The Sea Wolves Quotes

“Wake early if you want another man’s life or land. No land for the lazy wolf. No battle’s won in bed.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“Wake early if you want another man’s life or land. No land for the lazy wolf. No battle’s won in bed.”  – Edda of Sæmund the Wise, a collection of the sayings of Odin Just”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“Nowhere else in Europe at the time, would a woman be allowed to own land much less rule over it.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“No matter how expedient his reasons, Charles was unwisely trusting gold to do the work of steel.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“Many have been brought to death by overconfidence." -The Saga of Grettir the Strong”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“The overpraised are the worst deceivers." -The Saga of Grettir the Strong”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“One Icelandic man was apparently mocked as a ‘child-lover’ because he refused to participate in the sport of tossing captured babies into the air and catching them on the point of a spear. 9”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“The Laxdæla Saga tells the story of Olaf the Peacock who got hopelessly lost in a fog and drifted for days. When it finally lifted, there was a heated debate about what direction to go. The crew voted for a particular direction and informed Olaf of their choice. The grizzled captain ignored them and told his veteran navigator to pick the direction. 'I want only the shrewdest one to decide', he said, 'because in my opinion, the council of fools is all the more dangerous the more of them there are.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“A measure of their success can be found in the anxious prayers that soon echoed from European churches. The abbey of St. Vaast on the northern coast of France included in its daily chants the phrase “Deliver us, God, from the savage race of Northmen which lays waste our realms.”2 It was a sentiment that many would soon share, from Constantinople in the east to the Americas in the west.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“Fittingly, Harald's name today is ubiquitous as a technology that unites disparate devices. Begun in 1994 by the Swedish company Ericsson, Bluetooth passes information wirelessly between phones and computers regardless of operating system or manufacturer. Just as the tenth century Viking king united fierce rivals, a Samsung phone will now communicate with an Apple computer. The two runes that make up the modern symbol for Bluetooth technology are the king's initials. 176.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“The most frightening thing about the Vikings was that almost nothing about them was known.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“No better burden can a man carry on the road than a store of common sense.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“These pursuits sound brutal to our ears, but in other ways the Vikings were surprisingly modern. Unlike the usual stereotype of a rude barbarian, they were very conscious of their appearance and had excellent hygiene.10 They carefully groomed themselves and generally bathed at least once a day with a lye-rich soap that both bleached their hair and cut down on lice. Highly prized tweezers, razors, combs, and even ear cleaners have all been found in Viking excavations.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“Wake early if you want another man’s life or land. No land for the lazy wolf. No battle’s won in bed.” – Edda of Sæmund the Wise, a collection of the sayings of Odin”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“I want only the shrewdest one to decide', he said, 'because in my opinion, the council of fools is all the more dangerous the more of them there are.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“Hastein had already made a nuisance of himself along both banks of the river. The Norman monk, Dudo of Saint-Quentin, described him as ‘accursed, headstrong, extremely cruel, and harsh’, and then, perhaps fearing that his audience wouldn't get the point without further elaboration, continued ‘destructive, troublesome, wild, ferocious, infamous, inconstant, brash, conceited and lawless, death-dealing, rude, a rebellious traitor and kindler of evil, a double-faced hypocrite, and ungodly, arrogant, seductive and foolhardy deceiver, a lewd, unbridled, contentious rascal’. Clearly Ragnar had chosen his son's mentor well.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“The Danes of Yorkshire may have still gone by Viking names and abided by Viking law, but they no longer considered themselves Vikings. For the most part they had accepted Christianity and developed a settled, landed class. They no longer viewed the adventurers from Norway or Ireland as kinsmen, seeing them instead as disruptive forces, if not outright enemies. They preferred the stable, Christian kings of Wessex to the violent sea-kings of the north, and that realization marked the first real assimilation of the Danelaw into the kingdom of England.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“Magnus, known as ‘the Good’,”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“that he was at times a divisive, grasping ruler "slightly addicted to concubines" – were quietly dropped.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“that the army he commanded at Stiklestad was made up largely of foreign pagans,”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“It gladdens me to know that Odin makes ready the benches for a banquet. Soon we shall be drinking ale from the curved horns. The champion who comes into Valhalla does not lament his death. I shall not enter his hall with words of fear upon my lips. The Æsir will welcome me. Death comes without lamenting. Eager am I to depart. The Valkyries summon me home. I laugh as I die.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“The monastery of Noirmoutier, on an island at the mouth of the Loire, was sacked every year from 819 to 836.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“the council of fools is all the more dangerous the more of them there are.