The attempt to make the Vikings into mere gentle farmers is based on the recognition that in fact a lot of people have Viking DNA. but that is no reason to assume that the Vikings all settled down, some may have, but it's pretty easy to explain vast amounts of Viking DNA apparent among the peoples of the area where they appeared. Attacking armies are notorious for the sexual battery of the inhabitants of the places they pillage & plunder, and these were wild & healthy males without much in the way of scruples it appears - so what would be the likely result of their invasion ? Sorry Norsemen - your people of that era were not the nice guys, altho many may have converted to Christianity later & become better humans ! Nobody blames current Norsemen for anything their ancestors may have done BTW - there is nothing anybody can do to change history & humans have been bad worldwide in the past !
Indeed - I bet the Saxons, Jutes, and Angles were capable of some brutality too :) But the Vikings must have been especially bad on occasions to get those write ups. As you say - history can't be changed.
The attempt to make the Vikings into mere gentle farmers is based on the recognition that in fact a lot of people have Viking DNA. but that is no reason to assume that the Vikings all settled down, some may have, but it's pretty easy to explain vast amounts of Viking DNA apparent among the peoples of the area where they appeared. Attacking armies are notorious for the sexual battery of the inhabitants of the places they pillage & plunder, and these were wild & healthy males without much in the way of scruples it appears - so what would be the likely result of their invasion ? Sorry Norsemen - your people of that era were not the nice guys, altho many may have converted to Christianity later & become better humans ! Nobody blames current Norsemen for anything their ancestors may have done BTW - there is nothing anybody can do to change history & humans have been bad worldwide in the past !
Indeed - I bet the Saxons, Jutes, and Angles were capable of some brutality too :) But the Vikings must have been especially bad on occasions to get those write ups. As you say - history can't be changed.