Viking Atgeirr: Reevaluating the Origins of European Firearms
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- Опубликовано: 1 авг 2024
- **THIS WAS AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE**
See Dr. Crawford's video here:
• "With Surtr's Dust": T...
Update: Old English specialist Simon Roper has some fascinating insight into the Old English derivation of "atgierr" as well:
• *APRIL FOOLS* Atgeirr ...
"Men of Terror: A Comprehensive Analysis of Viking Combat" by Reynir Óskarson and William Short is available on Amazon: amzn.to/3Kexo3A
My helmet was generously provided by Grimfrost: glnk.io/6q1z/jacksoncrawford
I have been privileged to be part of an original research project in collaboration with Dr. Jackson Crawford studying the early medieval origins of firearms in Europe. Studying manuscripts in the National Museum of Iceland, Dr. Crawford unearthed records of events that point to the accidental discovery of gunpowder during the Settlement Period on Iceland. Further study has revealed that the "atgeirr" references in some Icelandic sagas is, in fact, a long-forgotten early firearm. Consider, from Njal's Saga:
"Hallgrímr had an atgeirr which he had ordered enchanted with dark magic, so that no weapon could kill him except for it. The enchantment also caused men to know right away when the weapon was used to kill someone, because the weapon would sing before it killed, so that it was heard far away. This was the great magic in the weapon."
With the help of two craftsmen I recreated what we believe an atgeirr would have looked like, and took it out to the range. Lo and behold, it worked even better than we could have anticipated! It was truly an honor to be a part of this groundbreaking research.
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Ian could do a video on Aztec flamethrowers and I would 100% believe him.
You didn't know that they are real?
The Aztecs imported the iron tubes from Scandinavia, the flammable liquid from Athens, and the adjustable nozzles from a a garden hose factory in China!
Ever seen the Indigenist ideology ? .Some MFs will actually believe that is real .
@@adrianfirewalker4183 Ah yes, the garden hose factories of ancient China...
That's because Ian is Gun-Jesus. Everything he says or claims is breathed into existence
@@brandoncoates1427 it becomes "cannon" ?
Extra funny because an early gunpowder use is in fact mentioned in Snorri Sturlason's sagas albeit from about the 1300's. The recipe given is bogus and clearly obfuscated in the original source, but it is described as "making a noise so loud that only the bravest dare withstand it".
Would not say that’s early. In China it was already used In 800 A.D. with proof and another 200bc there are suggestions of possible gunpowder use in China
This is an amazing piece of original research. I think Ian should next look into the Brass age, when early agricultural societies briefly invented the metallic cartridge. Sadly, with no powder or firearms, it was a mere curiosity.
We already have a large swath of the population believing we were using UFOs and space weapons in the bronze age to build pyramids. Wouldn't be too much of a stretch.
Maybe they should take a look at the stone age for a thorough look at the flintlock. Although that could also be more Lockpickinglawyers domain..
How is it considered a cartridge if there's no gun powder or firearms at the time?
I would agree if this was real
Please check your sources Ian. The first firearm in Europe was during the early Bronze age. The name "Assault" in Assault rifles comes from when the Assyrians and Balts traded resources to create the first semi automatic rifle. There was a king buried near Stonehenge with pottery, beads, and a 24 round magazine. It will take several thousand years for modern technology to figure out how to make a magazine with capacity over the Baltic 24 round magazines.
"Pottery, beads and a 24 round magazine"
Poetry. Absolute poetry.
Criminally underated post.
The Egyptians were able to survive the sea people assault due to purchasing 20 assualt rifles with extended magazines.
@@Granite165 poettery
Was it called the AR1?😂
The Old Elbonians were often targets of Viking raids. I wonder if their historical chronicles would support this theory.
It is well known fact that grammatical structure of Old-Elbonian closely resembled Old-Icelandic which supports theory of close cultural ties between two nations during Viking Era.
Unfortunately we may never know. In 1988 the Elbonian minister of culture and censor decided to store all their most precious cultural artifacts in a salt mine... but given the lack of unused salt mines in elbonia, he decided to store them in a temporarily decompressioned coal mine... however when the project was completed in 1993, the coal mine was temporarily brought back online to, leading to a fire and the destruction of countless precious historical artifacts and documents.