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“One Icelandic man was apparently mocked as a ‘child-lover’ because he refused to participate in the sport of tossing captured babies into the air and catching them on the point of a spear.9”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“The youngest of twelve sons, Brian had survived a Viking attack in his youth and had been educated in a monastery in Munster where he learned to play the harp; after his death the instrument was adopted as a symbol of Ireland in his honor.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“If he had really won Norway for a woman's love, it was the highest dowry Harald ever paid. Over the course of his fifty years he allegedly collected two hundred wives and had more sons than he knew what to do with. Even three generations later, nearly every jarl in Norway could credibly claim to be related to the first king.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“The Khazars provided an emporium for the northern goods that the Swedes brought, but more importantly, they gave the Rus access to the far more lucrative markets of the Muslim world where the Rus could sell their slaves. The bulk of these unfortunates were acquired by the Rus from the Slavic populations of present day Russia, and were destined for the markets of Baghdad. The scale of this slave trade – and its profitability – can be glimpsed by the amount of silver that made its way back to Sweden. More than ten thousand Islamic silver coins have been found in various hoards, surely only a fraction of what was acquired. The Arab geographer Ibn Rustah claimed that slaves were virtually the only thing the Rus cared to import. "They sail their ships", he wrote, "to ravage the Slavs...”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“The first Vikings to reach Iceland, therefore, did so purely by accident. Viking sailors reckoned through careful observation, and trial and error, not sophisticated navigational tools. Land was found by noting changes in the color of water, differences in the flight patterns of birds, and the presence of driftwood. The Vikings calculated latitude by the midday sun during the day, and by the stars at night. If neither of those two options were available, they relied on instinct. Skippers were notoriously pragmatic. The Laxdæla Saga tells the story of Olaf the Peacock who got hopelessly lost in a fog and drifted for days. When it finally lifted, there was a heated debate about what direction to go. The crew voted for a particular direction and informed Olaf of their choice. The grizzled captain ignored them and told his veteran navigator to pick the direction. 'I want only the shrewdest one to decide', he said, 'because in my opinion, the council of fools is all the more dangerous the more of them there are.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“If brute force wouldn't suffice, however, there was always the famous Viking cunning. The fleet was put to anchor and under a flag of truce some Vikings approached the gate. Their leader, they claimed, was dying and wished to be baptized as a Christian. As proof, they had brought along the ailing Hastein on a litter, groaning and sweating.  The request presented a moral dilemma for the Italians. As Christians they could hardly turn away a dying penitent, but they didn't trust the Vikings and expected a trick. The local count, in consultation with the bishop, warily decided to admit Hastein, but made sure that he was heavily guarded. A detachment of soldiers was sent to collect Hastein and a small retinue while the rest of the Vikings waited outside.  Despite the misgivings, the people of Luna flocked to see the curiosity of a dreaded barbarian peacefully inside their city. The Vikings were on their best behavior as they were escorted to the cathedral, remaining silent and respectful. Throughout the service, which probably lasted a few hours, Hastein was a picture of reverence and weakness, a dying man who had finally seen the light. The bishop performed the baptism, and the count stood in as godfather, christening Hastein with a new name. When the rite had concluded, the Vikings respectfully picked up the litter and carried their stricken leader back to the ships.  That night, a Viking messenger reappeared at the gates, and after thanking the count for allowing the baptism, sadly informed him that Hastein had died. Before he expired, however, he had asked to be given a funeral mass and to be buried in the holy ground of the cathedral cemetery.  The next day a solemn procession of fifty Vikings, each dressed in long robes of mourning, entered the city carrying Hastein's corpse on a bier. Virtually all the inhabitants of the city had turned out to witness the event, joining the cavalcade all the way to the cathedral. The bishop, surrounded by a crowd of monks and priests bearing candles, blessed the coffin with holy water, and led the entire procession inside.  As the bishop launched into the funerary Mass, reminding all good Christians to look forward to the day of resurrection, the coffin lid was abruptly thrown to the ground and a very much alive Hastein leapt out. As he cut down the bishop, his men threw off their cloaks and drew their weapons. A few ran to bar the doors, the rest set about slaughtering the congregation.  At the same time – perhaps alerted by the tolling bell – Bjorn Ironside led the remaining Vikings into the city and they fanned out, looking for treasure. The plundering lasted for the entire day. Portable goods were loaded onto the ships, the younger citizens were spared to be sold as slaves, and the rest were killed. Finally, when night began to fall, Hastein called off the attack. Since nothing more could fit on their ships, they set fire to the city and sailed away.97 For the next two years, the Norsemen criss-crossed the Mediterranean, raiding both the African and European coasts. There are even rumors that they tried to sack Alexandria in Egypt, but were apparently unable to take it by force or stealth.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

“After dispatching what little resistance they found the Vikings settled down to the important work of plundering the wealthy homes of the many aristocrats and silk merchants. The fittest and most attractive citizens were loaded on to ships and sent to the busy Muslim slave markets to the west.”
― Lars Brownworth, The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings