Varyags of Miklagaard-question

[Odens_son]

I have a question about the Song Varyags of Miklagaard...they say:

Our loyalty was always firm
We kept our given word
On these southern battlefields
Our northern war cries roared

And

Miklagaard has been our home
For twenty years or more
We've lent our axes, spears and swords
In service of the emperor

I have 1 time heard something about that the emperor of Constantinopel had some Vikings as his "bodygards"...is this right? and is the song about these "bodyguards"?

 

[Bates]

Ya, generally known in English as the Varangian Guard. Miklagaard is the Norse name for Constantinople/Istanbul.

 

[Tranquillian]

Yes, and yes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangians

 

[Xurek]

Just read an awesome series of books calling Viking by Tim Severin not long ago. One of the books deals with the lead characters time spent in the Varangian Guard. Well worth the read if you are interested in that type of historical fiction.

 

[waif]

See also: Bathory - Death And Resurrection Of A Northern Son

 

[Odens_son]

OK, thanks for the quik answer. I didn't know that Miklagaard the Norse name for Constantinople is.
Well i have another question to the song Tattered banners and Bloody Flags:

There comes Lopt, the treacherous
Lusting for revenge
He leads the legions of the dead
Towards the Aesir's realm

could it be that Lopt is another name for Loki???

 

[HaloSlayer]

That was my understanding of it. I assume it is after he is free from the stones he was bound to with his son's intestines. This legions of the dead, are they the ones set free from hel or are they like zombies he raises from grave yards?

 

[Shadowalker]

Lopt (sometimes transliterated "Loft") is a name of Loki that is used in two of the Eddic poems; Lokasenna and Hyndluljod. It means "Air"

My understanding is that the dead freed from Hel will fight on the Sly One's side at Ragnarok, but that obviously isn't universal as Baldr is among those dead and he does not. Norse soul lore is an immensely complex subject I'm only beginning to scratch the surface of personally.

 

[VinlandViking]

I have 1 time heard something about that the emperor of Constantinopel had some Vikings as his "bodygards"...is this right? and is the song about these "bodyguards"?

Varyags is another word for the Varangian Guard, which was a group of vikings who migrated to south eastern Europe during the medieval times and fought as mercenaries in service of the Eastern Roman Empire. At one time the Varangians actually attacked the Romans, but after a while of mercenary service many of them called Greece their homeland. Miklagaard is another name for Constantinople, and yes this song is about the Varyags who defended the Roman Emperor and Miklagaard.

It's a really epic song, by the way. I hope they play it tonight.

 

[VinlandViking]

There comes Lopt, the treacherous
Lusting for revenge
He leads the legions of the dead
Towards the Aesir's realm

could it be that Lopt is another name for Loki???

I saw that too and I was confused at first. I've never heard that name and I assume Johan is saying "Loke" not "Lopt", since he says Loke in a few other songs.

You really need to understand Norse mythology and history to understand most of these lyrics. It's a really interesting subject too, you should study Norse history.

 

[Odens_son]

yeah i already bought me a book,1 month ago, but it rather was an interpretation about the stories, and about influence of the christianity in the storys told in the Prose Edda & the stories were not really told, only in a short version...Damned!
In fakt the lyrics of Amon Amarth puched me to read some things about the Norse Mythologie, and it so i bought the book...I also read some things on Wikipedia...i already know very much about Ragnarök^^

 

[VinlandViking]

A good introductory book is The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland. Another good viking history book is The World of the Vikings by Richard Hall.

And I'll probably get some flames from this, but the movie Beowulf (the new CGI one) is also a close representation of viking culture and is amazing accurate for Hollywood standards.

 

[Odens_son]

Cool, I will look for these books, thanks.