The History of the World Podcast, written and presented by Chris Hasler

Volume 4 The The Medieval World, Episode 22, The Vikings. Oh, yeah. Now, Oh, you know, I'm going to do you want to do you know.

Oh, you know.

Oh, you know.

Oh, you know.

Oh, you know. Pliny the elder was a Roman who studied science and nature and wrote

highly respected works during the first century that remained highly respected long after his death during the dramatic aftermath of the

catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

During his lifetime he wrote what could be described as the first known

Encyclopedia when he wrote the book called Naturalis Historia. It is in this book that we find a reference to the remote island called

Scatinavia. Historians have speculated that this could be one of the first references to what has become

known in modern times as Scandinavia and may refer to the southern tip of the modern country of Sweden, which was to be found

by traversing the Danish straits from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea, which was a long way from Rome.

Scandinavia can be described as a huge peninsula in Northern Europe, but it more commonly refers

to a region of Europe that contains the countries of Norway and Sweden as well as Denmark which itself straddles the waterway

between mainland Europe and the Scandinavian Peninsula. This is the home of the Vikings who are romanticized for their fearsome raids on medieval Europe, crossing great expanses of water and showing absolutely no mercy in their quests for booty.

There are some obvious questions to ask about this though.

Firstly, what was the origin of the Vikings and what

happened to create such a bloodthirsty bunch of marauders? Secondly is this a fair reflection of Viking culture or is there more depth that we may

not appreciate.

To understand Viking culture is to understand Scandinavian geography and how it differed from the

rest of Europe.

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