Ethnic Group Definition

Yeah I was posing the question of the Vikings as an ethnic group, Asatru, to two of my professors they were warm to the idea. They accepted it, as well as Asatru now adays as an ethnic group.

So it kind of interesting to me, cultural group and ethnic group seems to be the same exact thing especially when you are of the same race, and even if you are not. Kind of confusing!

I don't know. Saying the Asatru is alive and well is very mis leading really. Since there is no connection to the orginal group. You can easyly make linkes to the old ancient Irish group since the group never did die out.

To me anyone who thinks there a Viking or a member of the Asatru group, is diluding themselves if they believe this is an unbroken group and that there beliefs match to those of the orginal, nor an understnading. Really it would be a neo-Asatru culture which is emulating that of the acient Asatru culture to the best of there knowledge.

By the way, since you mentioned the Vikings, I want
to know if you ever heard of a group of mercenaries
that the Vikings hired at one point ?

The group's name lived in infamy because an english
word owes its roots to it.

The Berserkers !

Look this story up. Absolutely fascinating.
When you say you're going beserk or someone else is
going beserk, you are paying homage to an infamous
legend of olde.

!

My gawd, YOU do know the legend.

Any more readers of the Beserkers ?

I have to confess, your post was intriguing so I googled the term.

yeah I watched the episiod on the history channel about the Beserkers.

It could be what you say. It could be a neo-Asatru culture which is emulating from the former one. So maybe in a hundred years it could be considered an ethnic group, but I do believe it is a cultural group.

They are really interesting. If I was back in that timeperiod I wouldn't want to face those guys. What is interesting though, is that it is believed that it was a mushroom that overwhelmed their senses that made them go insane if you would want to call it that and lead them into their violent tendencies.

However, what is more interesting, when Christianity took over Northern Scandanavia they waited until the Viking leaders tried to curtail Berserkers which led to strife between what you call the mercenaries and regular Viking followers which allowed the Christian missionaries and soldiers to finish it off.

Actually, from what I've heard/learned, the idea of a Berserker seems to have been a myth that arose from stories about the Norhmen. And just to be anal, Viking isn't an adequate term to describe a people. It means "raiding"; so one isn't a Viking, one goes Viking.

Really Viking is a term similar to... say...Driving. Using it is wrong, It's like saying you're studying the history of the Drivings, to learn more about the Driving religion. It's a misused term that has entered into the English language. A Dane or Norseman was only a Viking when he was raiding sea-borne towns, when he settled thost towns, or went home, he was again a Dane or Norsemen.

Doryman, Finder --- that history channel show on the
Beserkers says exactly what Doryman says about
the mis-understanding of the term Viking.

And it was due to the story of the Beserkers that
the Viking name, misused as it is, got the Rape-Rob-
and Pillage rap, especially when many of the Norse
were farmers and many had peaceful lives.

Viking was missused as a noun when it really was
a verb and was misused even more to label a very
diverse group.