whats with the viking influence

[GrimGrimoire]

Mongolians?
Try Asia.

By the year 1250, they were already invading Eastern European countries.

You are right, and I know that.
After all, I am a major history nerd.
However I the post that I replied to meant civilisations based in Europa, and though the Mongolians did indeed invade parts of eastern Europa, they where they largely operated in Asia and is historically viewed as an early Asian superpower.

 

[arealperson]

I find it interesting that you credit Blizzard for the whole Viking thing, without pointing out The Lost Vikings, which many people think of as their first game.

The reason that Vikings (or the Norse, as some point out) are so influential is as others have said, is because of the western world's Euopean origins with much of the times' historical records more well preserved than other regions.  But yeah, the Mongols get a raw deal, I hear you, man.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I've kinda noticed recently that any game, especially RPG's that are set in the northern region of a world always have viking influence. the earliest game ive seen do this was warcraft 3: the frozen throne. is this everyone cashing in on blizzards idea or did someone do it before them?

Simply put, the Norse were an interesting and far reaching culture, perhaps one of the most adventurous for their time. The time of the Viking. Viking as I understand it isn't who they were, but rather a word to describe the passage to manhood. They left home to seek out the unknown, bringing back pieces of other cultures and stories. Watch the 13th Warrior with Antonio Banderas. Its a Hollywood production, but it is based off of Eaters of the Dead, a book by Michael Crichton who wrote it from the journal of the Arab in the story.
Most people think the Norse were brutal and evil people, raping and pillaging all they came across, but in reality they were diplomatic for the most part, at least until someone decided to fight them. Then it was on.
I remember hearing from a history major that the reason the "Vikings" got a bad name was because of the English who apparently decided to shoot arrows at the incoming Norse boats, and the Norse retaliated by destroying villages who fired upon them. I'm not 100% sure thats accurate but it sounds reasonable.

TL;DR: The reason they're used for northern climate games is because out of all other medieval and previous era cultures, they were the most outgoing and non-isolationist, thus influencing a lot of history even though they were a small country. Plus the Norse are BADASS, and gave birth to the term Berserker.

 

[JasonKaotic]

In short, vikings are awesome.
Does anything else need to be said?

 

[The-Epicly-Named-Man]

I would hardly count Skyrim as enough evidence to suggest a new trend based on Norse culture. If you want to know why Bethesda decided to set their Northern region as the stage for the next Elder Scrolls game then I could only speculate, but it may be to do with the colder winters regions bordering the Atlantic have been experiencing in recent years.

Edit:

were there any other prominent civilizations in the northern region during the dark ages? i hardly doubt it...

The Celts, the Goths, the Gauls, The Batavians, the Saksens, The Germanic people, need I go on? There are many subgroups as well, like the Helvetians (Celtic tribes which are now called the Swiss).

Let's not forget the Gaels either.

 

[mrdude2010]

Not a ton of other prominent northern civilizations. You do see some celtic influence on the northern territories of Oblivion, however.

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

if you live somehwere cold and mountainy you wear thick furs and probably grwo a beard to keep warm
thats the viking influence right there

I just kept reading this as "grow a beard or two" and being really confused.

That's all I had to say. Carry on!

 

[kypsilon]

Well, it's a short list of northern-based societies of some kind, and it was probably a toss-up between the Vikings and the Eskimos. So you tell me which one seems a better fit for a high fantasy world. The axe wielders who rampage across the seas, or the seal clubbers who live in igloos.

 

[thespyisdead]

were there any other prominent civilizations in the northern region during the dark ages? i hardly doubt it...

The Celts, the Goths, the Gauls, The Batavians, the Saksens, The Germanic people, need I go on? There are many subgroups as well, like the Helvetians (Celtic tribes which are now called the Swiss).

to correct: the Gauls are a group of Celtic people, and the rest are Germanic people.

besides vikings are easier to depict: just add horns and you have a viking, though this is historically incorrect

 

[Chri625w]

just to be clear vikings were there before the middle ages and before knights

OT- vikings were a huge influence in europe, hell they even dicovered america because they sailed the wrong way. Russia was pretty much the vikings b*tch at that point aswell as most of germany all the way down to spain. they were also the last people that succesfully invaded the UK.

Edit: vikings didnt have horns on their helms it was very umm.. stupid.. the enemies whould simply grap the horns.

 

[Smeggs]

Vikings are boss.

 

[Saippua]

To all those mention mongols, they lived on the steppe not on the taiga after which the northern parts of all fantasy worlds ever tend to be modeled.

 

[loc978]

Spoiler: snip

I've kinda noticed recently that any game, especially RPG's that are set in the northern region of a world always have viking influence. the earliest game ive seen do this was warcraft 3: the frozen throne.

is this everyone cashing in on blizzards idea or did someone do it before them?

