The Vikings Need Your Stuff To Impress Their Women

There have been several theories about why those Scandinavian bad asses we know as Vikings tore through Europe and beyond. From improved seafaring technology and unfair trade practices brought about by Christians who would not trade with "Heathens" to climate change opening up water ways to overpopulation of the Scandinavian peninsula. But a recent study by a man named James Barrett suggests that it was brought about by the men's desire to gather a fortune.

These men had to gather a fortune, you see. It was a "marriage imperative". If they wanted a wife, they had to impress the woman with their fortunes. During the "Viking Age" women were relatively scarce in Scandinavia due to selective female infanticide. Or, they killed female babies for ritualistic reasons and this led to a much lower female population. Wives were hard to come by and having a family was a means of increasing their status.

So, the young, single, male Viking horde dispersed to foreign lands and worked as teams and plundered and pillaged until they got what they needed. Then those that survived returned home to ply the small female population with their pilfered goods.

Isn't history fun?

I had never really read anything about Vikings, with the exception of some Norse mythology when I was much, much younger. Then I read this article, yesterday. The theory sounded feasible and I felt like sharing.

Seriously, to think that the Viking age was brought on by a bunch of desperate dudes, trying to impress a few women...I have to laugh. I don't think things will ever change. :P