Without T.V., Internet, or cell phones - what were people such as the Vikings supposed to do for fun? Well I'm going to tell you one laughable, but yet very brutal, game played by these Scandanavian barbarians.
Child-stacking was a very simple, entertianing game to play after you pillage a village. Once you dispatch all the adults, that leaves the kiddies. What the vicious Vikings would do is take the children and toss them up in the air, and then try to impale the falling bodies on long spears. Whoever could stack the most tots on a spear would win!
While on the topic ancient cruelty, Celtic sacrifice was also always fascinating. First of all, the idea of Celtic worship usually summons the idea of rabbits and squirrels hopping serenely through the magical forest with some old guy who sports a fabulous beard. This Disney cliche is anything but close.
When they weren't storming through Europe, the Celts worshipped in natural settings. It wasn't uncommon for ceremonies to include using methods such as clubbing, slicing the jugular, garroting, and drowning to sacrifice humans. The body (or what was left of it) was usually dumped into a bog somewhere, where modern man would excavate it.
In all fairness to the Celts though, they religion (and culture) wasn't entirely about killing, but also contained a complex organization of deities and beliefs that left a lasting impression on today, but I'm saving that story for October (=])!
Druids, or a kind of hereditary priest, would not only do the ritualized killing, but also advise the king, serve as judges in trials, oversee religious ceremonies, study astrology, learn the qualities of many plants, and memorize the tribe's historical records. These were men of many talents (and yes, they were always men, but there was another class of female sorcerers) - homicidally pathological magistrate-scholars - sounds like modern politicians.
It's pretty gruesome, but also kind of sinisterly interesting in its own special way.
4 comments:
uhh i dont think fascinating was the right word to use there.. haha
Thanks for blocking me! I had to sign onto my sister's account. But I think it's really cruel to spear little kids. I don't think it's interesting or funny at all.
fascinating
fas·ci·nat·ing [fássə nàyting]
adjective
captivating: inspiring a great interest or attraction
-fas·ci·nat·ing·ly, adverb
Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
I found it "captivating", so fascinating seems to make sense to me.
Sorry about that! I was testing the journal permissions and forgot to reverse it! So sorry! (Ha, ha... apparently it worked!)
Ya, I really don't think it's funny though either. I reread it, and I called it "laughable", meaning ridiculous, but I don't remember calling it "funny".
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