Elbonians will soon be sifting the mud to find ancient musket balls. Each ball, when sold to historical researchers, would increase Elbonia's GDP by 30%.
I believe the elobonians bought Atgeirr on the blackmarket but also invested heavily in solid depleted uranium balls(unfortunately too heavy for the barrel which tended to explode into shrapnel)
This weapon may be the reason why ventilated hand guards are held in such regard in Elbonian culture.
*Suspicious glare at the calendar*.
The dead give away was the sheep.
Heyyyyy .😮
I would have had a lot more fun watching this if I hadn't seen your damn comment five seconds in 😢
Running into yuzral in the comments. This is an occasion!
I came here from LockpickingLawyer
It’s April 27. Just googled atgeirr. One of the choices that came up was “atgeirr firearm”. That takes me to your RUclips video and a REDIT post saying ‘I just read that an atgeirr was a Viking firearm’ and some firearms discussion sites with similar statements. Ian, you have created a monster. This will be argued about for the next hundred years and your name will come up as the authority. You have coined a term. This is how “You’ll catch your death of cold if you go outside without your sweater!” got started.
😂😂😂 I am Icelandic, and I speak the language fluently. When Reynir was telling Iain how interesting the idea was, he was actually saying that it was incredibly stupid!!! I was really confused, and was going to ask about it until I saw what date this was posted on!! GENIUS. Absolutely 5 star comedy!!!😂😂😂
ts a shame the date didn't show up on the posting, but the now-labeled " April Fools Joke " header screams that.
If I'd not seen that, Ian loading the thing not once but ~twice~ without measuring the powder precisely, then holding the damned thing without gloves? And the topper " Did you clear the range" " I think so " " Was that a sheep?! " screamed prank.
But heck, adding that they got the nitrates from the Icelandic shark was interesting, though you'd not get me to go ~near~ any of that stuff. Not even on a very large bet.
@@WhiteWolf65
the nitrates from cold water sharks and the mention that Iceland had limited wood supplies. Despite the fact that the Vikings are kinda known for massive fleets of large boats.
I made it as far Frederick Four Fingers before I was like waidaminute 🤣🤣
Don't ever change Ian 🤣
@@kyriss12 Ah, but they imported timber...cleared the forests of ireland.
you're Icelandic huh? Say please
Got to be one of the most well written and acted out April fools' jokes I've ever seen!
I legitimately didn't know if it was a joke or if it was serious, in spite of it being 1st April.
@@launch4 I would have fallen for it if I had not immediately looked at the comment section.
@@jdee3421 Ian is much more deadpan in his delivery than Jackson Crawford is in his video, and there are a lot more little hints/jokes that it's a prank in Crawford's as well. Ian's doesn't really get silly until the end. That's my preferred kind of prank. I just wish people didn't spoil it in the comments. It's more fun to watch people be confused.
@@Bacteriophagebs Agreed, though I take some personal responsibility. I really should wait until I finish watching videos before I look at comments. 😀
@@jdee3421 Me too, I didn't even know it was april 1st. Damn night shifts mess with the mind.
Welp, those vikings having dinosaurs and miniguns in Kung Fury now make a lot of sense.
@@stevef3685 and (Arctic) Sharks with laaaasers
I own an atgeirr for home defense, since that's what Odin the Alfather intended. Four Anglo-Saxons break into my settlement. "By the Gods?" as I grab my atgeirr and flaming stick. Blow a pebble sized hole through the first man, he's sent to Valhöl. Throw my spear at the second man, miss him and hit the neighbor's runestone. I skiddadle back to the atgeirr and give 'em the good old Surtr's dust. "Skol, felagi!" I yell before Surtr shreds two men in the blast, the sound of the weapon waking up poor Jormungand. Draw my sword and charge at the last terrified Saxon. His sword breaks against mine since it's an Ulfberht and his is a silly old damascus. Hey ho, the settlement's saved! Just as Odin the Alfather intended.
The only mistake in this is assuming that the viking would be acting in self defense and wouldn't be attacking someone else to steal all their gold.
I'm Icelandic, and I was raised around Norse Mythology, and I love all the references you made (especially the Ulfbhert)! Great joke!
Best comment ever
10/10 loved this comment.
