Vikings: between reality and film fiction

Magistrsko delo na podlagi virov in literature predstavlja življenje Vikingov. Ključni vir v našem primeru je predstavljala serija Vikingi, opirali pa smo se tudi na sage, ki opisujejo ljudi ali dogodke v vikinškem življenju. V prvem delu so tako opisani splošni podatki o Vikingih, ki so potrebni za razumevanje njihovega življenja in razmišljanja. V osrednjem delu pa je naloga osredotočena na tematiko, ki je v seriji v ospredju, in sicer na vojskovanje ter na odnose s celinsko Evropo. Vikingi so bili Skandinavci, združeni iz treh držav. Na začetku vikinške dobe, ki se je začela leta 800, je bilo teh ljudi na tem območju malo. Kasneje se je to zaradi ugodnih razmer spremenilo in njihovo število je začelo naraščati. Vse to je privedlo do njihove ekspanzije. Iskali so si nova ozemlja za naselitev, poleg tega pa so hrepeneli po materialnih dobrinah, ki so jih pridobili na roparskih pohodih. Vikingi so se tako odlikovali na vojaškem področju. Bili so pravi pomorščaki. Želja po odkrivanju novih ozemelj jih je pripeljala do tega, da so izpopolnili svojo tehniko gradnje ladij. Pri odkrivanju novih držav so naleteli na nove kulture, s katerimi so trčili na svojih pohodih. Sprva so na zahodu prišli do Anglije in spoznali novo vero: krščanstvo. To je bilo za njih nekaj povsem novega, saj so bili sami pogani. Njihova mitologija je bila obsežna, poznali so širok spekter bogov. Verjeli so, da ti bogovi krojijo njihova življenja. V njih so iskali vzor in pojasnila za določene dogodke. Po Angliji je bil njihov cilj pot do današnje Francije, kjer so naleteli na precejšen odpor in so se morali v tehniki vojskovanja izpopolniti. Kmalu jim tudi Pariz ni bil dovolj in pot jih je vodila dalje.The master\u27s thesis presents the life of Vikings, based on sources and literature. The key source in our case was the television series Vikings, and we also relied on sagas describing people and events in the life of Vikings. The first part of the thesis describes some general information about Vikings that are vital for the understanding of their life and way of thinking. In the middle part, the thesis focuses on the themes that are in the foreground of the television series, i.e. warfare and the relations with continental Europe. Vikings were Scandinavian, joined from three countries. At the beginning of the Viking era, which began in 800, there were not many of these people in this area. Later, this changed because of good conditions, and their numbers began to rise. All of this led to their expansion. They were seeking for new land to settle and, in addition, longed for the material goods that they acquired during their raids. Vikings were also acknowledged on the military area. They were true seafarers. Their desire for discovering new lands led them to perfect their ship building techniques. During their explorations, they came across new cultures with which they crashed on their raids. First, they reached England West of them and met a new religion: Christianity. This was something completely new for them, since they were Pagans themselves. Their mythology was vast, and they knew a wide range of gods. They believed that these gods shape their lives. In these gods, Vikings saw role models and sought explanations for certain events. After England, their next objective was a way to modern-day France where they came across significant resistance, and therefore they had to better their warfare. Soon, even Paris was not enough for them, and their path led them farther