I'm Lithuanian 🇱🇹 my great grandfather and my father used to tell me stories about the Curonians and our tribes. We are still here in Lithuania and I am proud that people take interest in our culture. Thank you
If I was of Baltic extraction I'd be immensely proud that my ancestors held true to their native beliefs for so long, long after the Christianization of the rest of Europe. The last tribe, from Lithuania didn't convert until the early 15th Century. I find that truly amazing! By the way, there is a Latvian documentary film on this subject titled Baltu Ciltis: Eiropas Pēdējie Pagāni or Baltic Tribes: The Last Pagans of Europe that is well worth the watch. It's available in English language.
Curonians, aka Kursenieki (Abv; KURS), inhabited the shores of the Baltic Sea, 5th to 16th centuries, of western Latvia and Lithuania. Eventually merged with other Baltic tribes contributing to the ethnogenesis of present-day Latvians and Lithuanians.
I stand more ethnically curonian and lithuanian, a mix if you will. Im proud of my heritage and feel that Christianity more or less helped tame the violence that was needed to survive at the time, however wasnt needed anymore.
Two mistakes: 1 - Semigalians ( Zemgaļi) was a last pagans of Europe - not surrendered, but completely migrated to Zemaitija ( Now territory of Lithuania) and there assimilated long after Curonians was Christianized. 2 - Curonians was not disappeared completely - there are evidence of surviving of Curonian nobility ( Kuršu ķoniņi) with lands and all nobility attributes.
Thanks for the feedback. Just to note that video never claimed that Curonians were the "last pagans". I reckon that title goes to Lithuanians who were by all accounts the last pagan state. Also, nobility with curonian origins doesnt mean there is a Curonian nation. By all accounts their tribe had been assimilated by the 16th century. Although the nobility note on itself is very interesting.
@@Tell.Me.Something First of all - big thank's to You for turning view to history of Baltic region. This part of history is still a mystery for most of Europeans! About question of "last pagans" - I suppose Lithuanians definitely are not, because, if we are talking about Lithuanian nation or state, than as a founder of Lithuania state is counted King Mindaugas, who was baptised around 1260. The part of todays Lithuania territory was inhabited by Zemaitians (Žemaiši). Agreement between Mindaugas and Livonian Order prescripts refusal of Mindaugas of Zemaitian and Semigalian lands. If we are translating from Lithuanian Zemaitians and from Latvian - Semigalians ( Zemgaļi), both means the same - "People from lands end". Both tribes was really close, probably - with pretty close language and traditions. When Semigalians left their lands in 1290ties, they merge with Zemaitians. I say - merge, because there was around 100 000 Semigalians, which makes them a big part of further Zemaitians tribe. Zemaitians really was baptized only in more than 100 years later by....Great Duke of Lithuania ( I'm not sure, than I'm translating his title correctly) Vitautas. So it means - yes - last pagans was Zemaitians, living in modern Lithuanias territory, but - big part of this tribe was actually Semigalians, but Lithuania as a state was Christians already around 150 years ago. What relates to Curonians - it's true - there is no Curonian nation, but Curonians are counted as one of founding tribes, who forms Latvian nation. There is still some Curonian dialect a bit different from literal Latvian language.... and still a lot of disputable questions due fact, than all "history" of Balts was written basically in Russian Empire time, based on Karamzin's history and there are a lot of politics and fantasies what are made under question mark by modern historians.
@@kasparsm7964 That is a very interesting backstory to tribes and their histories. If I read your post correctly then Zemaitians were christianized around 1390s which I reckon was the around the same time when Lithuania was rechristianized as, Im going from memory here they reverted back to paganism after Mindaugas. Im not here to dispute the title of the last pagan, Zemaitians can have that, just trying to see am I understanding the matter correctly. The Baltic regions history is quite fascinating but the only period that Im more less familiar with is the one that Chronicle of Livonian Henry covers - and that guy was such a good writer! Rest is all gathered from secondary sources that Ive found on internet. So apologies for the ignorance on the topic.
@@Tell.Me.Something You are correct. I can not find any precise year, just because Zemaitians still was a tribe and there is no evidence about one particular leader, who can take baptism as a representative of all tribe, like Mindaugas or Kaupo in Livland, but there we can draw some parallels with time, when Great Duke Vitautas "rent out" Zemaitija lands to Livonia Order, Zemaitian riots against "baptism with fire and sword" by Livonian knights, Konflict between Vitautas and Livonians, Impact of Christian Polish king Jagailo and events, what leads to war between Poland and Lithuania union against Livonia Order, ended with Battle on Grunewald ( Žalgiris Mušis) at 1410, resulting to rise of Polish-Lithuanian state, including Zemaitija in Lithuania and establishment of Zemaitija Episcopacy in 1417.
The story with Kaupo was quite interesting. Imagine you are a village elder and you are taken to Rome to see the pope. Thats a quite an experience for a pagan leader from the edge of Europe. Catholic church sure had a lot of tricks when dealing with heathens. Also, thanks for all the info, its an interesting read! @@kasparsm7964
I know that there was a tribe called Tavastians. I think, that were quite warlike but Im lacking knowledge to comment on this more. Its a very fascinating period though!
They believed the Finns were able to control the weather with magic. Every time they attacked they were brutalised by the Finnish weather and sea's They would eventually mark the Finnish lands as basically not worth raiding. This also meant the Vikings refused to bring Finns on ocean raids.
My grandmothers people are from Lithuania she visited there and wrote of it. My father was always proud of that heritage i myself am over a quarter Lithuania
Great Video on region not too many talk about. I can trace family from 13th Century in this area, and Konigsburg. Prussia, Pomerania and Livonia, as well as Hesse in later centuries.
Out of curiosity, what are the oldest records that you can look about your family. This kind of timeframe is very impressive as in 13th century when you got mentioned then you had to be someone important.
My family is from the former East Prussian area now known as Mazury, named after Mazovians that colonized and mixed with Old Prussians after the Teutonic Knights opened the area. We are also part Lipka Tatar, fairly common in the area. Through surnames, I can trace back to the old Polish-Lithuanian coats of arms into the 1200s. Several of our surnames are Slavicized Old Prussian, especially tribal names, and Slavicized Lipka, with the rest Mazovian. Cousins returned in the 80s to meet family there, and found some church records to be quite old, yet many were destroyed in the war also - it's hit and miss. But surnames can still be traced to specific areas going back centuries. I can't speak for other Baltic regions, however. For people hailing originally from this region, the history can be quite specific and reach far back. For instance in the case of Old Prussian surnames based on tribal affiliation really narrows it down and is pre-Teutonic invasion.
Well, since we feel we must talk about our familial lineage, I can trace my family from Northern Spain between Bilbao an La Coruna. My ancestors fought the Moors under the Spanish kings and earned herald and Moor's head on their coat of arms for their bravery and success in vanquishing the Moors. More modern antiquated linage intermarried with aristocracy from the Canary Islands. Recently, early 20th Century, my grandfather was the governer of Chiapas, Mexico. Boring isn't it? Nothing to do with the video, right? You don't care either, correct? So there all you all posters with your family stuff no one cares about either. Stick to the video!!!!
Tracing family lines is actually very interesting. As you newer know what stuff you might encounter. I cant check the veracity of the stories but I very much like to hear them. 🙂 @@RivetGardener
Think about all of this against the backdrop of the Crusades and all of the petty wars of the era. It was a truly perilous time to be alive. We, the descendants of such redoubtable warriors, daily betray ourselves and our ancestors, whose blood was readily spilt for faith, honour and glory, have now become the weak and coddled society of the entitled and easily offended. We must not forget those who have gone before. If we are to survive, we must summon the strength of our ancestors and stand for our truth.
Its actually quite normal. We live in easier times and thus society doesnt have any need for "tough people" and hence the culture is as it is. But no worries as soon as times get tough then it doesnt take long for "tough people" to be back in mainstream.
Spilling blood to defend freedom, family and country sure...But we rightly call people who spill blood for faith terrorists. The Fourth Crusade ended up killing more Eastern Christians than Muslims. Crusader is a dirty word amongst Orthodox Christians.
My knowledge in regards to Picts relations with Vikings is bit hazy still but I do know that Romans were unable to conquer them, and it wasnt due to lack of trying.
One of the first kings in Scotland was named Hengest. He was in what is now Banffshire, Moray county in North East Scotland. He was Norse. The Scottish bloodline typically has around 10% Scandinavian because of the Vikings, see Dr. Bryan Sykes book on the Genetics of the UK. It does reflect in my own DNA as well.
Today the descendants of Curonians in my country Ukraine are Ukrainians with surnames Kur, Kurovskyi, Kurenskyi and possibly Kurchenko. In Finland of course legendary Jarri Kurri. And of course the descendants of Curonians today live in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The Germanic people had the most to do with ending Viking beliefs than warfare. The Vikings especially in denmark saw the end for them was near since the Germanic Christian’s were not the peaceful type they were quite aggressive. The king of Denmark converted to Christianity in large part due to this threat and he felt it was better to make an ally through this religion than an enemy. They even dig up their old kings and reburied them Christian style.
Hey, thank you for watching! That is interesting observation and I would add that this conversion was not by accident. The Church spent great deal of effort in converting the pagan rulers as with it they could get the "whole country" so to speak. It worked very well in most of the medieval Europe, except for the Baltics where it mostly failed. But to be fair, it didnt work partly because it was done via conquest where the idea was no longer to convert the local rulers but to conquer the land and supplant them.