I use security ravens to warn me of intruders and Amazon merchants
Watching Ian violate just about every gun and range safety rule he has ever talked about was the absolute best. If that didn't clue the viewer into the joke nothing will 😆
"Did you clear the range?" ... "Yeah, I think.." "Was that a sheep?" Yeah. They gave us all a fair chance, April Fools to anyone still sharing this with friends though 🤣
Iain McCallum's expertise and authority on firearms reached a such level that I really believed the story. Mind-blowing, history re-writing, but... I believed him. Until in the comments, I saw someone saying that "Ian could do a video on Aztec flamethrowers and I would 100% believe him". And I just realized it's April 1st. I drink to you, Iain McCallum, Sir!
Can I admit I forgot what day it was and thought it was real? I was just listening to videos at work and just went around for a couple days thinking it was real lol
Holy Mother of Guns... of course...
Aw damn, I already spread this damn well thinking it was real. Now I came to see what was Ians April fools video this year and realized my mistake.
@Oskari Puhto it's ok. I showed my dad this video the day it was posted and we nerded out over it. Just realized now it was an April Fool's day gag. Now I have to go tell him it was a joke.
i saw this on the 6th, made it a bit harder
So cool they had match grade triggers so early!
What you did there, I see it…😂
Oh, god... the pain. Curse you, now my ears hurt.
A curse on thy house, so that all thy children shall feel my pain.
😂
Omg that’s a great joke
Epic. I can’t believe that Jackson got so many people to create the biggest April Fools joke ever. I have no idea how you were able to keep a straight face. Awesome 👏 👏👏👏🎬
I can't wait for the people who don't realize it is a joke and actually think this is a thing...
I was hoping it was real. You killed my hopes. 😆
I know, he's as straight up as all Elbonian weap - HEYYYYY JUST A MINUTE NOW
@@j.f.fisher5318 😂 don't tempt me
The fact that this was posted on April 2nd for me (being Australian) I did not initially realise this was an April Fools day prank, even though something seemed off from about the mention of the fermented shark onwards, right upto the sheep, which confirmed it... Well done...
The shark is real. Like, no part of that bit was a lie.
@@ombranox yes, I know, but the way in which it was included seemed "off", and practically everything after that (IIRC) was not real... Perhaps I was not clear enough, but by mixing strange (to foreign cultures) details like that, with outright fallacies after the bit about the fermented shark, it made the entire thing seem almost legitimate was the point I was making...
@@ImRuined666 That's how you make a convincing lie. You also tell some truths. That makes the lies blend in with the truths, so they're less noticeable.
Fermented shark and even the weapon name are real tho :D Atgeir was a spear/axe like weapon used by many vikings. Not a gun tho :D
It took me longer than it should to cotton on to what was happening here!
Damn you and your credible delivery Ian!
Thank goodness Ian never became a con man.
@@meijiturtle3814 that's what he wants you to think 😉
i'm icelandic and he had me until the icelandic guy started saying he was a total idiot 😂 such good april fools day joke!
Almost like a voice of authority using said voice for bullshit is extremely effective deception...
@@danielsvavars6787 What was the actual translation of the icelandic? I could tell that the subtitles were not what was really being said but my Icelandic doesn't go much beyond "Nei"!
It isn't every day that Ian recreates a firearm, dresses up like Skallagrim, and accidentally shoots a sheep all at once....
A true historian
Damn first I thought you were referring to his Jacket until I reached the end.
Only on April the 1st!
Accidentally shoots a sheep? Vids gonna be lït
Iceland, where men were men, and sheep were afraid.
I listened to this on the way home after a long stressful day at work. I found this fascinating. You had me most of the way through until I remembered what day this was posted.
This is why you are supposed to watch April Fool’s videos on April fools. You had me seriously going for quite a while.
This changes everything! Looking forward to when Ian reveals that Vikings also invented the rimfire cartridge.
you forgot Harald Hamarbijte's manual indexing revolver some time around 1065, it has been suggested as being present at the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. It's recorded by Snori Sturlson in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle volume c that 'a giant Norse warrior (possibly armed with a attegar) blocked the narrow crossing (Stamford Bridge) and single-handedly held up the entire English army. The story is that this warrior cut down up to 40 Englishmen with his Dane Axe and lightning spear, he was defeated only when an English soldier floated under the bridge in a half-barrel and thrust his spear through the planks in the bridge and gave fire, mortally wounding the Warrior.
