Units of History - The Varangian Guard DOCUMENTARY 

And they took a lot of the Greek culture from Ireland with them. Never could quite catch a break from the Normans.

Fun Fact #2 Emperor Alexios awarded those Anglo Saxons land in Crimea, where they founded numerous cities, among them "New London" and "New York" (the OG). In fact, the river Londina is called like that nowadays because of this anglo saxon colony.

Actually there was way more than just survivers of Hastings.

@@hrodvitnir6725 They would have been pretty tough to have fought their way out of that Norman encirclement and rejoin the Varangians.

Funfact: My Neighbours cousins cat watched a documentary on The Byzantine's and joined the.... well he just sat their he's a cat stupid. 😆

This is depicted in the Skylitzes Chronicle

Sounds like that lady was a badass.

He was probably a drunk fool, who wanted to mess with her after leaving his weapon on the side... what a way to be remembered in history.

@@elasolezito still a better way to go down in history than the pompeii masturbator

@@apparentlyjeremy sounds interesting, ok google... Edit: alright, this did give me some laughs

Hillarious.

This is pretty much what we do in Norway today as well 😂

"halfdan was here"

Tribute doesnt buy respect

Vikings by the Time of Harald Hardrada is Already Largely Christians Viking even Harald is Christian aswell his Parents. the only thing that left is there viciousness natures as Norsemen.

🤣🤑🫡

I don't buy the christian conversion, I think it was a Rollo situation all over with the Vikings, self proclaimed "christian" Norsemen could very well have secretly stayed Pagan

@@anthonyvlahakis4465 why would you think that lmao? The Byzantine Greeks are descendants of the Ancient Romans and Ancient Greeks who had their own Pantheon but they converted and remained staunch Christians. Why would the Vikings be any different?

yeah but at the end of the day, they were just in it for the money, not duty. but true, at least they fought their money's worth.

@@ragael1024 they were also actually loyal, so. I don’t care what they were “in it for”. If you can count on them, that’s already better than the Praetorians. Also, the Praetorians weren’t in it for duty either, almost all of their treachery came from their greed and lust for power

Who would've thought recruiting bodyguards from the families that wanted to kill you was a bad idea.

Not really. The Varangians weren't a political unit as were the Praetorians, but they played political roles and showed their greedy side too, by participating in assassination of emperor their swore to protect, or abandoned their role as bodyguards after demanding a raise in pay during a pressing time, they were mercenaries after all.

@@ragael1024 also not so different from the praetorians and hypaspis.

The book “Byzantium” by Stephen Lawhead had a wonderful scene where the Norse come out of the mist to see Constantinople laid out before them- so so good

@@HenryBrewerCalvert I read that book as a lad. It left quite the impression and definitely whet my appetite for history.

Vinland Saga blueballed us hard by timeskipping the hell out of Thorfin Travel to Costantinople.

Vikings kinda did this but not Constantinople, more like arab cities in Africa.

I am reading a norwegian book series about Harald Hardrade, mostly fiction, but major events are true. Lets hope for translation and eventually a movie. Would be awesome.

You mean English. British meant something different in the medieval times. The English and 'British' were considered very different things in the middle ages in Britain. The Anglo-Saxons became the English (Angle-ish) and founded their country, England, and they referred to the original Celtic cultured folk of Britain as either Welsh or British, interchangeably. So, the Anglo-Saxons/English saw the British/Welsh as their enemy. A unified sense of Britishness on this island was not fostered until the 18th and moreso the 19th century, with the act of Union and the rise of the British Empire.

@@leod-sigefast I know all that, Im welsh myself lol. The exact referance says “of the british race” so take your pick really. There is a possibility of Scots, Welshmen and Englishmen all serving in the Varangians. But in this instance it probably is referring to Englishmen. But on the other hand, maybe not.

@@leod-sigefast The Byzantines probably would have still known England only as ex-Roman Britannia though

Don't forget it was from a Byzantine source. Byzantines vaguely knew the ethnic differences of the North and their most common foe were the steppe nomads.

@@PindusWrath but tattooing was even common in the Roman Empire. Legionaries would be tattooed with the symbol of their Legion for as late as the 7th century AD when the last Legion finally disappeared. It was also a practice in other fields. So the Medieval Romans themselves would hardly be strangers to the custom of tattooing.

