User talk:Slothenstein/sandbox

Changes made to the original article

Intro:

Changed “intimidating war tactics” to “tactics” to be more concise

Culture of War

Added the caveat that the Icelandic Sagas were written in the 13th-14th centuries, after Scandinavia and Iceland had become Christian Added citation of Gareth Williams, ‘Raiding and Warfare’ to provide a more demonstrable example of how raiding could lead to political progression back in Scandinavia + added to the source section Changed “This reasoning explains the Viking preference for attacking monasteries and churches containing riches and expensive relics that the Norsemen saw as valuable for trade.” to “This was one reason that monasteries and churches were often targeted, due to their wealth in relics and luxury goods like precious metals, fine cloths, and ornate books.” Added Citation of S. Coupland ‘Holy Ground? The Plundering and Burning of Churches by Vikings and Franks in the Ninth Century’ + a quote from the text to provide evidence of book theft and sale by Vikings

Raids

Changed “The Vikings preferred to attack coastal regions because these regions were impossible to block off from the enemies' standpoint.” to “The Vikings regularly attacked coastal regions due to the difficult nature of defending such regions, as well as utilising rivers and stolen horses to raid deeper inland by the mid 9th century.”

Added Citation for the Annals of St. Bertin + wikipedia page link

Added Citation for the Annals of Fulda + wikipedia page link

Added Citation for Regino of Prum’s Chronicle + wikipedia page link

Removed “These raids had religious implication to them” since it’s speculation

Changed “and destroy what was left” to “and were known to set fires in their wake. While there is evidence that Viking arson attacks did occur, more recent scholarship has cast doubt on quite how severe the physical damages (rather than their psychological impact) truly were. Regino of Prum’s Chronicle records that the palace of Aachen was burned to the ground but there is no archaeological evidence of destruction on such a scale at the site.”

Changed “This caused mass fear amongst such monks, as they felt that it was punishment from God” to “These attacks caused widespread fear, so much so that the Vikings were thought by some monks to be a punishment from God.”

Removed “From their point of view, the Vikings were violent and evil heathens.”

Seafaring and military strategies:

Added “extortion” to the point about ransoms + links to pages on the siege of Asselt and Charles the Fat + added citation of the Annals of Fulda

Battle Tactics on Land

Removed “Viking units often lacked formation. They have been described as "bees swarming." However, what they lacked in formation they made up with ferociousness, flexibility, and more often than not, extensive reconnaissance. This naturalistic sense of unconventional warfare is rooted in their lack of organized leadership.” - factually incorrect in lacking formations + no citation for ‘described as swarming bees’. They commonly made use of shield-wall formations in battle, as well as the fact raids did have leaders and commanders

Changed “Viking military tactics succeeded mainly because they disregarded the conventional battlefield tactics, methods, and customs of the time.” to “Viking tactics were unconventional by wider European standards at the time and this element of ‘otherness’ brought with it a tactical advantage.” Changed “They ignored the unspoken rules of leaving holy sites untouched” to “They also attacked holy sites far more regularly than Frankish and other Christian armies did” + added citation of S. Coupland, ‘Holy Ground’

Changed “often butchering the clergy at these sites in honour of a Pagan god.” to “often killing or taking the clergy at these sites prisoner, to then either ransom or take back as slaves.”

Added information about Overwintering + citation of G. Williams ‘Raiding and Warfare’

Added information about the use of ships during inland raiding + citation of G. Williams ‘Raiding and Warfare’

Common weapons:

Removed “This was in part due to the Norsemen's natural height and build, being taller and bigger than Frankish and English men at the time.” from the section discussing spears since spears were widely used by both the Franks and Anglo-Saxons; the alleged height difference had no impact on this fact.

Removed “The axe was psychologically intimidating to the people of Christian territories the Vikings sacked” - axes had long been used by Christian soldiers in this period.

Changed “Swords had to be simple yet functional, and there was little to no design on them; however, once one was given a sword, a strong bond[further explanation needed] was formed between the weapon and its owner.[1] It is believed that the sword was about 90 cm long and had a blade of 80 cm and a handle of 10 cm.[2] Almost every sword was double-edged, which meant that they could slash in different directions without having to worry about which side was the sharp side.[2]” to “Viking swords were pattern-welded and most commonly decorated with copper inlays and icons, featuring a fuller down the centre of the blade in order to reduce the weight of the blade[1]; a few single-bladed swords around a meter in length have been unearthed but the most commonly found swords in Viking graves are double-edged with blades measuring around 90cm long[1] and 15cm wide.” + added citation of Anne Pedersen “Viking Weaponry” in ‘The viking world’ + added link to page on pattern welding as the way swords were made.

Defensive equipment:

Changed “Only the wealthiest Vikings could afford helmets, as they were expensive.[1]” to “While few intact helmets have been recovered from Viking burial sites (often just fragments of metal), contemporary depictions of Viking warriors do show them wearing helmets which has led some historians, like Anne Pedersen, to suspect that most warriors wore leather helmets rather than metal” + added citation of Anne Pedersen “Viking Weaponry” in ‘The viking world’

Changed “One piece of defensive equipment that every warrior had was a shield” to “Another piece of defensive equipment used by warriors was a shield.”

Added information about chain mail being found in a few viking graves + citation of Anne Pedersen “Viking Weaponry”