Someone forgot a often forgotten Viking invention: nuclear powered aircraft carrier.
It was first described in the saga of Pisa drykkjumaður
Actually the Swede 6.5×55 is 133yrs young as WE speak;
waaay ahead of its time and Americans are now so enamored with the new 6.5 Creedmore (almost as good) just a century+ too late on the scene...!
Tho in 1994 I predicted it would eventually show up here being the perfect sweet spot combo with perfect SD & BC using a super fast twist medium velocity unit with a 140gr BTSP pill take anything on the planet, not burnout barrels and go well out to at least a 1,000yds = my thanks to the Vikings innovative spirit...!
Now they're be coming Islaminized and losing their culture...!
Viking gunslingers... Siiiiiiccckk
Going viking seems like an occasion to pack light, sure they didn’t go caseless?
Your April Fools videos are terrifyingly deadpan. Nice job!
Edit: Absolutely lost it at 'we cleared the range, right?' 'Yeah, I think so.'
I’m sad to realize it’s April 1st. I love the idea of a Viking accidentally inventing gun powder, and then becoming known as Fredrik Four Fingers 😂
I watched this entire thing before going to the comments and realizing it was Ian’s April fools joke. Well done sir. I am a fool who has been fooled.
this is without a doubt, the most forgotten weapon ever on this channel
THIS!!!!!!! 🤯
An artful combination of history and fermented shark. Well done, Ian!
It was the introduction of Hákarl into the story that tripped my bullshit detector
@@laurianweisser5944 Those sharks do have toxic levels of trimethylamine N-oxide, though. Its decomposed byproduct had other uses (for example, washing hair to kill lice). So people were using it for stuff at the time and the chemistry might work.
If there is somebody who could make a weapon out of hákarl without being the hákarl itself it's got to be Ian!
Can't wait for April 1st, 2024.
"Fermented shark" - AKA horse shite. Lol
You and Crawford have just created the basis for a whole new genre of Science Fiction alternate history novels and Video Games. Well done!!!
Careful this alternative history seems particularly captivating to white supremacists and we know they have a hard time separating trolling from reality.
@@tedgerahedron Reality is that this device works and based on the illustration in the ancient manuscript, most likely existed. Alternative history/Sci-fi buffs love the "what if history took a separate path" concept. Based on your trolling reply, I am inclined to believe that YOU are a Black racist who hate White European derived people. I my self have a Daughter-in-Law from Ghana and have interest in a Alt History where the 13th Century King of Mali had continued his nation's trade with Mezzo America. After all the Olmec heads look decidedly West African
I did that about 10 years ago with my Æzir faction in Legend of the Five Rings.
I know the intent of this particular video, but oh man: I'm going to incorporate "Surtr's Breath" and the Atgeirr in my homebrew Scandinavian-themed D&D campaign, freely inspired by the "Journey to Ragnarok" setting book. My players are going to love it, so thank you! :)
If it wasn't for the date and the comments, I would have totally believed in this! Fantastic job once again Ian.
Wait it’s all fake?
@Propaganda Man I did think that for a minute, good joke
This is so well done that I wouldn't be surprised if it pops up as a serious source like when people cite the Onion unironically.
@@QuintusAntonious yeah
me just realised this is april 1st video damn. i mean i could believe it
The finest longarm of Elbonia.
Someone needs to create the Saga of Frederick Four Fingers, the legendary Icelandic Viking who independently (and accedentally) discovered gunpowder by dropping some of his fermented shark snacks into a sulphur lined fire pit. I think I finally have a use for ChatGPT...
I was just about to share this with the wife and friends until I got almost to the end and realized the day. Well done.
If this is a real historic discovery and I remain unconvinced the 1st of April might not have been the best day to put it out there !
Just starting the video, but it's gotta be a joke (the atgeir is a term that typically refers to a polearm rather like a hewing spear or glaive rather than a gun).
I mean.... Ian isn't known for publishing jokes on April Fools Day. Elbonian and Fallout videos are randomly distributed through the year.
It is a joke. Jackson Crawford has done April Fools’ Day videos for several years. This year it expanded to this channel and Simon roper’s channel as well.
