooting him. He gave the boy some money to return home and gave the boy an official pardon for the crime. I believe Richard being honorable as a warrior wanted to die as a warrior, and not from being a feeble old man stabbed in the back in some English court. Richard the Lionheart officially died from the wound festering into gangrene some time later.
7) Richard the Lionheart's only known son, Philip of Cognac, was from an affair he had outside his marriage.
8) The "Plantagenet line" bar is actually a REALLY hard burn. Richard the Lionheart was like the 2nd - 3rd in the line and ended with Richard III, who probably had some form of scoliosis. The skeleton in his tomb has actually been seen with a twisted spine. Which is why Ragnar made that remark about twisting Richard the Lionheart's spine like the end of the Plantagenet line.
9) Shaggy pants like Zoinks, comes from Lodbrok's last name translating into "shaggy-trousers" or something like that
10) The Sean Connery reference is actually because Sean Connery made an appearance during the end of the movie as Richard the Lionheart in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
11) Much of Ragnar's 2nd verse is actually a play on the French folksong/nursery rhyme Frère Jacques (Brother John).
12) Richard the Lionheart was actually captured and held for ransom by the Duke of Austria, Leopold. I think it's said the money they wanted for Richard's release was so ridiculous that England gave up like 1/4 of their entire wealth for his release. Which of course lead to the rise in taxes in order to recover from such a tremendous debt.
Overall as far as the battle goes, I liked Richard's flow more, especially in his 2nd verse, but Ragnar had much more brutal bars.
not sure how long it took to be compiled but there is an erb wiki that could potentially be a useful starting point for looking into some of the references when uncertain :)
I didn’t know that existed. Thanks!
1:00 I'd also mention the fact that Richard himself is a Viking descendant and so is every English king and queen from 1066 till now.
"If I want loser Vikings, I'd go to Minnesota"
Only a brick wall can stop you...
Its name is the Eagles
There's merit in the idea the berserkers stripped naked. If cloth got into a wound and the wound wasn't cleaned thoroughly (which could be really, really hard) the remaining scraps could fester and cause infection. No clothes, no foreign bodies, reduced risk of infection.
The reference to the pit of snake marks the occasion when a Viking called Ragnar Hairy trousers was executed by being thrown into a pit of Adders ( the only viper in Britain). Richard 1 notoriously spent very little time in England ( he hated the country) and only spoke French. He also preferred the company of his favourites rather than his wife. He used England as his private cash cow. He was killed by crossbow fired by a child because he thought arrogantly he was out of range and therefore wasn’t wearing armour.
The show I saw about the Berserkers, said they would ingest the mushrooms, and then save their pee, and drink that to get the actual effects from the shrooms. The kind they used would have to go through first pass metabolism to change the natural substance into the psychoactive one they wanted. I think it was a documentary about poison and drugs, but I cannot remember for sure.
It is so sad how many references he misses and that as a history teacher and seemingly fan of vikings 😢
I give it to Richard for, who invented the royal me? We. Whose the predominantly fictional MC? Thee. That was pretty good, not to mention the other jabs he had at him historically but, man, that won it for Richard for me.
“You took Accra and Jaffa like a piece of cake”
Not sure if you have these in America, but it’s a nice reference to Jaffa Cakes
The Vikings reaction was golden.
@Mr. Terry History. The pit full of snakes line was a reference to how Ragnar died, because it's believed that Ragnar died in a pit of snakes. The avenged by a kid with no bones line is a reference to Ragnar's son Ivar the boneless.
Medieval History major here. Pit full of snakes is how Ragnar died - according to the chronicles. He was thrown in a pit of generous snakes by King Aelle of North Umbria
11:58 - from what I remember, Richard ended up being captured on the way back from the Crusades and England had to pay ransom for his return.
He was held inside Burg Trifels (Germany), which I once visited with my girlfriend (it's a rebuilt castle, since the original was destroyed)
Richard had pissed off Duke Leopold of Austria by throwing down Leopold's standard when he took Acre and was accused of orchestrating the murder of Leopold's cousin, Conrad of Montferrat. When the Pope excommunicated Duke Leopold, he sent Richard over to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI until England raised the ransom to get him back.
If you ask me, my opinion on a good ERB match-up, I got a couple off the top of my head. Margaret Thatcher vs. Otto von Bismarck, The Iron Lady vs the Iron Chancellor, Mansa Musa vs Menelik I, more of a pop culture reference with Westside vs Eastside represented with West Africa vs East Africa Mali vs Ethiopia. Benito Mussolini vs Karl Marx, one of the founders of fascism vs. Their enemies the communist, Pachacuti vs Montezuma the two great empires of the Americas before European colonization. That's probably a lot more that can't think of right now but will be pretty cool to see.
