American Vikings: How the Norse Sailed into the Lands and Imaginations of America

American Vikings: How the Norse Sailed into the Lands and Imaginations of America by Martyn Whittock

This book looks at the entire history of vikings in America. While it does explore the role of Scandinavians in general, it is primarily focussed on those from the viking age in particular. The Icelandic sagas contain some details of viking exploration in distant lands. This has been tied to the Newfoundland coast. Some archeological evidence has been found that corroborates the sagas. Nordic immigrants later adopted took interest in these stories to show their important role in American history (similar to how Columbus was adopted by Italians.) This led to "discovery" of many runestones and other artifacts - often in areas of Scandinavian populations. Many of these artifacts are likely fakes. However, there are some that do appear to be real. A viking coin found in a Native American trading area, indicates that the artifact may have been carried and traded from previous viking traders.

The vikings have become part of the cultural fabric of the United States. They are typically depicted as hyper-masculine horned-helmet wearing warriors. Vikings are especially popular in areas of significant viking immigration, such as the upper midwest. Nordic gods, such as Thor have became common pop-culture icons, especially known as a super hero. On the dark side, vikings have been adopted by white supremacists. However, this has been on the fringes and has not caused wide-scale negative impact to the respect of vikings.

It is interesting that historically, "viking" was more of an activity. Farmers may go out sailing and raiding. The vikings were just the people engaging in that activity. Today it has become more of a shorthand for the entire culture. The Scandinavians represented a small population area, but have had a large scale influence on society in general.