Duh me - only half watching, but........ 🤭
I presume Mr. Oscarson doesn't even speak Icelandic, thus his name is well deserved.
I still want to know how many Icelanders perished before they figured out how long it took to ferment Greenland Shark to edibility. "Vell, Sven died... guess five months wasn't enuff. Bjorn, you're up."
An especially taxing process because even when it's not poisonous, after the first bite, it will take a minute or two before you realize that's just what it tastes like and you're not about to die
@@somuchnope2 It's not going to kill you. It just tastes like death.
"Ole?"
"Yes, Bjorn?"
"I'm having an idea, Ole. If we use the storage space and time for gathering other food and looking for more promising sources, then maybe we *won't have to* figure out how to make it so this revolting stuff doesn't kill us. Why were we fighting to keep ahold of sharks anyway? Seals are easier to haul around and less... pointy."
I've often wondered about similar situations while humanity began working with the toxic plants that would become modern potatoes and tomatoes. What makes a person decide to put all that risky effort into cultivating those plants with no reason to believe it'd work?
I'm Icelandic, and you perfectly replicated the accent!!! Only thing is that Sven in Iceland is actually spelled Sveinn. Other than that, genius.
@@henrysokol3466 Isn't the toxic part tomatoes more because tomatoes are really acidid and it was nobles who first ate it in Europe on pewter plates and the acid in tomatoes did have chemical reaction which absorded lot lead from those plates and poison the nobles? Just watched video about it like couple weeks ago in one history focused channel...
The atgeir strongly resembles the early handgonnes developed in the rest of Europe after gunpowder arrived from China. Those were also matchlocks with a separate match to ignite the charge. The Chinese individual who created gunpowder was locally called Mr No Eyebrows and Chang the one handed after a series of accidents.
My gosh, this was brilliant. I totally bought it. It was not until you gave us the blatent heads up by asking if the range was cleared that I had an inkling something was not quiite right. It was like those M. Night Shyamalan movies that completely fool the viewer but at the end you can see clues were actually there for the viewer to know what was going on if they were clever enough to notice them. Thank you for this!
I came here on the 23rd, so the comments clued me in. But the first thing that seemed truly suspicious to me was the conversation where Oskarson shows not the slightest hesitation or doubt endorsing the theory rather than saying "umm... maaaaaaybe.... I guess." And then he goes on to call Ian's reasoning behind it 'brilliant', almost like he'd just been slipped a C-note under the table.
@@frigyou1078 Nice.😆
Whether you're trolling me or just making a fresh joke, that was clever.
I always wondered why the horns disappeared from Viking helmets. Now we know. They made them into powder horns.
It's a common misconception, but viking helmets didn't actually have horns *on* them. The horns came from the Vikings themselves, and the helmets had holes cut into them to accommodate putting them on/off through the horns. It is said that Icelanders were created when Loki spent a *very* lonely night with a goat. Unfortunately, most Icelanders nowadays shave/grind down their horns because luxurious hats imported from overseas rarely have horn-holes (lúðurhola).
That is an April fools' myth created by Sir Walter Scott.
1 horn for gunpowder, the other for mead!
@@adrianfirewalker4183 Normans created Calvados from apples. Do the same with mead,and you could rename yourself Adrian Firewater. And drink from that horn of plenty.
@@paulmanson253 , dude, that's awesome!!!
I believe there are historical records of these being mounted on the early viking military aircraft built by the famous viking inventor and military strategist Vicke.
Fool everyone knows the inventer of the Viking aircraft was Johann Flaparms
Vicker. He founded the first company making aircraft, Vicker's Birds.
@@rrolf71 BOOM!BOOM!
@@Xaevryn Johann Flaparms was the first naval aviator . He flew off a flight deck jury rigged onto the bow of a Viking Longship named Long Lay . A following skiff recovered him and and rowed him back to his mother vessel .
@@victorwaddell6530 The name "Dragon Ship" actually refers to the fact that their primary aircraft was the Draken.
Was still trying to decide if this is real or April Fools before asking if the range was clear. You do this WAYYYY too well. I'm sure there's many people still believe it real
He threw me for a loop with the bamboo barrels bit, cos that is true and I knew that so totally mindset of “oh wow this is fascinating”…watching 3 days after the fact 😂
the fact that i can't even tell if the entire thing is an april 1st bit is insane. Ian you are a master at your craft.