@lilbaz8073 Alfred beat the Vikings at Ethandun/Erdington and forced Guthrum to convert. Alfreds grandson, Aethelstan, finally conquered the whole nation and was given the title 'the king of the English'
Actually, The Vikings of Denmark, Norway and Sweden were also Germanic. Modern ethnic Germanic people are ethnic Germans, ethnic Dutch, ethnic Danes, ethnic Swedes, ethnic Norwegians, ethnic Icelanders and to an extent, ethnic English, ethnic Austrians and ethnic Swiss- Germans.
Thats my ancestors.🙂 "Koronians " baltic tribe, that lived in Livonia, now Latvia, was called also -Kurši-/ ( spelling Kur-shi- ). I am direct descendant.❤ Thank you for bringing up extint cultures.
@@weseehowcommiegoogleis3770 i will not tell you how acient Latvians avoided blood mixsing...you will call it barbaric, cruel, and crazy. Enjoy your peasful sleep. 🤭
These fearsome warriors, the bane of the Vikings, certainly deserve our respect. To so fiercely defend your land and beliefs is a defining factor of all ancient Europeans. Through the sad fate of the Curonians, we can learn how the interests of global politics and religion can forcefully destroy a nation and the many centuries of its history, completely erasing it from memory. When dreams of prosperity fan the flames, the fate of a nation is at its mercy, and even ethnicities can disappear without a trace. Ominous little 13th century poem from the Livonian Rhyme Chronicle: “There lies at the shore of the sea a land called Curonia that is a full fifty miles long The poor Christians who by mistake come to this very land will be deprived of life and goods.”
Ofelaš / Veiviseren (Pathfinder (1987 film) - old favorite movie from childhood regarding these times... is obv fiction based on legends, but speaks of Chudes (early Estonians) for some reason raiding Sami / early Norwegians name Chude comes from early ruzzian name for lake Peipsi (Chudskoe ozero) - sounds like they were also somewhat notorious alongside tribesmen from Ösel (name for Saaremaa in Swedish)/ oeselians there was Saint George's Night Uprising in 1343-1345 Early times show that the ones who fight back will remain for longer - Sami remain , Estonians remain Liivi vanished - despite(or because of) Kaupo accepting christianity .. food for thought in the mirror of current war
Their story is actually quite well covered, for the middle ages, by the Livonian Henrik - a medieval chronicle. It has a small bias ofc but it does give a great account about the christianisation wars in the Baltic lands for the first 30 years.
The Yotvingians are another Baltic people known for their ferocity. Serving as mercenaries amongst the Kievan Rus they appear to be descendants of the ancient Neuri who were said to be a nation of werewolves.
@@Tell.Me.Something The name Neuri is believed to derive from the Narew River found in northeastern Poland and western Belarus which was the primary river basin in the Yotvingian territory. Herodotus describes them as dwelling along the Hypanis or Bug River which is nearby in the same region. He also tells a story that the Neuri left their homeland due to an invasion of snakes which is interesting given the importance of the snake found amongst other Baltic cultures. They appear to have relocated closer to the Scythian lands in northern Ukraine.
So Neuri stands for river only? Was just wondering as if they were descendants of Neuri then this raises a question who were Neuri? Also, where does the werewolf aspect come into play? Sorry for spamming questions😅Just curious here.@@shanegooding4839
@@Tell.Me.Something The most popular theory is that it comes from the river. However there is a Lithuanian word Nara meaning a 'den' or 'lair' which is interesting because Herodotus claimed that the Neuri all appeared to be magicians who could turn into wolves for a few days each year.
@Tell.Me.Something In a twisted irony, we may say that war was healthy for demographics and unity; it strengthened Europe by destroying tribalism and sectarianism, something that still plagues Africa and the Middle East to this day. It improved warfare by boosting innovation for new weapons that Europe would later use to expand its other continents. It all started with horse riders and chariots, two inventions that European ancestors mastered, as neither Africans, Native Americans, nor Asians used them at similar times.
For each their own I guess but "war was healthy for demographics and unity" idea was really popular at the beginning of 20th century and that mindset got us into the biggest war yet. @@synaestesia-bg3ew
Wow that was something that the people should be feared of and respected never did heard of curonians before but they probally had relations with the swedish vikings.
The Baltic sea region in the early middle ages was kind of everybody raids everybody world 😅probably even before that but we just dont have any written records.
They are called "KURŠI" from Kurland and "LĪVI/LĪBI" from Kurland and East "Vidzeme" anyways both tribes were living on west coast of nowadays Latvia, and we do have 2 west coasts lol. And yes, i also heard many times, that our brave boys went to Viking lands to get some fun :) and never backed down on receaving end
Wasnt Livi for Livonians, a different tribe from the same region? Just asking as the name and your location marker is similar to them. KURŠI is this Latvian word for Curonians or was that how they called themselves? Also, does this word mean anything on its own or anything that would indicate the origin of this word? I was researching it for the video but wasnt able to find a concrete answer.
@@Tell.Me.Something Līvi is from historical termin livonia. kurši was pagan tribe mentioned fighting vikings and doing plundering all along. Its how we spell it from Latvian language and how we recognise it as geografical placement in curland
@@Tell.Me.Something Good wrap-up and nice editing skills! ;) You're right. 1. Regarding Lives - Livi was (is different tribe altogether - they're sharing same language/bloodline with Estonians/Finns not Latvian/Lithuanian tribes). Almost all Livi now has diminished - I believe some couple of hundreds here can speak the language - others has been accumulated within Latvians (process which was especially rough within 1930ies). Livonia got it's name from Livs (as the first tribe to be colonized/baptized here was Livi. With Kaupo's story you're familiar with (most here would call him traitor). But there are some way more legendary and nobbled LIVI hero of time called Imanta (great, half mystical leader of Lives who was heroisly leading Lives against invaders. Unfortunately (almost as all the greatest leaders within region), was unstopabble within battle fields, while killed, by traitors.. But legend says that Imanta still is alive and one day will raise again... :) Fun fact regarding LIVI- one of Latvia's most legendary rockgroup is called "Līvi" and yeah... the most members destiny of group is almost as sad and rocky as Livi as a tribe.. ). 2. KURŠI (KŪRI - (kuuri, couri) - is latvian and kursian own name of the tribe. Meaning of name (most likely): related to their sailing between shores (in latvian word: "KURSĒT"(coursat") means sailing/driving between two or more destinations, but originally used for sailing as water being primary roads at that time). Another relevant part from kurši/kūri (coursai/couri) is regarding action word KURT (to burn fire) which also was very important part of tribe (actually for all pagan tribes then and now). As you might hear kursians (as other vikings) often preferred to burn their dead (and make all most important yearly celebrations) with Firing. So both meanings seams relevant to KURŠI. 3. Last but not the least - kurši is still there and they're prettty baddass - they're most stubborn, freedom and sea-loving, proudest and roughest of nowadays tribes of latvians. Not many you'll find, but there are a few real ones. Of course blended and mixed, but when you'll meet real kursis, you'll notice. ;)
In burning the Sigtuna slavic-speaking raiders took part as well. There were large groups of slavic pirates raiding across the Baltic Sea and western (future) Russia territories; they were informally sponsored by Novgorod merchants of the time.
There is no such "tribe" ethnic group nor "people" called "The Vikings" When the Norse, Swedes and Danes went raiding, it was known as "going a Viking!" So "Going Vicking"was the act of going raiding in their longships. One could only be a Viking if one went raiding........
I suppose its kind of like the term barbarians which doesnt indicate an ethnicity but rather the set of activities and/or societal set up. Still, for a common man a term viking usually relates to Scandinavia in certain time period.
Historical pedant in the house! The term has become generic over many years. Even eminent Scandinavian historians (too many to list, but _Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings_ by Neil Price, “distinguished professor and chair of archaeology at Uppsala University, Sweden” is a representative example) use the term Vikings to describe Scandinavian societies and cultures. Your archaic point has been overcome by the crushing weight of language and history, my good man!
Not necessarily, there are also theories about the term viking origins from the Norwegian word 'vik', meaning bay. Which would make sense, since they often settled in bay areas.
Its a common myth that the nordic peoples built the highest civilisation , I visited Sweden and find no remains of any buildings similar to Rome , Athen, Peru or Egypt from the ancient times , I was a little confused .
Nobody is claiming Nordic people built "highest" civilization. Neither it was theoretically possible due to harsh climate and subsequent low population numbers. When you have to grow food in 3 months for the whole year, I assume your mind starts to wonder... "Maybe it's not a bad idea to build a boat pick up your boys and go plunder the people across the pond."
As a Latvian American I can tell you back home in Latvia we HIGHLY remember and honor our fellow Balt Tribe Kurland! You can say their former land on Western Shore of Latvia is sacred spiritual ground. The Kur didn't exactly disappear. As their Kingdom fell. They interbreed and survivors assimilated with the rest of the Baltic Tribes in Latva and elsewhere. We're all Kurish today. Btw the root word in Latvia for war is named after them.
Harald "Bluetooth" was the first King of Denmark. Btw the Danish flag dropped from the sky, when the Danes attacked Estonia under King Valdemar II in 1208 ;)
@@Tell.Me.Something For what I know, it could be either 1208 or 1219 - the scripes tell different stories. Anyway its close enough, cause my point is that Valdemar was not a viking. Bluetooth (short-range wireless program) is named after Harald.
