Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.04.1983, Qupperneq 1

Lögberg
Heimsi LÖGBERG Stofnað 14. janúai HEIMSKRINGLA Stofnað 9. s< L (rím 1888 ;ptember 1886 gla
97, ÁRANGUR WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 15. APRÍL 1983 NÚMER 14
Bad press hurts Viking image
by Bruce Cherney
Vikings — They are portrayed as
beserkers, plunderers, barbarians,
heathens, and pagans and Dr. Leigh
Syms, a curator of Archaeology with
the Manitoba Museum of Man and
Nature, says this image has to be cor-
rected since it is far from the truth.
Syms has embarked on a one man
crusade to change the way people
think of the Vikings during the
golden age of 800 to 1100 A.D.
Speaking to a small crowd at the
Gimli High School March 28, Syms
said "Western history has done an in-
justice to the Scandinavians and the
Germanic people as a whole."
"The term Viking has been abus-
ed and misused. The Vikings are vic-
tims of the English press," he com-
mented while talking on the "Viking
Heritage" to members of the Icelan-
dic National League.
The reason for the bad press, he
said, was that when the Vikings did
raid they raided monasteries and
Christian centres, a bad move on the
part of the Vikings in one way and
a good move in another.
It was good since most of the
wealth was within the Christian
Churches and monasteries, but it was
a bad move because the churches
and monasteries contained the
literate people of the age. It was from
their fear of Viking attack and the
results of the attacks that we gain a
somewhat jaundiced view of the Vik-
ing, claims Syms.
The first raid by Vikings on the
English coast occurred at the
monastery of Lindisfarne in 793 A.D.
"They trampled all that holy
place," a twelfth century writer
Séra Valdimar
Eylands látinn
Séra Valdimar Eylands lést í
Winnipeg 12. apríl, síðastliðinn.
Séra Valdimar var 82 ára gamall
þegar hann lést. Minningar-
grein um hann mun birtast á
næstunni.
related,' "sullying it with their foot-
prints. They took away all the altars
and carried off all the treasures. They
killed some of the brothers, and led
others away completely naked and
covered with insults. They even
drowned some in the sea."
By reading this account, the image
of the pagan, and plunderer is inten-
sified. Alcuin from Northumbria (the
region where the raid took place)
wrote to the English King Ethelred:
"We and our fathers have lived
almost 350 years in this wonderful
country and never yet. has a terror
surprised Great Britain comparable
to that which we have suffered at the
hands of the pagans. And no one
would have thought that such an in-
vasion would come from the sea
Behold: The Church of Saint
Cuthbert was sprinkled with the
blood of the priests of God, stripped
of its ornaments. This place, the most
venerable of all in Great Britain, was
the pagans' victim ..."
Dr. Syms doesn't discount the oc-
currance of the raids, but he dis-
counts their magnitude as portrayed
by the Christian writers of the time.
He prefers to see the Vikings in a bet-
ter light — as traders, merchants,
master mariners, craftsmen and
generally peaceful settlers.
Raids continued until 840 A.D., but
then the Vikings began a serieS of set-
tlements that eventually included
York in England, Iceland, Greenland,
Normandy, Newfoundland, and as
far in the East as Novgorod in Russia.
Everyone sees the Vikings in their
longships built for warfare, but he
added what of the boats that the Vik-
ing used for settlements, the Nar, also
used for trading. These large crafts
carried families with women and
children on board, as well as live-
stock and goods.
The Nar is a vessel of peaceful set-
tlers, he explained.
Syms said that many of today's
European cities can trace their ex-
istance to Viking roots. He singled
out the case of Ireland, where the
Norse people created the cities of
Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork
and Limerick.
In the case of the English city of
York Syms claimed, the Vikings fe-
vitalized it making it a strong English
centre based on trade and craftsman-
ship.
"In fact what one person was
raiding one year, the next year he
settled," said Syms.
Vikings traded for goods from
across the then known world, the
curator said, goods from China such
as silk have been found in Scandina-
vian countries by archaeologists.
Other goods came from the Mediter-
ranean, Russia, and the Byzantine
Kingdom centre in what is now pre-
sent day Istanbul, Turkey.
Many times the Vikings didn't raid,
but merely threatened and their
power during the period is evidenc-
ed by the Danegeld or protection-
money paid by cities and kingdoms.
In 994 the Danes under Sven Fork-
beard extracted as payment from the
English 10,000 pounds in Danegeld,
but this didn't hinder them from
raiding London.
At the time European kings paid
the Vikings to' attack their neigh-
Continued on page 6
Leifur Julius Hallgrimson
appointed chairman of Board
Municipal Affairs Minister A. R.
(Pete) Adam has announced the ap-
pointment of Leifur Julius Hallgrim-
son, Q.C., as chairman of the Muni-
cipal Board, effective May 1. He
replaces John Acthim who has
resigned as of the end of April.
Mr. Hallgrimson has been presi-
dent and chief executive officer of
Manitoba Forestry Resources
Limited since September, 1982. He
had been appointed chairman and ex-
ecutive officer of the company in
September, 1973.
Energy and Mines Minister Wilson
Parasiúk, the minister responsible for
Manfor, said Mr. Hallgrimson had
done a "highly creditable" job in
directing the crown agency during its
reorganization and subsequent opera-
tions. His successor as president and
chief executive officer is expected to
be named shortly.
Born and raised in Riverton, Mr.
Hallgrimson graduated with bachelor
of arts and law degrees from the
University of Manitoba and was call-
ed to the Bar in Manitoba in 1953.
He practised as a tax counsel with
the federal department in Ottawa
from 1953 until 1958, and served in
the Manitoba Attorney-General's De-
partment from 1958 to 1971 as direc-
tor of civil litigation. He was ap-
pointed a Queen's Counsel in 1969.
In 1971 Mr. Hallgrimson was ap-
pointed receiver-manager of Chur-
chill Forest Industries, and when the
complex was converted to a crown
corporation in 1973 under the name
Manitoba Forestry Resources
Limited he assumed responsibility
for its operations.
The Municipal Board acts as an ap-
peal body on assessment and plann-
ing matters and as a hearing body for
petitions to the minister regarding
boundary changes of municipalities.
It also acts as an approval authority
on municipal borrowing.
Mr. Adam noted that in January he
had announced makeup of the new
municipal board, which is composed
of 10 members.
Respecting the retiring chairman,
Mr. Adam said that for a 35-year
period Mr. Acthim has served the
people and the government of
Manitoba with dedication.
"From 1948 when he joined the
municipal assessment branch under
the equalization and appeal board,
Mr. Acthim has carried out his duties
in an exemplary manner," the min-
ister said.
He became secretary to the Muni-
cipal Board in 1959 and was ap-
pointed chairman in 1976.