The fact that you were able to keep a straight face all through the video... Great job Ian 😄 Alos, I will use this in history class and see who gets it 😈
I want to see the blooper reel..
If he really tasted Arctic shark he shure is unable to mov his face again (:-))
You must be from America
I would have thoroughly missed Ian's April fools' video! Nobody else puts that amount of effort into this. Thanks for the great entertainment.
This is biggest youtube channel prank i know of. But biggest one from companies i know of is Path Of Exile (its kinda like diablo 2 with its gameplay). They released Battle Royale trailer as april fools joke... few weeks/months later it was revealed to be an actual real mode/game we could play. THAT to me is a lot of effort for double-layered-prank. First they fooled people with trailer. Then they fooled the people who didn't believe the trailer. Genius!
What an honor it is to have Ian McCollum himself visit my country! Even if it was just for an april fools video.
Are you a real icelander
@@princekrazie jubb, born an raised
This is amazing, and so obviously untrue it almost seems likely until you realize when it was uploaded. Great work!
You need to do the evaluation of the early Norse Auto-Whale bone ballista called the "ógurligr hvalrif vápn" ! Really fascinating discovery by the leading PhD in dentistry, Svenge Olaf Prat. Mind you, do not mention møøse bites as that reminds him about his sister's awful encounter.
The person who originally wrote the article was sacked.
Don’t forget the “sæðis pissskota” from the saga of Guðrún, which many scholars today hypothesize is a intercontinental ballistic missile capable of deploying antimatter weaponary.
Finally all the atgeirr combat sequences in the sagas make sense. Thank you so much distinguished professor McCollum. 💡
Me: "The transition from the early gunpowder to firelance to handcannon is reasonably well documented"
Also me: "right???"
It's wierd to me that I've been subscribed to both forgotten weapons and dr. Crawfords channel independently of eachother for a long time. And now yall shoot together, study together, and give 3achother ideas for new content. Crazy.
An excellent prank. Exceptionally elaborate. Well done.
Looking forward to the multi barrel pepperpot version by "chainsaw Olaf" mentioned in the pulp fykshon chronicles
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Wow this is really much more detailed than I was expecting. Incredible research
Nice! I could totally believe this. I worked for several years as a 16th century living history interprer at Roanoke Island NC. We regularly conducted matchlock musket demos, as well as firing a small breech loading swivel cannon, and a smaller pole-mounted handgonne. This was of course a bit layer than the Viking era...
Congratulations to Ian and the team for a splendid piece of research. In the words of Ólafur heimskingi "Þetta er mesta drasl sem ég hef heyrt í langan tíma. Eru þetta brandarakarlar í alvöru?" to which Odin famously replies "Haltu í bjórinn minn."
Old Norse is such a poetic language.
Excellent!
hahaha já einmitt :P
Haltu....haltu kjafti means shut up.....
"This is the worst drivel I've seen in a long time. Are you guys serious?" To which Odin famously replied "Hold my beer" It's just a neat joke :P
@@garryfromwallmart4263 Við vitum. Við getum líka notað Google translate.
Wow! Arctic Shark for the nitrates! I thought they would have used guano from seabird colonies for that but they were even more inventive!
Or from their outhouses...
If youever smell arctic shark you know that stuff is going to explode just seeing a spark!!
I wondered about the bird manure. I remember learning in history lessons many years ago that the recipe was charcoal, sulphur and saltpetre(dried out pigeon shit out of church towers and loft spaces. A great prank by Ian, I was fooled for the first five minutes!
@@philhawley1219 In my home town they made salpeter from human excrement. They had a special place where they emptied all the towns outhouses, and from there they could extract salpeter.
I find this topic very interesting. I think we can learn so much by researching the forgotten sagas and words of old cultures. Thanks a lot Ian and the hole Team for the research and the video. And I have to say, thank you Ian for your whole work. In Germany the community calls you "Gun Jesus" - with is in a respectful meaning.
That title could never be respectful
It's about time you covered this!
The amount of effort you put into this is amazing.
Little known fact: Iceland was once covered in lush forests. The vikings cut all the trees down to make charcoal for their firearms
The vikings also said if you ever get lost in a icelandic forest then stand up.