Fascinating! Yet I always believed that the fiercest tribes that the Vikings ever faced were the feared & fearsome Scottish Picts. The Picts were legendary badasses indeed!
You're 100% correct...even a recently found viking saga stated a warning to vikings which read:- Only set foot on northern Britain if you are ready to die...i mean that tells you all you need to know. Later in the western isles of Scotland decendants of vikings and scots formed a group known as the Gallowglass...these were the most badass warriors ever...kings and queens all over europe hired them as personal bodyguards....there is so much i can tell you about the gallowglass. Google them.
It must be pointed out that the Vikings didnt mess around with the current occupants of Holland. The Frisiens as they were know then repelled Norse raiders and the Vikings avoided the Dutch as a result..
@@joshuadearth2513It only became used as a term for early medieval Scandinavians in the C19th by the Victorians. It never meant pirate or sea raider, only the English wicenga meant that. Wicenga and Vikingr are similar sounding words but had very different meanings.
I think it's common knowledge by now that "Viking" is a casual term for Norse peoples during the Viking age, to distinguish them from Norse peoples during other ages.
Jesus said the first will be last & the last will be first, in the Kingdom of heaven. Everyone will get their comuppence. It's not how you do in this world, but how you spend eternity that mattaers. Hell is a raging inferno, not a place where you hang out with all your mates & coolp people., Freindship is blessing that will be withdrawn in hell.
No, they were different tribes, Wends were Slavic and Curonians Baltic. But apart of this there are quite a bit of similarities between those as far as their way of living went.
Adolf Eichmann said that Latvians were the most ruthless killers that he ever came across. And he should know about ruthless killers! I think that this must be understood in metaphysical terms. The pagan gods of old were, in no small part, demons masquerading as gods. Something of this ancient pagan darkness lingered on in the souls of the Balts, especially the Latvians. And still does.
@@lennychorn147 no one said expert it takes research, reasoning, understanding to see unchristian societies did inhumane practices like taking a heart out of a priest and taking a bite as they did in Estonia.
In some respect yes because the latgalians and other tribes actually joined up with the Teutonic to force Christianise, In record the latgalian king didn’t care about his nation and let the teutonics take charge
Where are those who terrorized the Scandinavian shores, settled them and did this: "In the 1120s Pomeranian ships from Stettin (present-day Szczecin, Poland), from the southern coast of the Baltic Sea attacked the Danish coast. On 10 August 1135 Duke Ratibor assaulted the Norwegian towns. Konghelle, was captured and burnt to the ground by the forces of prince Ratibor, assisted by a fleet of 550 ships with cavalry on board (each carrying forty-four men and two horses). They laid the town to ruins, killed a large part of the population, and abducted most of the survivors as thralls to Szczecin. Snorri Sturluson, writing a century later, said that Konghelle never completely recovered.[5]" I like how the English wiki does not mention that "Pomeranian" is actually "Pomeranian Slavic" and Duke Ratibor (Racibor) is a Slavic Prince. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung%C3%A4lv So who was really a Viking's Viking?
Interesting, if I would have to guess then I reckon those were the Wends, indeed a Slavic tribe who lived on the south coast of Baltic sea. They were quite known as pirates raiders as well. Although they were subdued much earlier than Curonians, as they were closer to Crhsitian heartlands
This is a Lov story of our ancestors remember no one being owns mind wisdom( Domou) or body it is your origins vessels that your soul guides on this earth and If moron of confused privilege forgets with disrespect thinks and acts above you and your beloved Rod ( Rodina) your duty is to Slov them/ they/him/ her / One right down-to the ground of reality. Keep the care of peace and family in your sacred essence of relationships that reconcile but remember this is how we recognize ourselves.
Yes, like the country next to it was named Livonia, after the tribe Livonians or Prussia which got the name from Prussians. But they were all mostly run by Germans
... one thing is certain and that is that no historical sources mention anything about these Baltic tribes attacking Scania and Zealand (scanzanavia). In the Viking Age, the Baltic tribes were used as rowers (hence the name rover) in the Danish Viking fleet to Byzantium and also as rowers or warriors on the expeditions to Normandy and the British Isles. ... whether they feared them or anyone? ... before or after a small piece of dried flyagaric?
People forgot that not all vikings were norse. My ancestors were Slavic people of the Rani tribe. They burned down Copenhague, Lübeck and Malmö back then. Were defeated by King Valdemar of Denmark in 1168
In a way a lot of what was said in here applies to Wends as well, and even to few other tribes in the region. Its just their story ended a bit earlier. As in they were christianized sooner. Interestingly, they then were used quite actively against the Baltic pagan tribes. For example Wends were the ones who saved Danes from destruction when they were conquering the Northern Estonia.
Today we all are the best of friends. This legacy of our ancestors will continue in our blood and DNA.....🇫🇮🇪🇪 🇱🇹 🇱🇻 🇳🇴🇩🇰🇸🇪 and of course our love for 🇺🇦 will never end. 💪🙏
I used it as I thought it had a nice narration style. I cant really use my own voice due to accent I have but Ill see perhaps I can find something different for future videos 🤔 But not for the next one as that I have already "voiced in")
I was only joking that same voice is used in many videos it is very popular I am used to it now I only said something because the other guy mentioned it😎
@@Tell.Me.Something Did Ruthenia even exist at that time? What I'm saying is, the map refers to a country/territory by the name of it's neighbor. Which is strange.
@@kraanz Yes, Ruthenia was a collective term in medieval latin that referred to Kyivan rus and later the area of their successor states. Its basically a blanket term that was applied to the lands inhabited by Eastern Slavs
@@Tell.Me.Something My point exactly. Lithuania has never been part of the Kievan Rus. In fact, the exact opposite is true. The map is wildly inaccurate. Or do you think Lithuanians are Slavs?
@@kraanz You are a bit misreading my post here. The areas marked as Ruthenia were under the reign of different principalities of Kyivn Rus successor states at the time and carried a general name of Ruthenia. Lithuania did took dominion of those lands but this was on a later date.
I suppose it could have been worded better but I was trying to here to convey the image of contemporary chronicles about Curonians. As in their eyes there was a difference even between pagans. From the ones who tolerated christian missionaries in their lands tot he ones who tended to book an immediate appointment with a god for them. Curonians belonged to a latter category.
Also known as Kurs they are on record as being in several wars and alliances with Swedish, Danish, Icelandic and Norwegian vikings. So they also had friendships with different vikings. Feared is not a word for any Viking.
Yes, its actually one of the most common AI voices. It has very good narration tone so its used quite often, especially in the shorts. I use it as audience simply prefers it over my own voice. If you want to hear my own voice then you can check out my first video, its pretty bad 😅
Yes I hate this AI robot. He sucks. Most of the time it mispronounces words so bad that sometimes I can't even understand it. It is all over the internet. Or should I say RUclips. Anyway I would like to throw it out there that I will narrate people's videos much better for less money.
There people the Vikings feared the most were the Canadian Native Americans who slaughtered the Vikings with only wood, stone and bone weapons. The Norse were so traumatized that they named them "Scrawlings"
@@Tell.Me.Something if you Google or Internet search about the "Skraelings" you will understand that it is the Natives of Canada who those Legends are made about. The Vikings were severely traumatized by them it seems.
@@loganus9114 maybe you need to read the Sagas, if knowing Norse, "Skraelings" not some name to be feared, quite the opposite. The Greelanders had the upper hand during fights, they did not trade their swords. Nothing to raid, so of course not a Viking raiding party, Viking means raiders.
Yes you are right, the video just spans a bit longer time frame and there are simply bit more records available from the 12th cent onwards so I just thought to include some of the statements of "contemporaries" to help the paint the picture
The oldest sources mentioning the raid are the Annals of Visby, which describe the attackers simply as heathens.[4] The first source to identify the raiders are the Eric Chronicles from 1320s, which describe them as Karelians, but its reliability is not considered very high. Eric Chronicles were written at the period of Swedish conflict with Novgorod, which at the time included Karelia, so blaming the raid on them may have been a way to justify attacks in the 14th century. Karelians were not normally described as pirates in written sources, and historian Hain Rebas has questioned whether the ships they commonly used on the Lake Ladoga were even suited for sailing to Sigtuna. Additionally, there is no mention of the raid in Russian chronicles describing 1187, even though at other times they do sometimes write about Karelians who were dependent of Novgorod.[5] In the 1540s, Olaus Petri wrote his Swedish Chronicles, making use of the Eric Chronicles, but also some other sources which do not exist anymore, and he stated that Estonians burned down Sigtuna. Other 16th-century historians, including Laurentius Petri and Johannes Magnus, also attributed the attack to Estonians. Several researches regard this version more reliable, especially as Estonians definitely had ships and ability to sail to Sigtuna.[5] For example, Livonian Chronicle of Henry mentions Estonian raid to Sweden in 1203, and states that such attacks were a common occurrence.[6] 17th-century historian Johannes Messenius mentions the raid in his Scondia illustrata, blaming it in different parts of text once on Curonians and once on Estonians.[6] Some researchers consider Curonian participation possible, as they actively engaged in piracy, and were known to cooperate with Estonians.[3][7]
@@velloudupea2766 Yes, but in this case he is mostly correct. And most likely candidates were Estonians and or Curonians as they were one of the few tribes left who could have been able to pull of a raid of this kind of magnitude.