Exactly

@Survival prepping for normal people Just because Turks became muslim doesn’t mean they became Arabs. Turks even today have many of their ancient Tengrist traditions alive. In those days Turks started to call Tengri Allah, however majority of Turks haven’t even read or learned about Quran. Also Turkish practice of Islam is different than the universal Islam. That is the reason why Turks easily adapted to Secularism Atatürk brought. Pet Dogs are Haram too. We always had dogs. Alcohol is haram. We drink Rakı. Most Turks deny some practices in Quran because it doesn’t match Turkish Culture. Also I believe he meant Turks of Northern Euroasian Steppe (Ukraine).

Yes they probably did. Romans were closer to Turks of Western Euroasian Steppe (Ukraine). In your language Turkic and Turkish are different. That is What caused confusion.

8

They eventually became farmers, christians and Slavs.

Empress Zoe: No one can get past this barrier Harald: Hold my mead

Harald: * Ollies longship *

Imagine the movie they could make of this guy's story.

@@maxavail Yes, indeed, but Hollywood is too interested in making movies that virtue signal Critical Race Theory and how whites, especially the ones from way up north, are racist!! Until this country steam cleans all the commie scum out of this country, especially Hollywood, that great movie will never be made!!

@@chucklynch6523 You are really fully of shit there are dozens of movies and series about Vikings. WTF does CRT have to do with this ? You don't even know what it is obviously. And how do virue signal CRT ? .Also the Hollywood has never claimed that Whites up north are more racists than say American whites or even southern euro whites. In fact Nordic whites are the least racist people in Europe. Why do u feel the need to lie ?

Praetorian Guard was exactly what they wanted to be: opportunistic, corrupt and craven bodyguards who only defended their emperor well against the rabble of peasants.

@@swissmilitischristilxxii3691 Something tells me you have something against the Varangian Guard. Unlike the Praetorian Guard, the Varangians were always loyal to their emperor and willing to die for said emperor as long as they got paid, or until the emperor died, they never killed any emperor to my knowledge, or tried to place a puppet emperor on the throne... or literally sell the empire to the highest bidder. As for the overrated guards part, yeah no. The fact that they were able to fight so effectively, even during the Fourth Crusade. If not for them, the city would have fallen easily, but Alexios III had to be a coward and run away to leave his own people to die.

@@swissmilitischristilxxii3691 Right... I'm not denying how great the Swiss Guard were, but you wanted these guys to die for an Emperor who broke his own oath towards not only the Varangian guard but to his own people and fled like a coward. They had honor, they fought and they never betrayed an Emperor, which is what a bodyguard ought to do. As for their talents in combat... you seriously must have not done any research on them if you thought that they were glorified guards. They routed armies by themselves, they never faltered during combat, hell, they were the most effective unit during the Siege of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade... and you tell me they were glorified guards because they didn't die for someone who wasn't even brave enough to lead them in combat and fled the city. So what, if they had all chosen to die in pointlesd combat, would you have liked them more? The Swiss Guard were fighting to delay the enemy so the pope could escape to a safe place. What reason had the Varangian Guard to fight? The person they were there to protect wasn't even there anymore.

Not really, the Praetorian never wished to be mere bodyguards. The Varangians weren't a political unit as were the Praetorians, but they played political roles and showed their greedy side too, by participating in assassination of emperor their swore to protect in favor of usurpers, or abandoned their role as bodyguards after demanding a raise in pay during a pressing time, they were viking mercenaries after all.

T Varangians participated in few important battles tho, since they were mostly in the back protecting the emperor or hte palace.

Facts!!!

I know, right? Historical realities have a tendency to bite people in the ass. When the Vikings themselves call 'Greece' and 'Greek', keyboard fanatics quiet down. 😊

When this video popped up I just knew I'd come across at least one comment like this. I just bought and downloaded the game to try it w friend (bc it's on of rare full cross platform games) and I'm so glad to see that it has, at least to a certain degree, active community

@@brzisabo3236 I hope you don't get discouraged, safe travels

@@weeb_lord1172 man......I hate this game and console...... I got myself PS4 not so long ago so I naively thought that I can just buy the game and play w friends......those greedy ahh holes forbid me from doing that. Apparently I need fing Playstation plus to play for honor online

For some reason it didn't reply last time I sent. Ty man, but it seems like whole buying of the game and installing it was for nothing. Fing greedy sonny doesn't allow for honor to be played online without playstation plus....I pay full price for the console then I pay full price for the game and I still can't play it online???? Bs

Basically the Barbarian version of the Iron Giant.

