Yeah i noticed that too, after the samurai killed the viking he limps away lmao. probably thinking, " god damn i hope i don't run into another one of those guys.."
Ok, so i've told ye what i know 'bout their weaponry. One thing that that vikings have a definite edge over is morale. It was their faith that made them some of the deadliest warriors out there. It was also this faith that lead some of them to be berserk. Now alot of people only know it's base meaning, the word berserk, to go into some kind of rage. the word berserk comes form old norse, Bar Sark, meaning 'bare shirt' or going shirtless/naked etc. Now, the vikings worshipped a pantheon of gods, pretty similar to that of greek or romans. Their main man was Odin, also known as the all-father. now Odin had under his possession the precious hall known as Valhalla, and his Einherjar ( Valkyries ). T'was said that it was also Odin who bestowed the berserk fury to his most loyal heroes on Earth ( Midgard ) Now these valkyries would fly above battlefields from Asgard ( palace of the gods ) and pick out the brave and righteous dead, mainly those who die in battle of some sort. Dying any other way would yield one to Hel. So to attain paradise in the viking faith, one must die in violence. So yeah, Odin get's all these heroes in his hall for preparation of Ragnarok, the viking armagedon. In Valhalla the heroes would feast and hold tournaments of war and contest ( lol kinda like quake 3 ), afterwards they would put themselves back together again and feast and drink beer all day. And fight some more. So, it was the deadly zeal that gave the vikings this vicious,house burning,wife raping,gold stealing,baby killing reputation. And i'm damn proud to be a viking. T'was also the reason they were demonized with the horned helmets and all. Also, some good reading on this would be the book The Children of Odin, by Padraic Colum. Now the japanese practiced Buddhism, which is pretty much Atheistic, although it teaches inner peace with oneself. Samurai were'nt just warriors, but also poets and painters. So the samurai were pretty much all dressed up and nowhere to go. The main reason why samurai are so popular nowadays is because they were pretty much the last 'knights' of the world. T'was because of this that they have been romanticised and all that good stuff, just like vikings were romanticised as these tall, blonde haired blue eyed, horned helmet wearing and axe wielding heroes.
Well, its up to me i guess to debunk some myths and even tell you guys some interesting facts about both these tough mofos. You see, no sword is indestructable, and the samurai sword is definitley not indestructible. The steel they had in japan was of very poor and brittle quality, having little or no carbon in it. What this does is make the steel well, brittle and easy to snap. This is the reason why the japanese had to fold their swords so many damn times to where at least the edge part will shatter but not the whole damn blade. European made weapons were usually made out of moderate quality steel, and not to mention that vikings had some advanced metallurgy in their day. They made their swords first out of a wrought iron core, then wrapped finer quality steel around that. This produced a sword that didnt break so easily, but its edges were would stay sharp longer and a dent a little bit if you hit something hard, but that could just be filed out. Also, their swrds were quite flexible. :P Now the average longsword weighs ( and by Longsword, i mean both katana and viking style sword) around 3 pounds, so their both not heavy at all. The Pros of the Katana would be that it had some good handle length, allowing enough for two hands if you wanted more control with a lack of finesse. the cons would be that it's not double edged and has a smaller guard. The Viking sword, However, didn't have that long of a hilt, but plenty for a hand to get in thar. Its pros is that its A) Double edged, ( usually), and B) has a larger guard than that silly tsuba. lol silly tsuba that has a ring to it. But really, any dumbass could figure out how to use both of them. it doesnt take much to figure out what they do. Armour We'll start with the average viking warrior, these guys usually have something like a nasal/conical helm, spear/axe and a shield. Swords were still quite expensive at the time. I'll even you let you guys in a fancy secret about their shields right har. You see, their shields are WOOD reinforced with a typical steel boss. notice how i capitolised WOOD? because wood has a grains, and if you cut against that grain, your sword axe or penis will bounce right off of it harr harr harr. But cut ALONG the grain and you'll split it right in two. :D This is why they painted their shields, to hide the grain. Oh yeah, the shafts of spears and naginata are made of wood, usually around 4 cm in diameter, and with a AXE ( note that axes were originally used to chop wood ) could splinter your spear and turn it into a dagger. oh yeah, shields were also used offensively to knock weapons out of the way and people out of the way. Or just smack the hell out of em. Now the middle/upper class viking would be wearing chainmail, and it's not just the steel that protects. All that steel does is prevent cuts and stabs ( will most stabs, if your opponent gets up close with a Rondel he'll stab you nice and deep like ). The other part of the chainmail is the cushion underneath, so that it helps against . So lets discuss spear heads for a bit, the naginata has a broad blade like head. Yeah it's broad, not gonna penetrate chainmail too well. The viking spear heads were usually dagger shaped ( kinda long,moderate width, double edged), This might prove handy against Lamellar armour ( forgot how to spell it) which is pretty much what samurai wore i believe. Now Samurai armour, or Lamellar, is just woven leather with some cushion underneath. now i admit this might be a little more comfy, and form fitting, but lightweight and probably won't due well against an axe since the axe would just split the it like hairs yamean. So the samurai might be able to move a little faster or sneakily, although to the sound of squeaky leather. Vikings on the other hand, well the chieftans,upperclass, will be all shiny and god damn rattley. So yeah, you know who to shoot with that bow 'n arrow. the other guys however, weren't so noisy. well im tired, and uhh, ....im going to bed. i'll probably be back to enlighten ye some more. Oh i voted vikings bevause im of scandinavian descent myself, and because ive handled alot of melee weapons, and id have to say, id prefer a viking sword over a katana.
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