Baltics are very interesting place balts are still very superstitious There is still some pagan Reminence in their culture they celebrate summer solstice like they did 2000 years ago. There Gods are may be older than Greek gods There land, are soaked with their ancestors blood Therefore are haunted by ghost of them
We in Lithuania still have few swearwords related to the old religion: "Po perkūnais!", "Kad tave kur perkūnas trenktų!" - invoking the god Perkūnas to strike somebody (or something) with his thunderbolt "Dievai nematė!" or "Velniai nematė!" - literally meaning "Gods (or devills) didn't see it" - when something goes against the plan, or you fail to acomplish something - equivalent to English "let it be". "Kad tave laumė nujodytų!" - "The wish that Laumė (a Baltic equivalent of evil fairy) would ride down somebody badly".
The de facto is that all tribes have had heroic ancestors and a great history behind them, when we talk about the "Vikings" it is because they fought Christianity and in the time from the year 750 onwards settled in Normandy and the British Isles and here to a significant extent, they sponsored shipbuilding, which led to England and France becoming the major colonial powers. The building of the west as a power factor is thus fundamentally due to the Vikings' knowledge of shipbuilding, seafaring, seamanship, fishing and agriculture. The language is also fundamentally based on Nordic, the days of the week are named after Nordic gods and the influence of the Normans has also characterized England. That is why we speak of "the Vikings" and only for that reason... on land the Vikings have not been able to assert themselves, and their armies have been numerically inferior. If you can avoid it, you don't let your own sons be killed and no doubt that Russians, Ukrainians and Balts or Coronians and the Polish Burgundians have been hired by the Danish, Norwegian, English, Frisian and Jutland Viking fleets in their trading expeditions to the east but in particular in the battles of Normandy and the British Isles. The word Rolands was the Vikings' common term for these warriors. Rowlands... one rowed to Byzantium through the river systems. The Vikings did not write down their history... and the older you get and see how even today the biggest facts are subject to lies, narratives and false interpretations, well then you begin to realize why they found this unimportant... given in recognition of that the victor wrote history and it is worth nothing more than to wipe the ass!
@@Tell.Me.Something Well Sure not ''Scandinavian'' but they sure looked and acted like Vikings. They may well have been scandinavian vikings that settled on the Baltic coast a long time ago.
The Danes were having a civil war at the time and were easy pray, after the war the Danes defeated them and followed them back to Estonia where a battle was held with the Danes victories. They never returned, However, Most of the Baltic had a very similar culture wither they were called 'Vikings" or not
Don't 4get about the tribe of massive hairy men that dwarfed the Vikings in Canada. Leif Erickson wrote about meeting them an how bad the smell was they put off, wish there was more to research about it. Just crazy right, Vikings meeting Sasquatch an the Vikings fled their land after meeting them. If you can find more on this story an make a video I'd be greatly appreciative.
Damn thats cool.Ima check it out.My friend has seen them.A strong stoic Cheyenne Indian elder.The event left him with a trembling body and voice as he recounts the story to me.Goosebumps all over his arms.For any hateful people he's stone cold sober at all times
Leif Erikson did not write any such thing. The Saga of Erik The Red, which was written down long after his death, tells of how Leif travelled to North America, lived there for years, traded with the locals, and ultimately left because of trouble with the natives- who were smaller than them and still talk of the “white giants” who came and fought with them but wouldn’t keep fighting when the battle turned against their favour- being too much of an ongoing hassle. And makes a grand total of zero claims of hairy giants. Try being less racist, native Americans aren’t tribes of massive hairy men.
@@TheOriginalCFA1979 an your also talking completely about the wrong story 🤣🤣 an since when was there north American Indian tribes way up in Northern Canada. As always Democraps spout crap that they have no idea what what you're talking about then yell racist, that's your whole game plan that's all you people have an its utterly pathetic. Grow up
You are probably referring to Wends, they were indeed quite warlike. Interestingly, once they were conquered (christianized) then they were used against the Baltic pagans quite a bit.
Depends on how you view the term viking. I guess if you view it as a lifestyle then you can include quite a bit of other people under the umbrella of this word. Although in commonly held view when you use the term viking then it tends to refer to Scandinavians during specific time period.
A small prayer for subscribing 😅
Robot voices suck
Yesh, and only thing more horrible is when your own voice is even worse 😅 so you are left with "robot" voices @@chpet1655
to the old gods ?
@@chpet1655 i prefer this voice
There is no proof that the Vikings fought the Curonians. In fact, the Curonians were probably a branch of the Vikings.
I'm Lithuanian 🇱🇹 my great grandfather and my father used to tell me stories about the Curonians and our tribes. We are still here in Lithuania and I am proud that people take interest in our culture. Thank you
If I was of Baltic extraction I'd be immensely proud that my ancestors held true to their native beliefs for so long, long after the Christianization of the rest of Europe. The last tribe, from Lithuania didn't convert until the early 15th Century. I find that truly amazing! By the way, there is a Latvian documentary film on this subject titled Baltu Ciltis: Eiropas Pēdējie Pagāni or Baltic Tribes: The Last Pagans of Europe that is well worth the watch. It's available in English language.
Sounds interesting. I’m definitely gonna check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.
Them Curonians were badass!
Curonians, aka Kursenieki (Abv; KURS), inhabited the shores of the Baltic Sea, 5th to 16th centuries, of western Latvia and Lithuania. Eventually merged with other Baltic tribes contributing to the ethnogenesis of present-day Latvians and Lithuanians.
Dork here, so excuse my ignorance, but were they the Kuergans(?) from the movie "Highlander"?
@@hadmatter9240 interesting question!
@hadmatter9240 no, they were Caucasian steppe people. Russia. There's a town called Kurgan in Russia
Makes me surmise that perhaps the word "Cur" has it's etymological roots in the Kursenieki, and it's abbreviation.
@@jonathanduplantis1403Kurgan is from Central Asia nomadic people language, Korgan mean grave hill
Fascinating! Didn't hear about those struggles in history class! 🤔
His-story
You’re probably American. You only learned what they wanted you to. So much is left out of our history books
Actual history is about 98% redacted
I read a lot of history now, since I became aware of the pitiful teaching at school.
Cant find sh*t on any of this
I stand more ethnically curonian and lithuanian, a mix if you will.
Im proud of my heritage and feel that Christianity more or less helped tame the violence that was needed to survive at the time, however wasnt needed anymore.
To get tough, you need strong enemies!
Great quote! I own this now.
You get beaten enough, you get tough and fearless! Losing is not a loss, but a lesson for learning in your next battle!
Welcome to Finland!
@@robertmeshew1935 Welcome to the sport of wrestling. Also much a part of viking life.
Here is about allways bad weather, grey sky etec. Summer is nice and short and sometimes it's cold also.. 😅
Seems like glasgow on friday night
😂
You must be in kentucky
Hahahahahahaha
Two mistakes: 1 - Semigalians ( Zemgaļi) was a last pagans of Europe - not surrendered, but completely migrated to Zemaitija ( Now territory of Lithuania) and there assimilated long after Curonians was Christianized. 2 - Curonians was not disappeared completely - there are evidence of surviving of Curonian nobility ( Kuršu ķoniņi) with lands and all nobility attributes.
Thanks for the feedback. Just to note that video never claimed that Curonians were the "last pagans". I reckon that title goes to Lithuanians who were by all accounts the last pagan state.
Also, nobility with curonian origins doesnt mean there is a Curonian nation. By all accounts their tribe had been assimilated by the 16th century. Although the nobility note on itself is very interesting.
@@Tell.Me.Something First of all - big thank's to You for turning view to history of Baltic region. This part of history is still a mystery for most of Europeans!
About question of "last pagans" - I suppose Lithuanians definitely are not, because, if we are talking about Lithuanian nation or state, than as a founder of Lithuania state is counted King Mindaugas, who was baptised around 1260. The part of todays Lithuania territory was inhabited by Zemaitians (Žemaiši). Agreement between Mindaugas and Livonian Order prescripts refusal of Mindaugas of Zemaitian and Semigalian lands. If we are translating from Lithuanian Zemaitians and from Latvian - Semigalians ( Zemgaļi), both means the same - "People from lands end". Both tribes was really close, probably - with pretty close language and traditions. When Semigalians left their lands in 1290ties, they merge with Zemaitians. I say - merge, because there was around 100 000 Semigalians, which makes them a big part of further Zemaitians tribe. Zemaitians really was baptized only in more than 100 years later by....Great Duke of Lithuania ( I'm not sure, than I'm translating his title correctly) Vitautas. So it means - yes - last pagans was Zemaitians, living in modern Lithuanias territory, but - big part of this tribe was actually Semigalians, but Lithuania as a state was Christians already around 150 years ago.
What relates to Curonians - it's true - there is no Curonian nation, but Curonians are counted as one of founding tribes, who forms Latvian nation. There is still some Curonian dialect a bit different from literal Latvian language.... and still a lot of disputable questions due fact, than all "history" of Balts was written basically in Russian Empire time, based on Karamzin's history and there are a lot of politics and fantasies what are made under question mark by modern historians.
