Another choice find from our archive that we are revisiting this summer….this episode could have been titled “Three Oregonians Do History.”
We sat down with fellow Oregonian and podcaster Dan Carlin, well-known host of Hardcore History, Hardcore History Addendum, and Common Sense to discuss the topic of the Vikings, which Dan covered in his two part series Twighlight of the Æsir.
We wanted to understand why the most popular history podcast in the U.S. decided to devote more than ELEVEN hours to the vikings and answer the question: What made the Vikings so special? Was it the ships? Nordic culture? Prowess in war? Or some other secret sauce?.... we cover it all.
Those of you familiar with Dan’s work know he does a ton of research when prepping for his shows, so we asked him what he’s learned in that process about who he thinks the vikings were and how they stack up against other similar cultures in the ancient and medieval worlds, including Caesar’s Roman army and the Celts.
We also tapped into Dan’s interest in military and warfare history to ponder why people are so fascinated by warriors and shieldmaidens and what it says about us in the modern era. Then we took a bit of a philosophical turn and discussed whether it is right to judge people of the past by today’s moral and ethical standards, and how our historian brains are hardwired for the long view – another subject Dan did a podcast about on his Hardcore History Addendum.
If you want to know whether Alexander the Great would have been a viking or why Terri thinks Dan would have made a good Viking Age Skaldic poet, watch the episode!
Thanks Dan! We owe you one.
Find Dan’s podcast streaming services on dancarlin.com.
Dan also has a Substack, so check him out there.
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