@@FrostReave Or Juggernaut from X-Men.

At the time, 5'7 "was like 6'5, so yeah, it would be terrifying seeing a giant charge you with each strike being fueled by rage and being on their side would make you appreciate what side you're on

King Harald Hardrada was reportedly 7'6" tall.While even his enemie mentioed he was very tall but there is no proof he was actually this tall. But the average was 5,7 like you say, today is 5,11. We have many that are 190-200 cm in Norway, me included, so the tallest people (except extremes) were normally around 5,11 to 6,3 for the vikings :)

Yeah it really was Norse heaven on earth.

@@buddermonger2000 well all those blondes and blue eyes warriors coming from the north with living walking fighting savers in the south.. grrrrrrrrr!

@P Nelson I do believe that's right. It's written in runes. I read that in the Prologue to Erik Christian Haugaard's 1963 novel Hakon of Rogen's Saga, which is set at the end of the Viking Era. I recommend it. It's a good book.

many many Halfdans back then, it means Half Danish usually written by the Norwegians.

But where was Fulldan

Yeah it's mentioned in the video.

@@tpower1912 Dan var full som fan så han gick vilse

That's amazing to read through. and to think in the medieval times, people just go hither and thither without leaving anything behind that they were there. To read this really sheds light on what it was like to live at that time. To see brave warriors depart from their hometowns, whether for glory, or financial-social reasons, and know that they were still connected over the many miles is different from the impression normally taught. Thanks for sharing.

These runestones are a major attestament to the fact that Byzantium was Greek and not Roman and the Byzantines were Greeks and not Romans! I am saying this because there is a deliberate ongoing campaign to totally de-Hellenize Byzantium, stripping it off any Greek element, and turn it into Roman!

@@ThomasGazis well, the eastern Romans were always culturally of a hellenic leaning. The main language was greek. That's what the northerners are referring to. Remember a couple things are going on at this time in history. 1. Nationalism did NOT exist yet. So the land of the greeks were called that because of the main tongue spoken, not because they were all ethnically greek. They couldn't be. You had bulgarians, isaurians, etc. All living in the empire. So when the Rus were speaking of the Greeks, it's not exactly the way you think in the way of the 19th and 20th century. Even when the Imperiun was whole, greek was the most common tongue spoken east of Illyria, from Pontus down to Alexandria. This was thanks to the Hellenistic movements of Alexander and his Diodochi. Even during the 3rd century BCE, the Romans viewed greek ideas and culture as a standard for the region. By the 10th century, sure, the cultural identity would be greek rather than latin, but it still is one segment of The Roman Empire. 2. Those citizens saw THEMSELVES as Rhomaioi, as Romans. Similar to myself. I am living in the States, born and raised here, so the closest sociopolitical culture I attach to is American, that is, I am a citizen of this political entity. However, culturally in terms of family and ancestral roots, I would be Filipino. Those greeks were as much Roman as those living in Gallia or Africa in the 3rd century. The Arabs and Turks that encroached from the east in the 7th and 11th centuries did not term them Greeks, they termed them Rum, or Romans, due to these people being part of the Roman state when they approached the borders. It is a play of semantics, but they are Romans. This is not to deminish their Greek culture or ethnicity, but because they were residents of an area that while militarily conquered by Roman arms, were able to retain their identity yet fly the Imperial banner. In 27AD, those living in Thessaloniki were somewhat different than those living in Capua, they were greeks living under Roman suzerainty. But by 325AD, they were largely the same people. Look at Canada. In Montreal, the official tongue is english, but the most common spoken is french. But in Edmonton, the official is english, and the most common is also english. Are those in Quebec no longer Canadians? Of course they still are. Same for those hellenes living in the Medieval period. They were just as much Roman as they were Greek. This goes into ... 3. To divide that is similar to those people who do not want to give credit to Byzantium being the CONTINUATION of the Roman Empire. There is nothing that points otherwise. After the empire was divided, there was no break in the political structure, or even ethnically I may add, from the 4th century of the Aegean region until 13th century. During that entire time, there was still a capital city governing that region, complete with a Senate, and an Emperor. No one gutted out all of the inhabitants and replaced them with Han chinese from say, 700 to 820AD. (This did happen to some extent with Slavs overrunning the Balkans down to Thessaly in the 8th century, but it did not end the Roman political body in Constantinople) They were thoroughly Roman by this point, just more entrenched at speaking the local tongue. To say that they were a Greek empire and not Roman, is the same claim as saying they were not the Roman empire that was established by Octavian. That is some pro-western view to legitimize the Holy Roman Empire into something that could never be. To take the crown from the ones who should rightfully wear it. I don't feel that anyone is trying to remove the "greekness" of Byzantium. Mainly. They are reinforcing that Byzantium IS Rome. For so many centuries people did not want to give credit where it's due and call the duck for what it is. Even some in my class once said, how could Byzantium be Rome when it did not even rule over the city? Simple. What would you call humans living on Mars? Martians? No. Earthlings, because they originated from Earth and brought their Earth views with them. They did not create any new empire after 476, just ruled the one already in place. 4. It is noted that there were indeed parts of the Peloponnesus that still followed the Olympian gods. In 804 there was still resistance to getting these Maniots converted to Christianity.