@@kasparsm7964 That is a very interesting backstory to tribes and their histories. If I read your post correctly then Zemaitians were christianized around 1390s which I reckon was the around the same time when Lithuania was rechristianized as, Im going from memory here they reverted back to paganism after Mindaugas. Im not here to dispute the title of the last pagan, Zemaitians can have that, just trying to see am I understanding the matter correctly. The Baltic regions history is quite fascinating but the only period that Im more less familiar with is the one that Chronicle of Livonian Henry covers - and that guy was such a good writer! Rest is all gathered from secondary sources that Ive found on internet. So apologies for the ignorance on the topic.
@@Tell.Me.Something You are correct. I can not find any precise year, just because Zemaitians still was a tribe and there is no evidence about one particular leader, who can take baptism as a representative of all tribe, like Mindaugas or Kaupo in Livland, but there we can draw some parallels with time, when Great Duke Vitautas "rent out" Zemaitija lands to Livonia Order, Zemaitian riots against "baptism with fire and sword" by Livonian knights, Konflict between Vitautas and Livonians, Impact of Christian Polish king Jagailo and events, what leads to war between Poland and Lithuania union against Livonia Order, ended with Battle on Grunewald ( Žalgiris Mušis) at 1410, resulting to rise of Polish-Lithuanian state, including Zemaitija in Lithuania and establishment of Zemaitija Episcopacy in 1417.
The story with Kaupo was quite interesting. Imagine you are a village elder and you are taken to Rome to see the pope. Thats a quite an experience for a pagan leader from the edge of Europe. Catholic church sure had a lot of tricks when dealing with heathens. Also, thanks for all the info, its an interesting read! @@kasparsm7964
The tribes in Finland were also Fierce Defenders of their Homeland against the Vikings
I know that there was a tribe called Tavastians. I think, that were quite warlike but Im lacking knowledge to comment on this more. Its a very fascinating period though!
Yes and the Swedish Vikings often hired them to help plunder
4 time they win Vikings big army. 1 Finn against 10-20 Viking = still Finns win!?!?
@@jakkeledin4645 Any links, literature?
They believed the Finns were able to control the weather with magic.
Every time they attacked they were brutalised by the Finnish weather and sea's
They would eventually mark the Finnish lands as basically not worth raiding.
This also meant the Vikings refused to bring Finns on ocean raids.
A related video song:. Strong, by Clamavi de Profundus. (Brother Edward was in his past, a Viking).
My grandmothers people are from Lithuania she visited there and wrote of it. My father was always proud of that heritage i myself am over a quarter Lithuania
My biological paternal grandmother was also from Lithuania. I was adopted from Poland. 🇱🇹
Great Video on region not too many talk about. I can trace family from 13th Century in this area, and Konigsburg. Prussia, Pomerania and Livonia, as well as Hesse in later centuries.
Out of curiosity, what are the oldest records that you can look about your family. This kind of timeframe is very impressive as in 13th century when you got mentioned then you had to be someone important.
My family is from the former East Prussian area now known as Mazury, named after Mazovians that colonized and mixed with Old Prussians after the Teutonic Knights opened the area. We are also part Lipka Tatar, fairly common in the area. Through surnames, I can trace back to the old Polish-Lithuanian coats of arms into the 1200s. Several of our surnames are Slavicized Old Prussian, especially tribal names, and Slavicized Lipka, with the rest Mazovian. Cousins returned in the 80s to meet family there, and found some church records to be quite old, yet many were destroyed in the war also - it's hit and miss. But surnames can still be traced to specific areas going back centuries. I can't speak for other Baltic regions, however. For people hailing originally from this region, the history can be quite specific and reach far back. For instance in the case of Old Prussian surnames based on tribal affiliation really narrows it down and is pre-Teutonic invasion.
Well, since we feel we must talk about our familial lineage, I can trace my family from Northern Spain between Bilbao an La Coruna. My ancestors fought the Moors under the Spanish kings and earned herald and Moor's head on their coat of arms for their bravery and success in vanquishing the Moors. More modern antiquated linage intermarried with aristocracy from the Canary Islands. Recently, early 20th Century, my grandfather was the governer of Chiapas, Mexico. Boring isn't it? Nothing to do with the video, right? You don't care either, correct? So there all you all posters with your family stuff no one cares about either. Stick to the video!!!!
Wow! That is a lot further into the past that I thought its possible @@Lee-jh6cr
Tracing family lines is actually very interesting. As you newer know what stuff you might encounter. I cant check the veracity of the stories but I very much like to hear them. 🙂
@@RivetGardener
Very good video, thanks
I HAVE NEVER EVER HEARD OF THIS TRIBE..
THANK YOU FOR THE EDUCATION..
Think about all of this against the backdrop of the Crusades and all of the petty wars of the era. It was a truly perilous time to be alive.
We, the descendants of such redoubtable warriors, daily betray ourselves and our ancestors, whose blood was readily spilt for faith, honour and glory, have now become the weak and coddled society of the entitled and easily offended.
We must not forget those who have gone before. If we are to survive, we must summon the strength of our ancestors and stand for our truth.
Its actually quite normal. We live in easier times and thus society doesnt have any need for "tough people" and hence the culture is as it is. But no worries as soon as times get tough then it doesnt take long for "tough people" to be back in mainstream.
Spilling blood to defend freedom, family and country sure...But we rightly call people who spill blood for faith terrorists. The Fourth Crusade ended up killing more Eastern Christians than Muslims. Crusader is a dirty word amongst Orthodox Christians.
Within reason, disciple is need3d, but we cant go all Spartan on the next gen and toss em into the jungle at age five.
@@BSdetected Yes, within reason.
You aren't Vikings.
The Picts (Caledonia today's Scotland) fought off the Romans and the Vikings❤
My knowledge in regards to Picts relations with Vikings is bit hazy still but I do know that Romans were unable to conquer them, and it wasnt due to lack of trying.
When they didn't work with the vikings..
The Vikings wrote warnings to go around Scotland and not attack them. It wasn't worth it.
One of the first kings in Scotland was named Hengest. He was in what is now Banffshire, Moray county in North East Scotland. He was Norse. The Scottish bloodline typically has around 10% Scandinavian because of the Vikings, see Dr. Bryan Sykes book on the Genetics of the UK. It does reflect in my own DNA as well.
The Picts and Vikings actually got along very well. Even teamed up on occasion
Today the descendants of Curonians in my country Ukraine are Ukrainians with surnames Kur, Kurovskyi, Kurenskyi and possibly Kurchenko. In Finland of course legendary Jarri Kurri. And of course the descendants of Curonians today live in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The Germanic people had the most to do with ending Viking beliefs than warfare. The Vikings especially in denmark saw the end for them was near since the Germanic Christian’s were not the peaceful type they were quite aggressive. The king of Denmark converted to Christianity in large part due to this threat and he felt it was better to make an ally through this religion than an enemy. They even dig up their old kings and reburied them Christian style.
Hey, thank you for watching! That is interesting observation and I would add that this conversion was not by accident. The Church spent great deal of effort in converting the pagan rulers as with it they could get the "whole country" so to speak. It worked very well in most of the medieval Europe, except for the Baltics where it mostly failed. But to be fair, it didnt work partly because it was done via conquest where the idea was no longer to convert the local rulers but to conquer the land and supplant them.
In england it was alfred the great that defeated the norse. Then converted them to christianity. Baptising them himself i believe.
@lilbaz8073 Alfred beat the Vikings at Ethandun/Erdington and forced Guthrum to convert. Alfreds grandson, Aethelstan, finally conquered the whole nation and was given the title 'the king of the English'
Actually, The Vikings of Denmark, Norway and Sweden were also Germanic. Modern ethnic Germanic people are ethnic Germans, ethnic Dutch, ethnic Danes, ethnic Swedes, ethnic Norwegians, ethnic Icelanders and to an extent, ethnic English, ethnic Austrians and ethnic Swiss- Germans.
@cuchulainn3474Correct sir!! We all belong to the Indo-European family with along with the Baltic people and Greek.
Thats my ancestors.🙂 "Koronians " baltic tribe, that lived in Livonia, now Latvia, was called also -Kurši-/ ( spelling Kur-shi- ). I am direct descendant.❤ Thank you for bringing up extint cultures.
I doubt it. There's always a Rat in every wood pile.
@@weseehowcommiegoogleis3770 i will not tell you how acient Latvians avoided blood mixsing...you will call it barbaric, cruel, and crazy. Enjoy your peasful sleep. 🤭
You should be so proud of that, I would be! =)
A wonderful race of peoples - full respect for not being assimilated by the 'blob'.
The bad blob!
Very interesting video
These fearsome warriors, the bane of the Vikings, certainly deserve our respect. To so fiercely defend your land and beliefs is a defining factor of all ancient Europeans. Through the sad fate of the Curonians, we can learn how the interests of global politics and religion can forcefully destroy a nation and the many centuries of its history, completely erasing it from memory. When dreams of prosperity fan the flames, the fate of a nation is at its mercy, and even ethnicities can disappear without a trace.
Ominous little 13th century poem from the Livonian Rhyme Chronicle:
“There lies at the shore of the sea
a land called Curonia
that is a full fifty miles long
The poor Christians who by mistake
come to this very land
will be deprived of life and goods.”
