Valhalla Responses: Part Two

The following email was originally posted on July 27, 2018

I think this second set of responses is even more informative than the first.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

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-----Original Message-----

From: Grant 
Sent: Fri, Jul 27, 2018 12:23 pm
Subject: Re: [AMHERST-1975] Valhalla

A Norwegian friend of mine, known as “The Viking” on the tennis court, tells me that American society is viewed by the majority of modern-day Scandinavians as rather cruel, not only to immigrants and foreigners, but also to its less-fortunate citizens.  He seems to think that our President and his party are particularly uncaring and ruthless.  He offers the consoling thought that even the most cruel of societies can sometimes, over time, become compassionate.

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard
Sent: Fri, Jul 27, 2018 9:02 am
Subject: Re: [AMHERST-1975] Valhalla

For those interested in Viking history and culture, there is a wonderful exhibit at the new art gallery at the Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, CT).  The exhibit was created by the University at Uppsala, Sweden, and features a large number of artifacts never previously exhibited.  It is remarkable how far the Vikings traveled, east and west.  In another building is a very creative exhibit relating to the Vineland Map, which Yale claimed in the 1960s proved that the Vikings reached North America before Columbus; the exhibit features both sides of the heated debate (scientific and otherwise) over whether the map is a fake, and the map itself is on display (on loan from Yale).  Well worth the trip!

On Jul 27, 2018, at 11:24 AM, gregory wrote:

I went through Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland in 1986 and loved them all, and then in 2015 went to Iceland, which was also wonderful.  We do not realize how profound an effect these Norse Vikings have had upon western civilization, for even the days of the week are named for their deities, as in Thor's Day being Thursday, Woden's Day being Wednesday (Woden or Wotan is Odin), Tiw's Day being Tuesday (Tiw is also known as Tyr, the God of War), and Freya's Day being Friday.  In Newport, Rhode Island there is even a stone building ascribed to Viking explorers, and Runic markings have been found all over the Great Lakes region.

On Thursday, July 26, 2018 4:56 PM, David  wrote:

It should be easy to determine:  did you guys have to wear those stupid bowl haircuts?  Otherwise, I'm going with Plymouth.

On 7/26/2018 1:21 PM, Skip Jenkins wrote:

Wow Again!

Just looked this one up

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Valiant

Maybe, just maybe, this was what they were thinking of when they named us the Valiants.  I shall have to investigate further.

Skip

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen 
Sent: Thu, Jul 26, 2018 1:07 pm
Subject: Re: [AMHERST-1975] Valhalla

Aye. Or Hal Foster and King Features. 

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From: Skip Jenkins 
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2018 3:59:44 PM

Subject: Re: [AMHERST-1975] Valhalla

Wow!  Only we aged ones can understand the meaning of this reply.  Amazing.  I have to chuckle.

-----Original Message-----
From: Derek 
Sent: Thu, Jul 26, 2018 12:55 pm
Subject: Re: [AMHERST-1975] Valhalla

Perhaps they had an endorsement deal from the Plymouth Motors. 

------ Original Message ------
Received: Thu, 26 Jul 2018 03:07:36 PM EDT
From: Skip Jenkins 
Subject: [AMHERST-1975] Valhalla

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> To write my previous emails about my reminiscing about the events of 1968,
to better refresh my memory, I revisited my junior high school yearbook. The
title of the yearbook is Valhalla and on the cover there is the image of a
Viking. Now, in 1968, the sports teams at Victor Valley Junior High were
called the Valiants. I was never quite sure what a Valiant is. I think it
had more to do with being courageous in some form or fashion. However,
whatever a Valiant is, the image that seemed to adorn a lot of our team spirit
was a Viking image. After all, Vikings were an aggressive war like folk and
our sports teams tended to want to emulate them.
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> Seeing that Viking on the cover of Valhalla inspired me to want to learn
more about my "Viking" heritage. As luck would have it, the History Channel
has been running a dramatic series for the last five years entitled "Vikings".
As Wikipedia describes it
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> Vikings is a historical drama television series written and created by
Michael Hirst for the History channel. Filmed in Ireland, it premiered on
March 3, 2013 in Canada.[1]
> Vikings is inspired by the sagas of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the
best-known legendary Norse heroes and notorious as the scourge of England and
France. The show portrays Ragnar as a farmer who rises to fame by successful
raids into England, and eventually becomes a Scandinavian king, with the
support of his family and fellow warriors. After Ragnar's death, the later
seasons follow the fortunes of his sons, and their adventures in England,
Scandinavia and the Mediterranean.
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> For the last two months, I have immersed myself into Viking culture by binge
watching all 59 episodes of the "Vikings". What I have learned from this
experience is that the Nordic peoples -- the peoples that a certain President
wishes would migrate to this country instead of those dark skinned folks from
south of our border -- were essentially the eighth and ninth century version
of the MS-13. The profusely tattooed Vikings were notorious for murdering,
raping and pillaging in all of the lands that they raided ... and even amongst
themselves. Rather strange that a millennium later, they are "redeemed" as
being the most desired of peoples. 
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> But then again, what I have also learned is that whatever destruction and
havoc that the Vikings may have caused was also accompanied by change. The
dynamic interaction of the Vikings on foreign lands caused those lands to
change ... often in positive ways. Additionally, the very aggressive sea
faring nature of the Vikings led to the discovery of lands that had previously
been unknown. Of course, most will assume that I am referring to the
Americas, but actually I am referring to the ninth century discovery of one of
my favorite places -- Iceland.
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> And so, in looking at past history for lessons to learn for today, I tend to
think that a millennium from now, at a time when, I suspect, California and,
possibly, the entire United States have become "browner", some historian will
reflect about this time and note the rather remarkable change that was to
come.
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> Peace,
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> Everett "Skip" Jenkins