@@ThomasGazis somehow the reply was cut, but is it noted that in 804, there were people called Maniots that still worshipped the Olympians and resisted attempts to be converted to Christianity.

@@drakonos79 many of your points are wrong. First of all, the Varangians were describing the Byzantines as GREEKS and not as Romans! Greeks, not in the sense of the 19th or 20th century as you are claiming (the Varangians had no idea of that concept, that would emerge 9-10 centuries after their era) but in the sense i.e. of the 10th century CE! If there was in their era any notion that the Byzantines were "Romans" rest assured that the Varangians would have called them in their runestones Romans and not Greeks! The Varangians were living in Byzantium say around the 10th century, so when they are claiming in their runestones that they were living in the land of the Greeks, among Greeks, we have to give them credit! In addition, the Hellenistic empire was an empire where the Greeks were calling themselves (or were called by the nations they had conquered) GREEKS and not "Babylonians" or "Egyptians"! So, I am sorry that the Varangian runestones are spoiling your "nation-nihilist" agenda but that's the truth and anything else is a deliberate falsification of history! P.S. Regarding the Quebecois case: I am a very sociable person. In a picturesque coffee shop/pub - located in Plaka, at the roots of the Acropolis hill, in Athens - I have been talking to Canadian tourists for many years now. NEVER the Toronto Canadians came close to the Quebec Canadians. Thus, I was splitting my self half time with the english speaking Canadians and half time with the Quebec Canadians - speaking rather poor French to them (which they oddly loved, as long as I wasn't speaking English to them!)! But the Toronto and the Quebec Canadians NEVER bothered to intermingle!

Hollywood sucks at history. It disgusts me to know how many people believe thier movies are actually history. I loved this documentary!

Hollywood idea of diversity is to transplant demographics of a modern American city into every setting possible.

I don't think Hollywood cares about historical accuracy. You're kinda dumb if you take fictional movies as fact lol

Hollywood's job is to entertain the masses. A very simple person would believe Hollywood's version of history.

@@sauljahboi5965 Nope the Vikings raided all over the world. There were Africans who trained European swordsmanship in !4th century Germany.

Watch Rise of Empire Ottoman they show the Siege of Constantinople fairly from both the Greek and Turkish Side

@@bearislandthuglife3463 is very simple. greece after 1000 years and enemys like crusaders bulgarians serbs arabs turks mongolians and more they fell.

yes because was Greek orthodox empire. and our a days the oethosox church moved to Russia and hollywood controle by zionists americans

The downfall of the empire start with betrayel of the it allies,the venetians

No wonder he got shot in the throat

Over two metres back then is insane

@Hitler Senpai medieval people weren’t that much shorter than us even on avarage

@Hitler Senpai if you look at reconstruction of plate harnesses as examples they weren’t lil’ baby tiny scrimblos, they were just regular sized bois, also key word AVERAGE, meaning it would not be uncommon to see a 6ft dude walking around, averages are usually taken as maximums for some reason. Ps: sorry for being a “um er actually erm” geeky piece of shit, it’s just so fun and funny and EPIC.

@Hitler Senpai love you sweetie.

