Vous savez comment les Vikings sont souvent associés à la Scandinavie et à leurs voyages épiques à travers les mers ? Eh bien, il s'avère qu'il y a une connexion viking moins connue juste à New York ! Au 9ème siècle, des explorateurs nordiques auraient débarqué dans la région que nous appelons aujourd'hui New York, bien avant Colomb ou tout autre Européen. Des découvertes archéologiques comme une pièce norse et une pierre runique dans la vallée de l'Hudson fournissent des indices alléchants. Alors, même si nous pensons généralement aux gratte-ciels et aux métros lorsque nous pensons à New York, c'est assez cool d'imaginer des Vikings arpenter ces mêmes rues il y a plus de mille ans ! Animation créée par Sympa.
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Nos réseaux sociaux :
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Stock de fichiers (photos, vidéos et autres):
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https://www.eastnews.ru
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Si tu en veux encore plus, fais un tour ici:
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FunTranscript
00:00The authorities of a city in the north-west of Poland have decided to build an observation tower in a public park.
00:06Nothing special so far, is it?
00:09But then, a local archaeologist started digging.
00:12And apparently, he found the remains of a fort.
00:15And not just any fort.
00:18The legendary Jomsborg, or as some call it, the medieval New York of the Vikings.
00:23Discoveries related to the Vikings are quite common in this region.
00:27Archaeologists suspected for a long time that the Polish island of Wolin could be the site of this legendary city.
00:34And the inhabitants believed it too.
00:37Every year, they organize the largest Viking festival on the continent.
00:41People dress up and play Vikings the time of the festivities.
00:45The period we are talking about is the 10th century.
00:48According to researchers, Jomsborg was prosperous at that time, if it existed.
00:53But no one is sure.
00:55The mystery persists for more than half a millennium.
00:58The two big questions that torment historians concern the existence and exact location of the fortress.
01:04The first historical documents that mention the city date back to the 12th century.
01:09Recently, a gold disc was discovered in Sweden.
01:13It contained the names of Jomsborg and Harald with blue teeth.
01:17Does the family name of this man tell you anything?
01:20Oh yes!
01:21The Bluetooth technology we use today bears his name.
01:24It was a Danish king who, it seems, also reigned over Jomsborg.
01:29Historians tell us that he lived in the 10th century.
01:32Just when the legendary city of the Vikings reached its peak.
01:36None of the historical sources mention the exact location of the city.
01:40The ancient texts describe Jomsborg as a place of dynamic trade developed around a fortress.
01:46The city had thousands of inhabitants and a dock for docking ships.
01:51So it had to be somewhere along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea.
01:55But the Polish section of the coast is more than four times longer than the Grand Canyon.
02:00The city could be anywhere in the medieval Wendland.
02:04Today, this region is divided between Germany and Poland.
02:09It is Pomerania.
02:11Fortunately for archaeologists, there are clues.
02:14The Polish city that houses the fortress recently discovered is located near a lagoon.
02:19According to ancient sources, the city could accommodate hundreds of ships.
02:23The sagas, which are epics in Old Norse, estimate the total number of ships at 360.
02:29A lagoon is the perfect place to dock a large fleet.
02:32The waters are very calm there.
02:34There are no big waves like in the middle of the sea.
02:36And since we are talking about the sea, some think that the city is now under water.
02:41The site would be located off the northwest coast of the island of Østdøm.
02:45Today, this area is submerged.
02:48Let's assume that Jomsborg really existed.
02:51Who lived there?
02:52The name of its inhabitants is not very imaginative.
02:55The Jomsvikings.
02:57These people are just as mysterious as their legendary cities.
03:01We talk about them in sagas and legends.
03:04Some runic stones.
03:06Straight stones.
03:07Engraved with runic inscriptions.
03:09Mention battles to which these Vikings would have taken part.
03:13The runic alphabet was used by the Germanic peoples, including the Vikings.
03:17Before they adopted Latin writing.
03:21And that's about it.
03:22There is no archaeological evidence proving that the Jomsvikings really existed.
03:28If these myths and legends are true, then Jomsborg really looked like New York.
03:34All the nationalities having historical links with the region lived there.
03:38Germans, Slaves and Vikings.
