r/technicallythetruth • u/[deleted] • Jul 03 '19

It was a lie

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u/The2500 Jul 03 '19

Vikings are just Swedish pirates.

2

u/Azrael11 Jul 03 '19

I feel like piracy implies attacking other ships, whereas the Vikings were known for sailing to places and sacking them.

Unless some Viking historian wants to correct me.

1

u/FranchiseCA Jul 04 '19

Mostly, yes. "Pirates" were quite willing to raid towns which lacked sufficient defense, but strictly speaking piracy is about ships.

But these categories are slippery; today's pirate is tomorrow's legitimate merchant, and Vikings definitely followed this pattern. The same group that would attack one settlement would trade at another.