The Roman Empire was always first in many ways, and in its architecture and urban planning it excelled well beyond what came before it or even after for almost 1000 years until the British Empire. Rome and Constantinople, the two most glorious Roman cities, made a huge impact on mankind's history.

@@user-qz4go8pf8l you are deliberately distorting the truth! Constantinople was not that much Roman as it was Greek - Byzantine!

@@ThomasGazis How am I distorting the truth, when Constantinople quite literally was Rome 2.0, the proverbial New Rome built by the Romans with the intention to serve as a head city of the Roman Empire? The people who lived in Constantinople were Romans who did their best for over 1000 years to conserve Roman culture. I know that you will tell me that the Romans spoke Greek, thus they were Greek. But that does not render someone a Greek. Language is nothing other than a tool wielded for communication. My response is simply this: do you understand that the Romans and many other Roman nationals such as Armenians, Syrians, Galatians, Isaurians, Phrygians, Carians, Thracians and many others including the Romans, were using the Greek and Latin languages like you and I are using English to communicate with one another?

@@ThomasGazis the byzantine called themselves Rums, for roman. In Anatollyah the turks founded first the sultanate of rums. The concept of roman at this time was more similar to the concept of european of today... So thanks for the romans that we have peace and an "unified" federation.

@@obiwankenobi2083 they called themselves Romaioi, not rum…which is just Roman in Greek. Rum is what the Turks called the Romans.

lol yes

Why am I crying 😭

@@FreeFallingAir Because you know these mercenaries were better and absolutely loyal bodyguards to the emperors then the homemade ones like the Praetorian Guard and those that follow them.

@@notaname1750 Praetorian Delanda Est

so epic…

@@ethanwall2443 A man of culture I see.

Amazing how the Valhalla archetype survived in these poems even after their formal conversion to Christianity. Reminds me of the Japanese army in WW2 who incorporated the Bushido code of the samurai even though the regular army was in fact the one who destroyed the last samurai strongholds in the wake of modern Japan.

One Amon Amarth's best.

@@maxavail A lot about bushido is a myth though and it was created quite late in history. Samurai were generally not very nice people.

Hmm saw a really good documentary about Vlad, made by the Romanians and they say he was Swedish. Hope you manage to find it on youtube. That is where I saw it.

@@simonbroberg969 Vlad who ? We've had many rulers by that name. Vlad the 3rd is the one commonly known as Dracula, the Impaler and he was definitely not Swedish.

I was trying to remember where I'd heard it before thanks

thanks for giving me the song i wanted to know

I am expecting to hear March of the Varangian Guard in this video!

I have been fighting with dane axes in reenactment sense, so they were blunt, but still deffo dangerous if used wrong, amazing tools of war.

How about ottomans empire.. your lovely Sultans.😂😂😂

@@ziyamozafari4404 Mongols*

@@Unknown-bt5rd What do mean by Mongols?? I Said ottoman.

@@ziyamozafari4404 we liked them very much!! that's why we kicked their asses back to asia!

byzantines are not greeks cope about it

Well the varangians loved the greek women, so there was definitely some mixing

@@sdfgvfbg They were in it for the booty, after all, as mentioned by several commenters already.

@@246vili I like your way of words

No they were not! By the time Basileios II formed the Varangian Guard in the late 10th century, the Byzantines were actually doing FANTASTIC !!! The intensive campaining of the warrior Emperors Nikephoros Phokas and Ioannes Tzimiskes finally led to the defeat and pacification of the Muslim Arabs, who had been a mortal threat to the Empire for more than 3 centuries! No major threat from the East would come again until a full century later with the arrival of the Seljuks! Also the Empire was in the process and final stages of defeating and conquering its other great enemy, the First Bulgarian Empire. Emperor Basileios II completed that task - hence his sobriquet" Bulgar Slayer" ... So the Byzantines were doing just fine without the Varangians, they were the undisputed superpower of the Eastern Mediterranean, one of the richest,most influential and most powerful realms in the world and they had highly skilled,trained, disciplined and professional armies and naval forces! The Norsemen were mostly appreciated for their unwavering loyalty to their employer, the Emperor! The various native Scholae and Hetairiai that comprised the Imperial Guard up until then were as skilled and competent as the Norsemen, but their major flaw was that they were NATIVES!! As such their loyalties fluctuated among the various noble houses and Imperial pretenders! That could be due to many reasons: family ties, being from the same region of the Empire, having served under the command of a noble wannabe Emperor and thus being more appreciative of him rather than the current Emperor and a myriad other reasons! The Norsemen were mercenaries from a VERY distant land with no bonds and allegiances to any other in the Empire, only their generous employer, the Emperor mattered to them! He was the source of their wealth and prestige, the reason they had come to serve in the first place, so they would go above and beyond to protect him from any threat!

