Nords are not Nordic

When did the “Nords” become the Norse

In class the other day me and Thomas were talking about if the Nords from Encyclopedia of Early Earth were really an equivalent of the Norse or not. He argued that the Nords were really the Norse while I said otherwise. He told me that the Nords had to be the Norse because they were both from the far north and the Norse are the only people that live so close to the arctic circle. I tried to inform him that the Nords could not be the Norse as the Hals and Dags were the early Norse. And so, it is time to prove me right (and Thomas to be as wrong as possible).

The Norse were Scandinavian peoples who lived before the conversion to Christianity, or in a simpler way: Vikings. The Norse were a complex group of peoples. In eastern Europe they essentially established what would be Russia. Kievan Rus was the earliest state in Russia and became a hub in the Eurasian trade system. This gave Kievan Rus, at the time a small city state, lots of power in the modern day Russia. Its power eventually grew into the first major state in the Russian mainland. They also colonized modern day France and the British Isles. They raided the local villages and farming towns of the territories. Nova Scotia was also explored by the Vikings. This exploration created one of my favorite holidays, Leif Erikson Day on the 9th of October. The reasoning for this expansion is up for much debate. One theory is that the Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne’s mid-European powerhouse, was threatening the pagan beliefs of the other European territories. Or another side of the debate is that the Vikings just wanted to spread their power to new territory. After all is that not what all empires do? The Vikings expanded either way, and their influence on the world leaves a lasting impact.

Now that I have give some historical context let me expand on how the Vikings cannot be the Nords. The Nords are a small group of people who live in the far northern region of the world, have their own culture. It incorporates the telling of stories and wearing leather clothing. The fact that they wear leather clothing is important to the identification of the people in the real world. In the graphic novel the Nord are depicted as wearing clothes made from the hides of animal and turned in so the fur is on the inside. This type of clothing keeps in as much heat as possible, which is why they wear it. Although Vikings did not wear this type of clothing but Eskimo and Inuit peoples did. This leads the Nords to mostly be the Inuit people because they interact could theoretically travel to the west and meet the Vikings. Therefore this leads me to believe that the Nords are the Inuit people.

Another reason that the Nords cannot be the Vikings is because the religion of the two differ too greatly. The Nords are a group of people who have a different belief than that of the Vikings. The Norse mythology is a deep and complex telling of the world in its entire history from start to finish. In the end everything ends up dead, even their own gods. This might lead you to believe that their gods are weak, but in the word of Mr. Yee “It’s the most badass of all the mythologies.” The base of the mythology is Yggdrasil, the tree of the Nine Worlds. The Nine Worlds are Asgard, Midgard, Niflheim, Vanaheim, Jotunheim, Alfheim, Muspelheim, Svartalfheim, and Helheim. Each world is inhabited by various species and creature. At the end of the world, or Ragnarok, the gods are defeated by other creatures, and the world starts a new afterwards. When Christianity started to spread to the Vikings it ended this mythology, but the culture and its people also made Christianity their own. This is why the story of Cain and Abel is the way it is in the graphic novel. When the Storyteller goes south he hears the retelling of Cain and Abel. This is because the Vikings made Christianity their own. The culture of the Vikings made the story change to fit their own state of mind.

These reasons all add up to one truth that cannot be denied by anyone, and that is not to mention that the people in the book are illustrated with the stereotypical horned helmet. The Hals and Dags are the Vikings. There is no doubt about it. Well now I can rest easy knowing that I have been able to show someone that the Inuits or Nords cannot be the Norse or Hals and Dags. Take that Thomas.