03:41Now, keep in mind that Viking was not a nationality, but rather a profession.
03:46The center of activity of the Vikings was in present-day Sweden and Denmark.
03:50Many Vikings had Scandinavian origins, but not all.
03:55In terms of genes, they were rather mixed.
03:58Scientists have even found evidence that some Vikings came from southern Europe.
04:03But they did not wear horns.
04:06We owe this image to the operas of the 19th century.
04:09The real Vikings wore...
04:12simple iron helmets equipped with nasal protection.
04:17The Jomsvikings were a bit like a fraternity.
04:20And like in any community, they had to obey certain rules.
04:24One of them stipulated that you had to be brave.
04:27If your opponent was not taller than you, and he did not have better weapons,
04:31you were not allowed to flee.
04:33It seems a bit far-fetched, but it was a true rule of Viking conduct.
04:38In addition, these warriors could only leave the city for a maximum of three days.
04:43A longer absence required the permission of the elders.
04:47And it was forbidden to be in conflict with another member of the fraternity.
04:51Forgiven and forgotten seemed to be the motto of the Jomsvikings.
04:55These are good rules, but Jomsborg did not last very long.
04:59It only existed for about 85 years.
05:02This is the average life expectancy in the European Union today.
05:06Basically, a human generation.
05:09In fact, the whole Viking era was rather short.
05:12Just a little more than two centuries in total.
05:15But this time was enough for many legends to be born.
05:18Vikings are omnipresent in popular culture.
05:21There was a TV series, Vikings, and a film, The Norseman.
05:26Even the animated film Dragons has a Viking protagonist.
05:30And all these stories speak of a place of Nordic mythology, the Valhalla.
05:34If Jomsborg is undoubtedly legendary, the Valhalla is totally fictitious.
05:39It is the place of the dead warriors in combat.
05:42Do you remember that the Jomsvikings had to follow a code of honor?
05:45They did it in the hope of deserving their place in the Valhalla.
05:49It was a splendid place.
05:52They ate wild boar meat there every day, under a roof made of shields.
05:56The dream of every Viking does not fade.
05:59And that's not all.
06:01They fed snails every day.
06:04But what could have motivated the Vikings to adopt a marine life?
06:07There is no simple answer.
06:09But we think it's for economic reasons.
06:12The Scandinavian peoples traded fur with other European nations.
06:16And one day they discovered the wealth that was in the south of their homeland.
06:20They knew that European leaders did not always get along well with each other.
06:24So they thought they might as well take the opportunity to earn some money.
06:28All this seems quite modern to you.
06:30The very first attack was carried out by Norwegian Vikings.
06:33They crossed the North Sea to the northeast of England.
06:37The Europeans were shocked by the audacity of these pillagers.
06:40The Viking Age was about to begin.
06:43The northern warriors quickly understood
06:46that the European nations were ready to pay considerable sums to avoid them.
06:51In the early 11th century,
06:53the English gave the Vikings more than 2,500 euros in silver today
06:58to leave them in peace.
07:00They even had a special word for this tax.
07:03All this wealth only increased the appetite of the Vikings.
07:07But all this changed in 1066.
07:10This may be the most important date in all of English history.
07:13That year, the last great Viking king went to England.
07:17However, he did not find victory at Stamford Bridge.
07:21Yes, the place where the Chelsea club plays its matches today.
07:24After the defeat of the Norwegian king, the attacks diminished.
07:27The Europeans were better equipped to defend themselves.
07:30The Viking Age was slowly coming to an end.
07:32But this did not mean that the Vikings were gone forever.
07:36They stayed in Iceland for 400 years.
07:39The island was relatively uninhabited before their arrival in the 9th century.
07:42And in England, the Vikings left many traces.
07:46All the cities whose name ends in – by – were one day colonized by the Scandinavians.
07:51Nearly 2,000 toponyms, in Great Britain and Ireland, are linked to Viking history.
07:56And do you know which part of France has the most names of Viking places of origin?
08:00Yes, it's Normandy.
08:03The mouth of the Seine is the place where the majority of the Danish Vikings settled in the 9th century.
08:08From there, they prepared their attacks on what is now the capital, Paris.