Yes, they were great, but what made the Normans even greater??

It looks not. Varangian guard is known in Kyevan rus as a prince'sl guard Varangians were just mercenaries professional and loyal

@@chucklynch6523 Horses

It has Viking conquest dlc music in the beginning

Huh, I always assumed those were the same words with the Ancient Greek hetairai being called that precisely because they served as companions to men in leisure and conversation, like the japanese geishas; and just like the geishas, they weren't exactly prostitutes.

@@chingizzhylkybayev8575 Hetaira (fem.) and Hetairos (masc.) mean companion, that's why Alexander's cavalry was called Hetairoi (eteri), it's the plural of companions. As for the women, hetairai where at the top of the postitution climax, they weren't concubines, neither whores or sex slaves, they were as you say companions, just like the geishas you mention, and that's why only the aristocrats had them. Regarding the word Hetaireia (Company) we still use it to refer to any international company nowadays, but it's also means a union of people with common goal, whatever this goal may be. In that sense the medieval Greeks use the term Hetaireia (singular) and Hetaireiai (plural) for their mercenary groups. All these words have the same root and etymology but they are not the same

You're mostly corect, except for the addition of modern Greek pronunciation. Up until the middle byzantine ages the dipthongs were pronounced clear cut, with the exception of ει which sounded as ι. It was therefore Ἑ-τα-ι-ρεί-α-ι and Ἑ-τα-ί-ρα.

@@YiannissB. That's the first time I hear it and it sounds odd, in Medieval Greek they tried to merge and pronounce less letters, eg παλαιός=παλιός (paleos-palios). Βut then again I'm not a linguist so I'm not certain.

@@Ioannis_Moraitis you're right, that change begun during ~1000-1200 AD. I suggest you check this guy's channel, a teacher and fluent speaker in Latin and ancient Greek. He made me understand a lot about the history of Greek phonology ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Dt9z5Gvp3MM.html

A very arduous journey for sure.

Have to imagine them singing as they carried their boats over the stretches of land they had to cross

The were digging channels between rivers or traveled all around

There were drags between rivers. Special locations where spcial people were dragging ships by ground. Few cities in Russia has rooth "drag" (волок).

@@Allloyzin Vikings dug rivers in Russia, its historically already an old game, they had the slave labour for doing this,,why do you think the name slave ressemble slavic, slave trade with slavic slaves to Middle East was very profitable for all different Vikings..same as the Arab Muslim slave-trade which provided even slves for USA and Latin America..actually in Arabic the name Black and Slave are the same also the Portuguese bought their African slaves from the ArabMuslims slave-traders which dominated Africa and Middle East....as 10% of slaves from Africa to USA died over 60% Blacks slaves died marching from Djibouti in Mali to Cairo, also Black Males were castrated and pregnant Black females killed, thats why tere is no Black population in Middle East.

And then the viking and the saxon fight the Normans again, together, at Duracum in 1081.

I think a plot like this would work great for a series about varangians

lol yup

Yes

Flawlessly is not exactly the word. And considering at that time Bulgaria was torn in a civil war more or less that is not saying much.

Bulgaria didn’t really become a loyal part of the empire since they rebelled several times.

He is the ultimate mercenary in human history I would say

Harald Hardrada probably had one of the most adventerous lives out of anyone in human history

@@misterStevePikk Xanthippus of Lacedaemon, also known as Xanthippus of Carthage, wants a word with you.

@@couchpotatoe91 I'm definitely sticking to my answer on this one.

Made me wonder why there's no movie made about his life

Each man has to earn his own glory and can't inherit this from his grandfather. I live in Norway and can say modern Scandinavians are a far cry from the daring Varangians.

@@kickinthegob ofc, but I know i would be one of them if i exixted back then, even in modern society i instill diciplin and workout out hard atleast 5-6 days/week and other stuff to harden myself, ive had many battles and i'll contiue having them. Just not the same kind of problems. But yes, majority is brainwashed and not aware at all of what is happening to our culture and people.

