7 Comments

1. 
   roaringtree · 2025-09-27 05:33

   Beautiful!!

2. 
   mackiechartres · 2025-09-27 07:22

   i always loved wikingsghips. in france we call them "drakkar", is this the proper word?

3. 
   sierravictor · 2025-09-27 07:34

   @mackiechartres You should visit Oslo one day (not this year, they're building new a new house for the ships) and the vikingshiphouse. They have two complete authentic, real old, vikingships and some other great stuff. "Drakkar", haven't heard about that word before but it makes me think about the norwegian word "drageskip", "dragonship". The word "drage" is a bit like "drakkar", it means "dragon". "Drakkar" could be a loanword from old norse maybe. Not unlikely since norwegian vikings did settle down in Normandie at one time.

4. 
   mackiechartres · 2025-09-27 10:28

   @sierravictor I will visit Norway one day for sure !
   I checked, "drakkar" is a word in the French dictionaries only, so it is a french invention, of somewhat obscure origin, probably based as you suggest on an old Scandinavian word for "dragon". Let's not forget that the Vikings have a very ancient history in common with France: they led raids that terrorized the population in the early Middle Ages, before eventually settling in a region that was then called Normandy. In the collective imagination, I suppose that the Vikings were seen like dragons, going up rivers with their "drakkar", to attack cities, like they did several times in Paris!

5. 
   mackiechartres · 2025-09-27 10:32

   Now, the people living in Normandy are very proud of their viking origins. When you visit cities like Rouen or Caen, or Falaise (the latter is the city where you can visit the castle of William the conqueror), there are a lot of references to the viking history of Normandy - in museums of course, but also in popular culture. I am myself a "Normand", or "Northman," since my father's family was from Normandy. 😉

6. 
   sierravictor · 2025-09-27 11:13

   @mackiechartres My homeisland Karmøy had the main (?) home of the first viking-king of Norway. That version of Norway stretched from south/southwest to the northwest of the southern half of Norway. So I live right in the middle of viking-country. There are still some ruins left on the island of a royal home that was burned down by the hanseatic league in 1368. They were in a tax-conflict with the norwegian king.

7. 
   mackiechartres · 2025-09-27 12:35

   @sierravictor I'll take note, for a future trip!