Ofelaš / Veiviseren (Pathfinder (1987 film) - old favorite movie from childhood regarding these times...
is obv fiction based on legends, but speaks of Chudes (early Estonians) for some reason raiding Sami / early Norwegians
name Chude comes from early ruzzian name for lake Peipsi (Chudskoe ozero) - sounds like they were also somewhat notorious alongside tribesmen from Ösel (name for Saaremaa in Swedish)/ oeselians
there was Saint George's Night Uprising in 1343-1345
Early times show that the ones who fight back will remain for longer - Sami remain , Estonians remain
Liivi vanished - despite(or because of) Kaupo accepting christianity .. food for thought in the mirror of current war
Their story is actually quite well covered, for the middle ages, by the Livonian Henrik - a medieval chronicle. It has a small bias ofc but it does give a great account about the christianisation wars in the Baltic lands for the first 30 years.
The Yotvingians are another Baltic people known for their ferocity. Serving as mercenaries amongst the Kievan Rus they appear to be descendants of the ancient Neuri who were said to be a nation of werewolves.
Interesting. Im unfamiliar with the Neuri part, from where this idea originates?
@@Tell.Me.Something The name Neuri is believed to derive from the Narew River found in northeastern Poland and western Belarus which was the primary river basin in the Yotvingian territory. Herodotus describes them as dwelling along the Hypanis or Bug River which is nearby in the same region. He also tells a story that the Neuri left their homeland due to an invasion of snakes which is interesting given the importance of the snake found amongst other Baltic cultures. They appear to have relocated closer to the Scythian lands in northern Ukraine.
So Neuri stands for river only? Was just wondering as if they were descendants of Neuri then this raises a question who were Neuri? Also, where does the werewolf aspect come into play?
Sorry for spamming questions😅Just curious here.@@shanegooding4839
@@Tell.Me.Something The most popular theory is that it comes from the river. However there is a Lithuanian word Nara meaning a 'den' or 'lair' which is interesting because Herodotus claimed that the Neuri all appeared to be magicians who could turn into wolves for a few days each year.
Interesting, thanks for sharing :)
@@shanegooding4839
Excellent! So that's what was going on in that area of the ancient world 🌎. I wonder why constant war keeps cropping up?
Well to be fair Europe up until very recently was in a constant warfare.
@Tell.Me.Something
In a twisted irony, we may say that war was healthy for demographics and unity; it strengthened Europe by destroying tribalism and sectarianism, something that still plagues Africa and the Middle East to this day.
It improved warfare by boosting innovation for new weapons that Europe would later use to expand its other continents.
It all started with horse riders and chariots, two inventions that European ancestors mastered, as neither Africans, Native Americans, nor Asians used them at similar times.
For each their own I guess but "war was healthy for demographics and unity" idea was really popular at the beginning of 20th century and that mindset got us into the biggest war yet. @@synaestesia-bg3ew
Wow that was something that the people should be feared of and respected never did heard of curonians before but they probally had relations with the swedish vikings.
The Baltic sea region in the early middle ages was kind of everybody raids everybody world 😅probably even before that but we just dont have any written records.
🔥Sounds like a good time to live🔥
The Kursi (Curonians) did not extinct. They merged with other Baltic tribes and formed the Latvian nationality.
And Lithuanian.
Lietuva and Latvia
They are called "KURŠI" from Kurland and "LĪVI/LĪBI" from Kurland and East "Vidzeme" anyways both tribes were living on west coast of nowadays Latvia, and we do have 2 west coasts lol. And yes, i also heard many times, that our brave boys went to Viking lands to get some fun :) and never backed down on receaving end
Wasnt Livi for Livonians, a different tribe from the same region? Just asking as the name and your location marker is similar to them.
KURŠI is this Latvian word for Curonians or was that how they called themselves? Also, does this word mean anything on its own or anything that would indicate the origin of this word? I was researching it for the video but wasnt able to find a concrete answer.
@@Tell.Me.Something Līvi is from historical termin livonia. kurši was pagan tribe mentioned fighting vikings and doing plundering all along. Its how we spell it from Latvian language and how we recognise it as geografical placement in curland
@@Tell.Me.Something Good wrap-up and nice editing skills! ;) You're right. 1. Regarding Lives - Livi was (is different tribe altogether - they're sharing same language/bloodline with Estonians/Finns not Latvian/Lithuanian tribes). Almost all Livi now has diminished - I believe some couple of hundreds here can speak the language - others has been accumulated within Latvians (process which was especially rough within 1930ies). Livonia got it's name from Livs (as the first tribe to be colonized/baptized here was Livi. With Kaupo's story you're familiar with (most here would call him traitor). But there are some way more legendary and nobbled LIVI hero of time called Imanta (great, half mystical leader of Lives who was heroisly leading Lives against invaders. Unfortunately (almost as all the greatest leaders within region), was unstopabble within battle fields, while killed, by traitors.. But legend says that Imanta still is alive and one day will raise again... :) Fun fact regarding LIVI- one of Latvia's most legendary rockgroup is called "Līvi" and yeah... the most members destiny of group is almost as sad and rocky as Livi as a tribe.. ). 2. KURŠI (KŪRI - (kuuri, couri) - is latvian and kursian own name of the tribe. Meaning of name (most likely): related to their sailing between shores (in latvian word: "KURSĒT"(coursat") means sailing/driving between two or more destinations, but originally used for sailing as water being primary roads at that time). Another relevant part from kurši/kūri (coursai/couri) is regarding action word KURT (to burn fire) which also was very important part of tribe (actually for all pagan tribes then and now). As you might hear kursians (as other vikings) often preferred to burn their dead (and make all most important yearly celebrations) with Firing. So both meanings seams relevant to KURŠI. 3. Last but not the least - kurši is still there and they're prettty baddass - they're most stubborn, freedom and sea-loving, proudest and roughest of nowadays tribes of latvians. Not many you'll find, but there are a few real ones. Of course blended and mixed, but when you'll meet real kursis, you'll notice. ;)
In burning the Sigtuna slavic-speaking raiders took part as well.
There were large groups of slavic pirates raiding across the Baltic Sea and western (future) Russia territories; they were informally sponsored by Novgorod merchants of the time.
From where did these Slavic pirates access the Baltic sea?
Who is the artist of the thumbnail image? It's awesome.
There is no such "tribe" ethnic group nor "people" called "The Vikings"
When the Norse, Swedes and Danes went raiding, it was known as "going a Viking!"
So "Going Vicking"was the act of going raiding in their longships.
One could only be a Viking if one went raiding........
I suppose its kind of like the term barbarians which doesnt indicate an ethnicity but rather the set of activities and/or societal set up. Still, for a common man a term viking usually relates to Scandinavia in certain time period.
Historical pedant in the house! The term has become generic over many years. Even eminent Scandinavian historians (too many to list, but _Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings_ by Neil Price, “distinguished professor and chair of archaeology at Uppsala University, Sweden” is a representative example) use the term Vikings to describe Scandinavian societies and cultures. Your archaic point has been overcome by the crushing weight of language and history, my good man!
Not necessarily, there are also theories about the term viking origins from the Norwegian word 'vik', meaning bay. Which would make sense, since they often settled in bay areas.
@@Tell.Me.Something Because that's what it is. A Viking is any Scandinavian living during the Viking age regardless of profession
Its a common myth that the nordic peoples built the highest civilisation , I visited Sweden and find no remains of any buildings similar to Rome , Athen, Peru or Egypt from the ancient times , I was a little confused .
I suppose they might have been busy visiting other civilizations 😅
Nobody is claiming Nordic people built "highest" civilization. Neither it was theoretically possible due to harsh climate and subsequent low population numbers.
When you have to grow food in 3 months for the whole year, I assume your mind starts to wonder... "Maybe it's not a bad idea to build a boat pick up your boys and go plunder the people across the pond."
Curonians never perished. There is still a distinct curonian accent among Latvians from Courland and strong local identity.
As a Latvian American I can tell you back home in Latvia we HIGHLY remember and honor our fellow Balt Tribe Kurland! You can say their former land on Western Shore of Latvia is sacred spiritual ground. The Kur didn't exactly disappear. As their Kingdom fell. They interbreed and survivors assimilated with the rest of the Baltic Tribes in Latva and elsewhere. We're all Kurish today. Btw the root word in Latvia for war is named after them.
Harald "Bluetooth" was the first King of Denmark.
Btw the Danish flag dropped from the sky, when the Danes attacked Estonia under King Valdemar II in 1208 ;)
The battle itself is dated to 1219
@@Tell.Me.Something For what I know, it could be either 1208 or 1219 - the scripes tell different stories. Anyway its close enough, cause my point is that Valdemar was not a viking.
Bluetooth (short-range wireless program) is named after Harald.
I'm a direct descendant (not sword side) of Valdemar Sejr. Which kind of suck, because I'm a Swede. :D
Who was Harold avenel the dane
@@pedroxdev LOL - you are not.
The curonians got almost completely annihilated by the Teutonic knights during the baltic crusades.
Fascinating! Yet I always believed that the fiercest tribes that the Vikings ever faced were the feared & fearsome Scottish Picts. The Picts were legendary badasses indeed!
You're 100% correct...even a recently found viking saga stated a warning to vikings which read:- Only set foot on northern Britain if you are ready to die...i mean that tells you all you need to know.
Later in the western isles of Scotland decendants of vikings and scots formed a group known as the Gallowglass...these were the most badass warriors ever...kings and queens all over europe hired them as personal bodyguards....there is so much i can tell you about the gallowglass. Google them.