@@kickinthegob I won't go down without a fight when shit hits the fan, im prepared edit. + it's the though of them and living up to their values and deeds that im finding my inspiration, wish i was born back then rather then now to be honest.. shorter life, mgith die.. so what... its total freedom.

@@MrExade Embarrassing comments

@@kickinthegob Well, I have. So obviously In have same spirit as my ancestors, try walking my shoes for a week. still turnd it. Im a fighter that's for sure It's like saying, noone can be proud of their ancestors if they didnt achive anything themselves..crap. Since what ourn anmcestors did was things wppl nowdays calls sexism/toxic masculinity and such bullshit, racism even haha

We (Slovenians) still call it Carigrad. Over centuries word Tsar changed to Car.

Good old 3rd rome

Only 3 nations had Tsars if i am not mistaken ( Serbia, Russia and Bulgaria ) and the title of Tsar was equal to emperor ( hense why these 3 nations where called empires at some point ). Here in Bulgaria we do call Constantinople Tsarigrad, but we used Kesar instead of Cesar.

@@SuchDoge4242 thats first rome to you

Did Ivan the terrible made a statement that Moscow “ Third Rome”?

did did you already? the reaction of your teacherr?

Where is that from?

@@dirckthedork-knight1201 The March of the Varangian Guard, a song by Turisas.

Awesome song

Glad to see someone who's listening to that great but underrated podcast

@@majorianus8055 Yeah great taste in podcasts!

Haven’t seen the podcast but agree with the concept

@@majorianus8055 Robin Pierson has great empathy and a quiet passion for the people of the past, retelling history from an Eastern Roman perspective. He does some of the aspects of historical podcasting better than anyone else, imho.

Loyaly is just one thing of many that was part of the most valued thing in Norse soceity: A good name, to be spoken highly of in life and death was the only thing that would last. Disloyalty, cowardice, dishonor in general was to be a "niding". Any such person would end up in Hel.

The guy was also a close friend of Yaroslav and spent some time at his court. He wanted to marry Yaroslav's daughter but was told to go get some balls (a.k.a. recognition and prestige) first and so Harald went joined the Emperor's guard. Upon returning from his service in Byzantium he eventually married Yaroslav's daughter and took her with him to Norway.

He also was the founder of Sigtuna, Swedens oldest oldest city

Harold didn't desert, he had been kicked out due to embezzlement.

Man those names are killing me. Haraldr harðráði* Snorri Sturlusson* Væringjagarðr*

@@1991beachboy who founded Sigtuna? Also according to norse mythology oden lived there in old Sigtuna

Don't worry!In Greece you are very well known!

It is so sad that modern sweds doesn't even know or appreciate their viking history

@@uberfeel it's due to the brainwashing by the leftish media.. Yes it's sad

@@johnraina4828 its more important for ''scientists'' to claim there 40 genders instead of focusing on history xD

Here friend: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3DuseWw8Qko.html

The Grave in the Busento; At Cosenza nightly lisping, from Busento muted songs, Answer echoing from the waters with its trills each note prolongs. Each way, up and down the river valliant Goths their shadows cast, Grieving o'er their leader Alaric, now in death still unsurpassed. All too soon and far from home would he be laid to final rest With his shoulders, face and neck by locks of youth still blond, caressed. And along Busento's banks feverishly in turns they raced To divert the river's current; a new riverbed they traced. In the hollow, fully drained a still deeper bed they forced; Lowered deep into this trench the dead warrior, armed and horsed; Then again with earth they covered him with his possessions brave, That the tall grass from the river grow out from the hero's grave. For a second time diverted to restore the river's home, With full force in their old bed Busento's billows sprayed their foam. And a choir of men were singing, "Sleep an honored hero's slumber! Never shall vile Roman greed your final resting place encumber!" This they sang; the hymns of praise resounded from the Gothic host; Speed them on, Busento billows, speed them on from coast to coast!

Moritami and Jurg, now can get married, haiku and all!😂😂😂

One like Kingdom Come Deliverance.

bannerlord :)))

@@josephmoore9706 I was just replaying kingdom come deliverance and I saw this comment lmao what a coincidence. I totally agree with you tho, that game's combat is the best I've ever seen.

You being a Greek literally doesn’t matter. The only way it could matter at all is if you have somehow convinced yourself that the Byzantine empire was a Greek empire.

