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The Scandinavian winter was a horrible time in the ancient eras. It heralded darkness, biting cold, and starving predators which wandered into human settlements, searching for food. But it was also a time of wonder. People got out to play on the ice and in the snow, as the aurora borealis reared itself over the mountainous horizon. Markets were hosted on the ice, as rivers, lakes and tracts of roadless lands were suddenly made...accessible.

Scandinavia is a land of mountains and forest. Travelling in winter, on the ice and through the snow, was lighter and faster in the eras before rail and motorways. Whilst the cold bit you to the bone, so too was it a time of trade, travel and industry. In this video we will explore just how the ancient Nordics exploited the seemingly biggest threat of their homeland: the winter wonderland.

Sources:
History of the Nordic Peoples - Olaus magnus
Armer and Expected. Traders and their ways in Viking Times - Vladas Zulkus
The Land of the Midnight Sun - Paul Belloni du Chaillu
Finlands Historia 1 - Torsten Edgren, Lena Törnblom
Den Långa Medeltiden - Fredrik Charpentier Ljungqvist
Eyrbyggja Saga
Gustav Vasa och hans folk - Göta Göransson
Gustav II Adolf och hans folk - Göta Göransson

Image sources:
By Valugi - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

#history #winter #balticempire