It must be pointed out that the Vikings didnt mess around with the current occupants of Holland. The Frisiens as they were know then repelled Norse raiders and the Vikings avoided the Dutch as a result..
Don't mess with the Friesians we are ferocious and have no mercy
You cant even mention that a "Viking" was a pastime ,NOT a peoples.
Job not pastime, and meanings change over time. It's commonly used to group all the different tribes and people that be went Viking together
Its a verb. A “profession”. Pirating sort of.
Vik is bay. Raiding villages in bays.
@@joshuadearth2513It only became used as a term for early medieval Scandinavians in the C19th by the Victorians. It never meant pirate or sea raider, only the English wicenga meant that. Wicenga and Vikingr are similar sounding words but had very different meanings.
I think it's common knowledge by now that "Viking" is a casual term for Norse peoples during the Viking age, to distinguish them from Norse peoples during other ages.
The history of the world can be summed up as "Nice guys finish last"
Although Curonians were very very far from 'nice guys' 😅
@@Tell.Me.SomethingEvery bully
gets their comeuppance.
No no no........ Taxes, taxes, taxes !
Jesus said the first will be last & the last will be first, in the Kingdom of heaven. Everyone will get their comuppence. It's not how you do in this world, but how you spend eternity that mattaers. Hell is a raging inferno, not a place where you hang out with all your mates & coolp people., Freindship is blessing that will be withdrawn in hell.
Great video about a lesser known people.
Not only The Curonians, but also the Wendi tribe was bullying the Nordic Vikings.
The Eaters of the Dead! Those that shalk not be named! The Wendi!
The 13th Warrior movie!
And how did that turn out? Norweigan Vikings killed 15k Wends at the battle of Lyrskov Heath and defeated them
Are these the same as the Wendts,a Slavic people who turned up in the swamps of sth Poland & NE Germany late 500s?
@@juliegregory8187yes, now they are called Luzitza Serbs, the Baltic Slavs
Curonians was also known as foot-cutters, because that way it was faster to get boots off a swollen dead body.
I have a question, were the Curonians the Wends or were they a different group of people?
No, they were different tribes, Wends were Slavic and Curonians Baltic. But apart of this there are quite a bit of similarities between those as far as their way of living went.
@@Tell.Me.Somethingo
Life can be hard when all you want is the truth and the timeline
On that timeframe its a pretty difficult want to achieve 😅
Adolf Eichmann said that Latvians were the most ruthless killers that he ever came across. And he should know about ruthless killers! I think that this must be understood in metaphysical terms. The pagan gods of old were, in no small part, demons masquerading as gods. Something of this ancient pagan darkness lingered on in the souls of the Balts, especially the Latvians. And still does.
It's funny how you call our gods demons, but your god is the reason for more murder, torture and brutality than all of our gods combined
That is Christian propaganda, that Pagan God's were demons.
@@lennychorn147as a Latvian I tell you they were
@@erikstivrins8398 How does being Latavian make you an expert on old Pagan Gods?
@@lennychorn147 no one said expert it takes research, reasoning, understanding to see unchristian societies did inhumane practices like taking a heart out of a priest and taking a bite as they did in Estonia.
Interesting! Thanks! :)
Proud to be baltic
In some respect yes because the latgalians and other tribes actually joined up with the Teutonic to force Christianise,
In record the latgalian king didn’t care about his nation and let the teutonics take charge
Where are those who terrorized the Scandinavian shores, settled them and did this:
"In the 1120s Pomeranian ships from Stettin (present-day Szczecin, Poland), from the southern coast of the Baltic Sea attacked the Danish coast. On 10 August 1135 Duke Ratibor assaulted the Norwegian towns. Konghelle, was captured and burnt to the ground by the forces of prince Ratibor, assisted by a fleet of 550 ships with cavalry on board (each carrying forty-four men and two horses). They laid the town to ruins, killed a large part of the population, and abducted most of the survivors as thralls to Szczecin. Snorri Sturluson, writing a century later, said that Konghelle never completely recovered.[5]"
I like how the English wiki does not mention that "Pomeranian" is actually "Pomeranian Slavic" and Duke Ratibor (Racibor) is a Slavic Prince.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung%C3%A4lv
So who was really a Viking's Viking?
Interesting, if I would have to guess then I reckon those were the Wends, indeed a Slavic tribe who lived on the south coast of Baltic sea. They were quite known as pirates raiders as well. Although they were subdued much earlier than Curonians, as they were closer to Crhsitian heartlands
One of the Slavic/Polish Tribes Chąśnicy/Wiciędze 😉
This is a Lov story of our ancestors remember no one being owns mind wisdom( Domou) or body it is your origins vessels that your soul guides on this earth and If moron of confused privilege forgets with disrespect thinks and acts above you and your beloved Rod ( Rodina) your duty is to Slov them/ they/him/ her / One right down-to the ground of reality. Keep the care of peace and family in your sacred essence of relationships that reconcile but remember this is how we recognize ourselves.
very interesting
The Duchy of Courland, named after the Couronians, even had colonies in West Africa and the Caribbeans in the 17th century.
Yes, like the country next to it was named Livonia, after the tribe Livonians or Prussia which got the name from Prussians. But they were all mostly run by Germans
... one thing is certain and that is that no historical sources mention anything about these Baltic tribes attacking Scania and Zealand (scanzanavia). In the Viking Age, the Baltic tribes were used as rowers (hence the name rover) in the Danish Viking fleet to Byzantium and also as rowers or warriors on the expeditions to Normandy and the British Isles. ... whether they feared them or anyone? ... before or after a small piece of dried flyagaric?
People forgot that not all vikings were norse. My ancestors were Slavic people of the Rani tribe. They burned down Copenhague, Lübeck and Malmö back then. Were defeated by King Valdemar of Denmark in 1168
"There's always a bigger fish"
- Qui-gon Jinn
- "The Phantom Menace".
They were not bigger. They lost more than they won.
Its just that they did a lot of the same as the vikings.
Where do the Wends fit in?
In a way a lot of what was said in here applies to Wends as well, and even to few other tribes in the region. Its just their story ended a bit earlier. As in they were christianized sooner. Interestingly, they then were used quite actively against the Baltic pagan tribes. For example Wends were the ones who saved Danes from destruction when they were conquering the Northern Estonia.
any books dedicated to Curonians?
Today we all are the best of friends. This legacy of our ancestors will continue in our blood and DNA.....🇫🇮🇪🇪 🇱🇹 🇱🇻 🇳🇴🇩🇰🇸🇪 and of course our love for 🇺🇦 will never end. 💪🙏
And we have a fair bit of Viking dna in the U.K. as well!!- I feel left out!!
@@garytaylor5273. Your in, sorry that I forgot you guys... So here welcome 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧👍
@ep9hd9in7t dublin in the house.
Don’t forget your best friend Russia
Ancient Rome traded in the Baltics for Amber.
Lol this voice is everywhere would be nice to here a different 1 once in awhile
I used it as I thought it had a nice narration style. I cant really use my own voice due to accent I have but Ill see perhaps I can find something different for future videos 🤔 But not for the next one as that I have already "voiced in")
@@Tell.Me.SomethingI like accents.
I was only joking that same voice is used in many videos it is very popular I am used to it now I only said something because the other guy mentioned it😎
What’s the source of this?
History.
VERY COOL !
Respect to the pagan holdouts. If you're going to believe in an invisible sky being, they might as well be interesting.
The enemies of the Norse gods where from the east. I've always wondered if it had some roots in reality. Maybe this is the answer.
I love how at 1:10 there's map depicting Lithuanian territories as "Ruthenia." Accurate as fuck, lol.
The map should be fairly accurate when it comes to Lithuanian territories as they were at the time of this map which is in first half of 13th century.
@@Tell.Me.Something Did Ruthenia even exist at that time? What I'm saying is, the map refers to a country/territory by the name of it's neighbor. Which is strange.
@@kraanz Yes, Ruthenia was a collective term in medieval latin that referred to Kyivan rus and later the area of their successor states. Its basically a blanket term that was applied to the lands inhabited by Eastern Slavs
@@Tell.Me.Something My point exactly. Lithuania has never been part of the Kievan Rus. In fact, the exact opposite is true. The map is wildly inaccurate. Or do you think Lithuanians are Slavs?
@@kraanz You are a bit misreading my post here. The areas marked as Ruthenia were under the reign of different principalities of Kyivn Rus successor states at the time and carried a general name of Ruthenia. Lithuania did took dominion of those lands but this was on a later date.
The Kuronians was squeesed between the Baltic Sea and the Russians in Novgorod or was they?
you cant be "more" pagan .. its not an matter of accumulation like water in a bucket ..
I suppose it could have been worded better but I was trying to here to convey the image of contemporary chronicles about Curonians. As in their eyes there was a difference even between pagans. From the ones who tolerated christian missionaries in their lands tot he ones who tended to book an immediate appointment with a god for them. Curonians belonged to a latter category.
I suppose 'more Pagan' would be the equivalent of holier than thou church face Christians in a contemporary context. 😊
Also known as Kurs they are on record as being in several wars and alliances with Swedish, Danish, Icelandic and Norwegian vikings. So they also had friendships with different vikings. Feared is not a word for any Viking.
Is this narrated by an AI voice? I swear I hear his voice everywhere.
Yes, its actually one of the most common AI voices. It has very good narration tone so its used quite often, especially in the shorts. I use it as audience simply prefers it over my own voice.