@@isaacangelos Can't convince yourself of reality, usually it hits you whether you want to or not

@@agathius3969 You speak like someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about. Just because Greek nationalism has told you something that doesn’t make it true. I find it difficult to believe that in an empire where most called themselves Romans and not Hellenes or Greeks how it can be a Greek empire.

@@isaacangelos You mention people who don't know what they're talking about, and yet you are the one equating Ethnicity with Culture. They were Greeks, and they were Romans. Can't get more simple. The same way centuries ago when the Empire was whole, Iberians were Romans, Gauls were Romans, Greeks, Egyptians etc. Just cause you saw it on reddit and now you consider yourself a master historian, doesn't mean much

@@agathius3969 Why don’t you read the book Romanland. You literally can’t be an ethnic Greek if you don’t identify as a Greek. If you read Byzantine sources(which you obviously don’t) you mostly just see Roman with the odd Hellene or Greek thrown in.

Came here to say that 🙃

He became civilized....

Guards of glory and of might, red as blood and black as night flies our banner as we march in the East, for the King of the Greeks!

There's men of the cross and the hammer A few of the moon crescent Men simply searching for glamour Some concealing their royal descent

i need to know what this is, and if it is a song i need a title.

Turisas, March of the Varangian Guard. They have 2 concept albums where they take the perspective of a Scandinavian traveling to Constantinople

@@karlfranz3819 what Peter Roberts said

@@swissmilitischristilxxii3691 I mean, what were they expected to do? Fight for an emperor who had abandoned them? The Varangians were loyal, but why would they still be loyal to someone who ditched them in the first place like a coward. Edit: Some minor corrections.

@@swissmilitischristilxxii3691 u dont have to copy and paste your hate u know

@@swissmilitischristilxxii3691 its ironic seing your username cause the 4th crusade was entirely the fault of Catholics

@@swissmilitischristilxxii3691 You are aware you can praise the Swiss Guard without shitting on another effective group of mercenary bodyguards right?

@@swissmilitischristilxxii3691 i agree for swiss guards (They were Great Warriors) but im talking about the Catholics in general who caused the Sack of Constantinople in 1204

He was known as the "Voulgaroktonos" (the Bulgarslayer)

@@gpan62 so I take it Bulgarians are lethally allergic to basil

@@ethanwall2443 It kinda hurt their eyes.

Lmao😂

@Marcelo Henrique Soares da Silva this applies to later high medieval era as well. Professional mercenary soldiers tended to respect the terms of service even in the face of overwhelming odds, as this was their "guild's" bread and butter. But to ensure this kind of loyalty whoever hired the mercenaries needed to uphold his side of the bargain as well as. I am sure the so-called mercenary varangians were no different in that respect

dont lump in finns. they never did anything in history

Neither do I!

It isn't true. As I wrote in another comment, tattoo tools have been found in graves in Denmark, dating back to the Bronze Age - more than 2000 years before the Varangian Guards so I think it is safe to say it was a very old tradition in the Germanic part of Europe. Besides that, tattoos are forbidden in Islam. I have studied history for more than 25 years, so I know that old contemporary writings can't always be trusted, especially when it comes to texts related to religion.

Its false, germanic and saxon tribes are where that comes from, expecially face tattooing, where he got turks i have no idea, but the germanic tribes in the earlier roman wars were told to have been dyed or tattooed for battle, and for accomplishments in battle.

@@SuchDoge4242 That's right, even the old Scythians had tattoos, It has nothing to do with the Turks

I believe they were talking about tauro-scythians in that particular section. Tauro-scythians are not norsemen, they are from the southern coast of the Crimea peninsula. Just across the black sea. Those people are located so near the Turks that they very likely did take the tradition of tattooing from them. Maybe the artist messed up a little bit by making the example in the video a nordic looking guy with rune tattoos.

Yeah, I never knew that.

Yes!..I'm so exited to watch this i've been waiting on it...im going to wait until this evening so there wont be any interruptions.

You do a great service for humanity

Worth the wait

Well worth the wait. Thx very much!

2:46 an error on map, DACIA wasn't there , was in what is Romania today ,inside Carpathian Mountains area , with the capital of Sarmizegetusa Regia (near Sibiu city) ,the map looks like DACIA was in Hungary (from today) and this is an error

You don’t pay taxes?