Well, in gaming, there were plenty of old titles with viking flavorings, such as any RTS with a Norse faction (Age of Mythology springs instantly to mind)... but if you want to talk older media... Marvel comics. Thor. 1962.

 

[IsraelRocks]

As a response to someone saying about a hot girl that she is to young : "someone has to ride the ponies as well"

cracked me up

 

[Phas]

I've kinda noticed recently that any game, especially RPG's that are set in the northern region of a world always have viking influence. the earliest game ive seen do this was warcraft 3: the frozen throne. is this everyone cashing in on blizzards idea or did someone do it before them?

Simply put, the Norse were an interesting and far reaching culture, perhaps one of the most adventurous for their time. The time of the Viking. Viking as I understand it isn't who they were, but rather a word to describe the passage to manhood. They left home to seek out the unknown, bringing back pieces of other cultures and stories. Watch the 13th Warrior with Antonio Banderas. Its a Hollywood production, but it is based off of Eaters of the Dead, a book by Michael Crichton who wrote it from the journal of the Arab in the story.
Most people think the Norse were brutal and evil people, raping and pillaging all they came across, but in reality they were diplomatic for the most part, at least until someone decided to fight them. Then it was on.
I remember hearing from a history major that the reason the "Vikings" got a bad name was because of the English who apparently decided to shoot arrows at the incoming Norse boats, and the Norse retaliated by destroying villages who fired upon them. I'm not 100% sure thats accurate but it sounds reasonable.

TL;DR: The reason they're used for northern climate games is because out of all other medieval and previous era cultures, they were the most outgoing and non-isolationist, thus influencing a lot of history even though they were a small country. Plus the Norse are BADASS, and gave birth to the term Berserker.

Part of the reason for their bad reputation(or awesome reputation based on who you are) is because they burned churches down when they invaded... somewhere I can't remember and lets just say the church didn't like that and basically demonized them.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Not a ton of other prominent northern civilizations. You do see some celtic influence on the northern territories of Oblivion, however.

If you're talking about the knotwork patterns, the Norse also used those.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

were there any other prominent civilizations in the northern region during the dark ages? i hardly doubt it...

Scotland and Ireland? I suppose fantasy has been borrowing from gaelic culture since Tolkein. Still, there was a lot of cultures kicking about at the time. People have the idea that everyone just sat around picking their noses for centuries for some reason but that's really a bit of a myth. There were plenty of burgeoning cultures besides the vikings at the time.

Vikings have always had a reputation for being wild and warlike so they tend to get used when the author wants those connotations. Like Nords in the Elder Scrolls I guess. Plus lots of stuff (like LotR) was written by brits, and Scandinavia being north of Britain, and also the viking invasions, that's where the 'wild men of the north' trope comes from.

 

[skywolfblue]

Because Norse Culture and Mythology are 'DA BOMB. I love it.

 

[Robert Ewing]

The 'Norse' where a very prominent northern civilization, if not the most successful of the dark ages. And the dark ages is the influence for the setting of most fantasy games, Including skyrim.

Medieval times are the favorite, and what better way to personify a northern medieval civilization than a Norse one?

And I don't think they are actually called Vikings. The Vikings where just Norse people who explored, and conquered. (Mainly the British isles.) Screaming the word Vikingr was basically an old English 'get the fuck out now' siren, Because Britain was still essentially swimming around in their own shit.

The Norse actually where incredibly expansive, and successful, a lot more successful than people realize.

You think they just stuck with Scandinavia, but oooh no. They've been found to have raided places in North Africa, Turkey (or the Ottoman) and have recently been found to have raided some native Inuit Indian tribes in North America regularly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Viking_Expansion.svg Check it.

 

[DarkPanda XIII]

If you're talking about helmets with horns and often didn't carry shields but just took a hit? Them be Vikings

For the last time, Vikings did not have helmets with horns, They just had normal helmets! I seriously can't understand why people keep getting this wrong every time.

Oh? And were you there when the Vikings did their raid and such? There is always a reason why a cliche gets mustered into a scenario. Could have been one of them wearing the helmet to try and intimidate a village further, but it really was the only guy who ever really wore it.

-Or- it was stolen off of the Germanic people just due South, as Germans were noted to carry them like one age before. An Vikings pillaged and looted and wore things that would fit them because it was one hell of a haul. Just don't tell me that the Vikings absolutely never wore one in their lives.

Edit: And due to very light research, horned helmets are usually ornamental and are often etched with Gold. Yeah, Vikings had a crapload of horned helmets (even if they didn't wear them)