If you want to hear my own voice then you can check out my first video, its pretty bad 😅
To me it sounds a bit like Thomas Sowell.
I get tired of ai voices
It literally is AI speaking an pretending to be a historian from his parents basement.
Yes I hate this AI robot. He sucks. Most of the time it mispronounces words so bad that sometimes I can't even understand it. It is all over the internet. Or should I say RUclips. Anyway I would like to throw it out there that I will narrate people's videos much better for less money.
Good these A.I. Narrations have about made me not what to click on any video anymore.
Apologies for AI narration. My own voice has a bit of a too strong accent so I couldnt use it and had to come up with an alternative
bravo!!
There people the Vikings feared the most were the Canadian Native Americans who slaughtered the Vikings with only wood, stone and bone weapons.
The Norse were so traumatized that they named them "Scrawlings"
That is very interesting! Im quite ignorant on that part of viking history. Are there any good sources of info that one could look to know more?
@@Tell.Me.Something if you Google or Internet search about the "Skraelings" you will understand that it is the Natives of Canada who those Legends are made about.
The Vikings were severely traumatized by them it seems.
@@loganus9114The called the inuit on greenland 7:21 too.
@@loganus9114 maybe you need to read the Sagas, if knowing Norse, "Skraelings" not some name to be feared, quite the opposite. The Greelanders had the upper hand during fights, they did not trade their swords. Nothing to raid, so of course not a Viking raiding party, Viking means raiders.
The only thing Vikings feared was not dying in battle blocking their way to Valhalla.
lithuanians are a seperate tribe that speak hindo euroupian languege simuler to sandskrit more than 5000 terms and phraises
Just WOW!
The Danish Vikings were the sweetest❤
I wouldnt use the word "sweet" to describe them though 😅
@@Tell.Me.Something Pastry humor. The vikings also loved baking and puppies too.
brutal Times , Made brutal Men !
The medieval Europe was a very"fun" place 😅
hey,, in the year 1175 the era of the Vikings where over. Viking era was from about year 500 to 1050.
Yes you are right, the video just spans a bit longer time frame and there are simply bit more records available from the 12th cent onwards so I just thought to include some of the statements of "contemporaries" to help the paint the picture
And what about the Wends/slavs , my ancestors that raided denmark.
For a second I thought it was going to be about those who's name can't be spoken, the Wendol!
VERY INTERESTING.
That’s pretty awesome actually.
The oldest sources mentioning the raid are the Annals of Visby, which describe the attackers simply as heathens.[4]
The first source to identify the raiders are the Eric Chronicles from 1320s, which describe them as Karelians, but its reliability is not considered very high. Eric Chronicles were written at the period of Swedish conflict with Novgorod, which at the time included Karelia, so blaming the raid on them may have been a way to justify attacks in the 14th century. Karelians were not normally described as pirates in written sources, and historian Hain Rebas has questioned whether the ships they commonly used on the Lake Ladoga were even suited for sailing to Sigtuna. Additionally, there is no mention of the raid in Russian chronicles describing 1187, even though at other times they do sometimes write about Karelians who were dependent of Novgorod.[5]
In the 1540s, Olaus Petri wrote his Swedish Chronicles, making use of the Eric Chronicles, but also some other sources which do not exist anymore, and he stated that Estonians burned down Sigtuna. Other 16th-century historians, including Laurentius Petri and Johannes Magnus, also attributed the attack to Estonians. Several researches regard this version more reliable, especially as Estonians definitely had ships and ability to sail to Sigtuna.[5] For example, Livonian Chronicle of Henry mentions Estonian raid to Sweden in 1203, and states that such attacks were a common occurrence.[6]
17th-century historian Johannes Messenius mentions the raid in his Scondia illustrata, blaming it in different parts of text once on Curonians and once on Estonians.[6] Some researchers consider Curonian participation possible, as they actively engaged in piracy, and were known to cooperate with Estonians.[3][7]
From Wikipedia... Of course you are smarter :/
@@velloudupea2766 Yes, but in this case he is mostly correct. And most likely candidates were Estonians and or Curonians as they were one of the few tribes left who could have been able to pull of a raid of this kind of magnitude.
Christ conquests the pagan gods and claims the Earth for Himself.
Baltics are very interesting place balts are still very superstitious There is still some pagan Reminence in their culture they celebrate summer solstice like they did 2000 years ago. There
Gods are may be older than Greek gods There land, are soaked with their ancestors blood Therefore are haunted by ghost of them
We in Lithuania still have few swearwords related to the old religion:
"Po perkūnais!", "Kad tave kur perkūnas trenktų!" - invoking the god Perkūnas to strike somebody (or something) with his thunderbolt
"Dievai nematė!" or "Velniai nematė!" - literally meaning "Gods (or devills) didn't see it" - when something goes against the plan, or you fail to acomplish something - equivalent to English "let it be".
"Kad tave laumė nujodytų!" - "The wish that Laumė (a Baltic equivalent of evil fairy) would ride down somebody badly".
The only thing that the Vikings feared was not finding a good location for an IKEA store.
😅
Plus the Swedish meatballs, potatoes and lingonberry jelly.
THEY SUCK AT FOOTBALL TOO
But do you pronounce IKEA correctly?
The Vikings were masters of shipbuilding with primitive tools of a thousand years ago. But not even a Viking could assemble an IKEA product.
They out vikinged the vikings
The de facto is that all tribes have had heroic ancestors and a great history behind them, when we talk about the "Vikings" it is because they fought Christianity and in the time from the year 750 onwards settled in Normandy and the British Isles and here to a significant extent, they sponsored shipbuilding, which led to England and France becoming the major colonial powers. The building of the west as a power factor is thus fundamentally due to the Vikings' knowledge of shipbuilding, seafaring, seamanship, fishing and agriculture. The language is also fundamentally based on Nordic, the days of the week are named after Nordic gods and the influence of the Normans has also characterized England. That is why we speak of "the Vikings" and only for that reason... on land the Vikings have not been able to assert themselves, and their armies have been numerically inferior. If you can avoid it, you don't let your own sons be killed and no doubt that Russians, Ukrainians and Balts or Coronians and the Polish Burgundians have been hired by the Danish, Norwegian, English, Frisian and Jutland Viking fleets in their trading expeditions to the east but in particular in the battles of Normandy and the British Isles. The word Rolands was the Vikings' common term for these warriors. Rowlands... one rowed to Byzantium through the river systems. The Vikings did not write down their history... and the older you get and see how even today the biggest facts are subject to lies, narratives and false interpretations, well then you begin to realize why they found this unimportant... given in recognition of that the victor wrote history and it is worth nothing more than to wipe the ass!
So the Curonians were vikings too.
Depends how you define the term viking. if its a " a way of living then yes, if its a geographical term then no.
@@Tell.Me.Something Well Sure not ''Scandinavian'' but they sure looked and acted like Vikings. They may well have been scandinavian vikings that settled on the Baltic coast a long time ago.
The Danes were having a civil war at the time and were easy pray, after the war the Danes defeated them and followed them back to Estonia where a battle was held with the Danes victories. They never returned, However, Most of the Baltic had a very similar culture wither they were called 'Vikings" or not
It's sad that they lost all of there Culture and beliefs
Don't 4get about the tribe of massive hairy men that dwarfed the Vikings in Canada. Leif Erickson wrote about meeting them an how bad the smell was they put off, wish there was more to research about it. Just crazy right, Vikings meeting Sasquatch an the Vikings fled their land after meeting them. If you can find more on this story an make a video I'd be greatly appreciative.
Damn thats cool.Ima check it out.My friend has seen them.A strong stoic Cheyenne Indian elder.The event left him with a trembling body and voice as he recounts the story to me.Goosebumps all over his arms.For any hateful people he's stone cold sober at all times
Leif Erikson did not write any such thing. The Saga of Erik The Red, which was written down long after his death, tells of how Leif travelled to North America, lived there for years, traded with the locals, and ultimately left because of trouble with the natives- who were smaller than them and still talk of the “white giants” who came and fought with them but wouldn’t keep fighting when the battle turned against their favour- being too much of an ongoing hassle. And makes a grand total of zero claims of hairy giants.
Try being less racist, native Americans aren’t tribes of massive hairy men.
@@TheOriginalCFA1979 an your also talking completely about the wrong story 🤣🤣 an since when was there north American Indian tribes way up in Northern Canada. As always Democraps spout crap that they have no idea what what you're talking about then yell racist, that's your whole game plan that's all you people have an its utterly pathetic. Grow up
The slavs raided vikings, the western slavs on the Baltic had many battles with the vikings.
You are probably referring to Wends, they were indeed quite warlike. Interestingly, once they were conquered (christianized) then they were used against the Baltic pagans quite a bit.
cool!
To be fair as a Swede, i dont see much difference between my Swedish Viking´s and the "Baltic Vikings" they where all Vikings.
Depends on how you view the term viking. I guess if you view it as a lifestyle then you can include quite a bit of other people under the umbrella of this word. Although in commonly held view when you use the term viking then it tends to refer to Scandinavians during specific time period.
Pirates, pictish raiders, Irish raiders....so on and so forth.
Those darn Curonians always causing trouble
Same could be said about native Americans in NF Canada.. Vikings knew it as Vinland
They're forgotten because they were not feared by anyone
Everybody will be eventually forgotten, thats the feature of time
They werent keen on the picts either