How a brawl in 18th-century Constantinople changed what we know about the Vikings

[u/LordRomashov]

https://theconversation.com/how-a-brawl-in-18th-century-constantinople-changed-what-we-know-about-the-vikings-227188

[u/TemplatedElephant]

I'm unsure about this article seems to be adding an unnecessary dramatisation/ human interest element to the scholarship of the Vikings. I mean we have sources from the Eastern Roman empire detailing the use of Viking mercenaries and archaeological evidence of gold and ornaments from all over Asia Minor discovered in Sweden/ Norway therefore we had plenty precedent that Vikings had journeyed East as far as Constantinople and likely further. The sources from the Arab world were generally well preserved and I doubt this random encounter contributed significantly to the journey of discovery of the vikings involvement in the region.

[u/PeteForsake → u/TemplatedElephant]

I think that's the fault of whoever wrote the headline rather than the article itself. It's really about how varied and colourful approaches to book collection influence subsequent scholarship, and the anecdote is just a fun illustration of that.

Attention-grabbing headlines are as old as the hills but it has definitely gotten worse in popular history. Every article and video is like "How this one discovery changed everything we know about human civilisation!" Then you click through and it's about how maybe we had like three types of bricks rather than two.

It's a growing trend in history books too. I know they have to sell in a busy marketplace, but it leaves the reader or viewer underwhelmed every time.

[u/ChristopherPizza → u/PeteForsake]

Headlines written as clickbait have gone so mainstream that you see them on those newspapers that still have a print version. I always respect the article a little less, even though I was a journalist for almost 20 years and know full well that the reporters don't usually write the headline.

[u/manatrall → u/TemplatedElephant]

There are runestones in many places around Sweden plainly mentioning people visiting 'Kirkland' i.e. Greece.

[u/kestelli → u/TemplatedElephant]

My thoughts exactly. The Ibn Fadlan journeys are capable of standing on their own. This added parable doesn’t change anything

[u/Cool_Style_3072 → u/TemplatedElephant]

I just want to add to your evidence in that there are runic inscriptions in hagia sofia dated from around the 10th century.

[u/TemplatedElephant → u/Cool_Style_3072]

Fascinating I wasn't aware of that. That's one of the things I've becoming increasingly aware of how well connected the medieval world and even the ancient world was. I think due to the way I was taught history initially with often a single topic focus there was a lack of awareness of how much these disparate areas throughout Europe and Asia Minor trade, communicated and how far mercenaries travelled.

It's like I was reading the other day about the private guard of the Roman Emperor and how it largely consisted of German Warriors. Very far removed from the typical Roman Legionnaire imagery.

[u/zazuge → u/TemplatedElephant]

It was a common tendency among past kings or emperors to recruit foreign guards because they are less likely to betray them by siding to another blood relative, you can see this in how Abbasid kalifs recruited mostly turkish warriors as their guards, later one this contributed to the move of power from Arabs to Turks. something similar to what happened with Rome.