"Latest amusing OTT archaeological claim re: Vikings" Topic

For those afficianados of both the Daily Mail and dodgy claims made for publicity-hungry archaeologists, today's offering is "The Viking Death Squads who got a taste of their own medicine."

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On the evidence presented here, a fantastic example of over-interpretation, wishful thinking, and hyperbolic language. Read and enjoy! Can't be just any old shipload of Vikings (if that is even what they were), but have to be an elite hit squad of Jomsviking wannabes…

And something about the photographs of the comely researcher suggests she might end up being in a TV programme. Oh, strike me pink, she is. Tonight.

:)

As it was in the Daily Mail, I am surprised the headline wasn't. 'this is how we should deal with illegal immigrants'…

Okay, let me get this straight….54 elite, fanatical, highly trained, ruthless and experienced killers were slaughtered by a bunch of Half trained Fyrd? Hmmm…..

It certainly sounds like they were executed but they could be any group of men…..

@FredBloggs – that could be an Australian newspaper headline as well….

Silly.

"thought to have been killed during the reign of Aethelred the Unready"

But this time he was ready to welcome them?

OOOOh time to re-write the army lists. Who has entries for viking elite death squads in their army lists, they could get all sorts of cool stuff like throwing stars and all black armour.

Though the fact that they where executed, captured first one assumes, doesn't point to them being very elite……….

And if they were being "humiliated" by their captors why execute them in a manner that would allow them to demonstrate their bravery:

…all these men were murdered methodically and beheaded in an unusual fashion from the front.

This is actually mentioned in Jomsvikings legend which states: ‘I am content to die as are all our comrades. But I will not let myself be slaughtered like a sheep. I would rather face the blow. Strike straight at my face and watch carefully if I pale at all.'

Now waiting for the liberal left to cry human rights and demand we pay compensation!

Tally Ho!

Now waiting for the liberal left to cry human rights and demand we pay compensation!

And in the Guardianista it would read this is what should be done to people who pay taxes and believe Illegal Immigrants should be sent home

Tally Ho!

…all these men were murdered methodically and beheaded in an unusual fashion from the front.

They could have had their throats cut and kept on cutting until the head was off, just like some insurgents do to their captives, not a nice way to die and certainly not allowing them any dignity.
But its a TV program and Daily Mail article so the actual truth behind this story matters less than getting sales, next thing we'll find is the dead vikings mobile phone messages were hacked after their deaths. ;)

hahahahahahah !

Hit squad of highly trained killers captured by local villagers.

Ah, but wait a minute – Fishguard comes to mind (where barely trained half hearted militia werre captued by unarmed women)

This is Tosh !

But then, it is the Daily Mail.

What a horrible article. Is the St. Brice's day thing factual, they could certainly be tied to that event.

'Hit squads'? Really?

This (dead, beheaded guys) has been doing the rounds on fairly serious archeology web sites for several years, the St. Brice's Day massacre in particular for over a year.

"Viking Death Squads: What Do Women In Bikinis Think"

Tonight at eleven.

Is the St. Brice's day thing factual,

Yes.
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Sandi Toksvig said once on the Radio 4 News Quiz that she always feels nervous around November 13th…

Interesting how they managed to a find hot, young, female archeologist to do the documentary. Not that the combination is impossible, of course. By I would find 2 out of 3 a bit more plausible.

a fearsome brotherhood of killers who had a strict military code – never to show fear, and never to flee in the face of an enemy unless totally outnumbered.

Right then… 'ow many of 'em are there? Oh, there's more of them than us? We're outnumbered? Well, I guess we can flee then. Off you go, lads. Honour is maintained.

:X

w.

Dr Britt! Rrrrrrrrrr….. I'd believe anything she told me…. how do they know it was Anglo-Saxon 'villagers' though?

I have a clue ;-)

…Some time ago, one of my friends did paint (as a joke!) minis of Breton women (some in traditional 19th century costume!) chasing Viking warriors with traditional frying pans and giving them alive to the children to run after and kill them.

Patrice: ….

… of course they were "elite" Vikings. The winners make up the history. You wouldn't want to be remembered for a victory over a boatload of half starved, storm-wracked refugees that happened to crash on your coast. You kill them, then loot them, because "any dead Viking is a good Viking". Only later, when your grandkids are asking about the details, do you start embellishing their prowess; and the story grows into an, "elite hit squad sent from Denmark to rub out the king, and we stopped them"….

I don't think they were stripped. They were elite, so clearly naked fanatics.

There wouldn't be any malnutrition if they were caught in a storm for days and finally crashed on the enemy coast….

Please can we forget the silly notion that the fyrd was a half-trained rabble – it simply wasn't. It was a semi-professional army with years of campaigning experience that regularly bested the Vikings. What it lacked, and what the Vikings had, was mobility and therefore the luxury of being able to choose when and where it fought.
Also Aethelraed was not paranoid – the Norse subjects of England had continually proved their unreliability and willingness to aid the Vikings, and in a fight for the survival of the kingdom they were seen as a dangerous "fifth column".
The supposition in this article is breathtaking, but facts don't make good copy!!