Omg, these are great. I hope this gets voted up high and the ERB guys see it.
The kid with no bones reference was about Ragnar's son Ivar the Boneless
I dont remember most of them, but most big Vikings warrior had a title that translated to something like "the tall" or "the boneless" or "the iron fist".
his reaction to the viking comment was sad but funny
This was particularly good on the history side
The pit full of snakes reference is because Ragnar is usually said to have died by being thrown into a pit full of snakes by King Ælla of Northumbria in ~865. The person with no bones was Ivar the Boneless, either named so because he was minus one leg or because he literally couldn't get it up...
King Aella of Northumbria executed Ragnar by throwing him into a pit of snakes. It's said that was the impetus for the Great Heathen Army. "Kid with no bones" is Ivar the Boneless, one of the leaders of the Great Heathen Army. The whole "ended worse than Game of Thrones" was pretty much a reference to his time as the main character of the TV show "Vikings". His son Hvitserk killed his ex-wife, Lagertha, who earlier had killed his wife Aslaug. (Wasn't his fault, though. Hvitserk had been messed up psychologically by Ivar and had turned to alcohol and drugs to get away from his suffering, and was hallucinating when he came across Lagertha. He killed her thinking she was Ivar.) (And nobody come at me whining about spoilers. The show's over and has been over for a while now.)
The reference to speaking English was actually the fact that Richard only spoke French. He probably knew how to speak English, but chose to have French as his primary language. It wasn't until around 200 years later that kings of England got back to speaking English as their first language after the Norman invasion. (Henry IV)
"Leaving monks in chunks on Northumbrian lawns" was probably a reference to the 793 raid of Lindisfarne, which is usually referred to as the beginning of the Viking Age.
The pit of snakes is a reference to one of the ways Ragnar was supposedly executed.
Boneless refers to one of his sons. Ivar the Boneless. Who was believed to have suffered from the genetic disorder osteogenesis imperfecta. Which make bones very brittle. He couldn't walk and had to be carried or rode in a special sled.
Richard I was French, hence the line about him not speaking English and him calling Ragnar "mon ami"
Very late, but when Richard mentions “chomping up your family” he’s also referencing the story/accusation of him being a cannibal. Apparently, while marching, he asked for pork, but there was any available, so he made curry out of a POWs head, and said to his army that while there were Saracens, his army would never be hungry
The Viking warlord Ragnar Lodbrok is said to have been thrown into a snake pit and died there, after his army had been defeated in battle by King Aelle II of Northumbria.
7:10 Also, it's a nod to the fact that Richard was from the Plantagenet dynasty, a Norman dynasty that spoke, well, Norman (medieval language that would later evolve into French).
"You raised your army by raising english taxes, I raised my army taxing English asses with my axes!"
Ivar the Bonless, ragnars son, said to have no bones in his legs (probably just couldn't use them) brilliant tactician though
Given the extremely dubious nature of Ragnar's actual existence, I feel like a better matchup for him would have been King Arthur.
The only real records we have of him are stories written in the 13th century, hundreds of years after would have been alive (9th century CE). It would be like if America had no records of its own founding, and then Hollywood came along in the 1980s and made a trilogy of how George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Thomas Jefferson all had the same father, the legendary Ragnar Americabrok, and then people 800 years later were stuck debating the historical merits of this movie trilogy.
Ivar the Boneless is described in the sagas as needing to be carried into battle on the shields of the men, if I'm remembering correctly. Because of this, the most common interpretation is that he had a bone disorder, and he could barely walk without breaking anything. There's an alternative interpretation that he couldn't... raise his sword, let's say. But, that seems to be less supported. Assassin's Creed Valhalla takes an unusual approach in that he's nimble in battle, so he's described as moving as though he has no bones. That doesn't seem to be supported by the literature, though, and most scholars seem to believe that he had brittle bones.
Berserkers are thought to have taken fly agaric (the red spotted mushrooms in Mario and Alice in Wonderland) rather than what we know as shrooms, which are chemically different and have different effects. Fly agaric is also a candidate for soma/haoma in Indo-Iranian scripture. It's supposed to affect your conception of relative size in comparison to your environment, as well as having stimulant effects.
Saw this ERB when it first came out, but now that I'm watching Vinland Saga I'm getting some of these references. Ha. Funny.
WE BACK BABEY
The no bones part was because one of his sons was named Ivar the boneless.
I dont know if anyone answered but the "pit of snakes" is a reference to Ragnar´s death, both in the tv show and one of the historical speculations about Ragnar´s death, he was thrown in a pit full of snakes by King Aella of Northumbria (i believe that´s his name ?)