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thatericn

Member Since 04 Apr 2012
Offline Last Active Yesterday, 08:00 AM

Posts I've Made

In Topic: Hyborian Age Populatioin

11 May 2013 - 07:55 AM

The Hyborian Age certainly seems to have lots of empty space....


In Topic: Barbarian Women (definitely NSFW)

02 May 2013 - 06:24 AM

Tattoos on a beautiful woman are like letting a kindergardener loose in an art museum with fingerpaints.


In Topic: Breaking The Neck Of A Wild Cimmerian Bull

30 April 2013 - 06:42 AM

I think that Conan came from a background where boasting and self-aggrandizing tall tales are the main entertainment.

 

That's possible, although REH's description (through other characters) of the dour, sober, gloomy outlook and lifestyle of Cimmerians makes me think they were more of the prove-it-or-die-trying school - with a high regard for honor.

 

Conan though, as often discussed, probably would be very exceptional, and let a few things loose, feeling freed from the cultural constraints of his homeland and kin.


In Topic: Barbarian Women (definitely NSFW)

30 April 2013 - 06:35 AM

Cold steel?


In Topic: Vikings Series (History Channel)

26 April 2013 - 05:27 AM

Enjoy it for what it is, pure fantasy loosely based upon some historical events and people.

 

That's what I did while watching ''The 13th Warrior''. I had other expectations for these series. It seems that they are more interested to show Christian bashing than the Vikings. The human sacrifice issue is sanitized in a ludicrous manner regardless of what took place in the Uppsala site. Was there a need for that? And Athelstan appears a greater failure than the funny Christian monk in Monty Pythons' ''Erik the Viking'', while the Mouth of Sauron has replaced Norse priestesses/witches...

 

The Northumbrians seem totally lame. They are attributed cavalry (the latter almost non-existant in pre-Norman England), but are complete blunderers. The Vikings do not succeed due to daring or anything connected to their skills, but by quite implausible actions. Was there a need for a Roman-type (sic) Viking camp?

 

The Viking Age offers plenty of leeway to create unrecorded events. All they had to do is create a better atmosphere of the period. And it isn't even descent fantasy, say, like Poul Anderson's ''Broken Sword''.

 


It's funny/disappointing that "13th Warrior," a complete fantasy, rings truer in so many ways than "Vikings." The main problem is that "Vikings" treats Ragnar and company as unstoppable killing machines. In their two raids and battles I think ONE Viking - the old man - died in combat. It makes the fighting feel silly and without consequence. Compare that to T13W, where several of the heroes, and even their leader, die. The bones of many a Norseman and Dane lie in the soil of England, Ireland and France. Is riskless adventure all that adventurous?

 

Their "raids" did not feel like raids. The comical ineptness of their foes makes any need for speed, cunning or élan unnecessary.

 

There's another basic problem too - the characters are pretty much all jerks. Scary people can still be engaging and interesting. Oh well.

 

 

 

Its a good show and I have enjoyed it much but the Viking Warrriors giving them up for sacrifice is complete bull...that would have never happened unless they were captives of war or whatever.  The really could have done without that episode.

 

Yeah, that really rang hollow. Especially when you consider pretty much all the Scandinavian sacrificial victims found in bogs were strangled or hanged, and many have evidence of torture. Criminals and slaves were far more likely to have been sacrificial fodder.

 


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