Denmark's Culture Minister Apologizes for Viking raids on Ireland:
More than 1,200 years ago hordes of bloodthirsty Viking raiders descended on Ireland, pillaging monasteries and massacring the inhabitants. Yesterday, one of their more mild-mannered descendants stepped ashore to apologise.
The Danish culture minister, Brian Mikkelson, who was in Dublin to participate in celebrations marking the arrival of a replica Norse longboat, apologised for the invasion and destruction inflicted. "In Denmark we are certainly proud of this ship, but we are not proud of the damages to the people of Ireland that followed in the footsteps of the Vikings," Mr Mikkelson declared in his welcoming speech delivered on the dockside at the river Liffey. "But the warmth and friendliness with which you greet us today and the Viking ship show us that, luckily, it has all been forgiven."
Maybe the Irish should demand reparations. A supertanker full of Carlsberg would be just the thing.
Hat tip to Jeri Westerson at Getting Medieval.
I am apparently a distant descendant of the guy who led the original raids on Dublin--named, I kid you not, "Ivar the Boneless." To top that, he had a brother named Sigurd Snake Eye, and their father was known as Ragnar Hairy Breeches.
ReplyDeleteI feel blessed to have escaped with a mere "Cornelia."
Oh, I know all about those guys. I'm a Viking buff. Never knew you were a descendant. Very cool!
ReplyDeleteI would give anything to be descended from a guy named Ragnar Hairy Breeches.
ReplyDeleteWell, me and about 100,000 other people probably, considering the generations and everything. But still. Glad to know I'm not the only person who's ever heard of these guys!
ReplyDeleteHeh, my paternal grandmother was a member of the Feyling family, who claimed they were direct descendants of Eric the Red.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, it's rather cool to have Viking berserkers in your ancestry. Makes being a computer System Administrator just that much easier...