There are many island cultures who live off drift wood alone so wood is not hard to find
They cut the trees for herding sheep, they would never need so much charcoal just for gunpowder (at the very least heating would be a much more important usage in such cold climate). Ahem!
My comment was, like the article, a joke
@@adrianfirewalker4183 - Use some emojis then, else Poe's Law often applies.
Loved it! Even more once I realized this video was released on April 1st.
The seriousness and presentation is just gravy!
YOU GOT ME!
I didn't even think about it being the 1st of April!
I was following this with great intellectual curiosity.
An amazing video.
I'm weirdly glad I got razzed like this.
Yeah it was a great April Fool's vid. Sadly, for people who know the historical context of the sagas, the joke didn't work, right off the bat, because the sagas are all written late (ie. 1200s at earliest, and those don't pretend to be actual history anyway: they're mythic and heroic narratives), far after the "Viking Age," which means any allusions to firearms (nonwithstanding that there really aren't any allusions anyway lol) would be suspect, because early firearms (bombards and such) were appearing.
I only clicked with the sheep, the sheep is a joke, joke, joke, April ... 3 days ago, April 1st - ha!
I'm sad this isn't true for real
Seeing this pop up in NY feed not understanding it's a joke was very confusing especially a week into April.
@@tylerrobbins8311 lol
Brilliant! This is the sort of stuff that AIs will distill into 'facts' for years to come.
You're probably correct and this thought is terrifying.
Who is als?
@@hypnotised-cloverartifical intelligence
Flamethrowers, steam engines and now this. Can't thank you enough! Really helps with my worldbuilding project, which fits almost perfectly into this time period. Awesome!
One of the more elaborate and great April's fool pranks I've ever seen! 😊
Fascinating cooperation again, this is how science progresses!
Edit: I'm dying from the perfect blend of Jackson's other topics, and including the ammonious shark...
Edit2: Perfect Sleight of Hand by Gun Jesus, too.
And the funny fact is the shark thing is actually true.
Ammonia: yes. Ammonium Nitrate though: not plausible... to people with enough background.
Very nice try though!
@@kolega4ever The neat thing is that most of it is actually true, including the discussions on icelandic iron smelting, and the Atgeir being a kinda unknown weapon type.
@@wilfriedklaebe
Remember fertiliser explosions.
@@myparceltape1169 which is ammonia nitrate. Need that explosive nitrogen bond breakage for the bangs.
Remarkable primary source research Ian, and team. I believe you also caught a glimpse of Bigfoot dismantling the Amber Room in the background. Truly incredible!
That's not the crossover that I expected but definitely the crossover that I needed
"Stay strapped or get clapped."
Ivar the Boneless, 1066 AD.
Just to add, Old-Icelandic "heyrnamaartól" stands for type of a Viking helmet with extra padding and unusually low sides over both ears. Modern researches had found that it is an ancestor of modern day hearing protection. If you look closely again at the video of Ian shooting Atgeirr, you will clearly see the real life usage of ancient hearing protection. It would need extra padding though.
No, no, no! "Heyrnartól" is "headphones". You are thinking of Heyrnarhlíf!
An easy mistake to make.
The helmet Ian is wearing is a modern replica of the helmet in the Gjermundbu find, the only nearly complete viking helmet discovered so far. It doesn't have cheek guards, but earlier helmets (this helmet is dated to second half of the 10th century) such as from the Sutton Hoo hoard in England and from the Vendel culture in Sweden do feature substantial cheek guards.
Swedish historians in the 16th century actually made similar outrageous claims. Like how ancient Scandinavians supposedly had travelled down to Greece in antiquity and started the philosophy movement. Also that Noah's grandson was the first Swedish king and thus Sweden was the most ancient kingdom ever. Really wild sh*t.
Man early nationalist historical narratives are wild, its either interesting mythology or mad acid trips
@@Sabrowsky The Lebor Gabála Érenn from 11th century Ireland claims that the island was settled by, among other things, travelers from Greece and Anatolia.
My brother in christian-pagan syncretism, that's the opposite end of the entire known world.
Many ancient kingdoms had genealogies that went all the way back to adam and eve, which is pretty interesting. Separate kingdoms with no interaction all having the same exact genealogies is very good evidence for the truthfulness of scripture, as well as the independent accounts of the flood
@@AR15andGOD that or they made up for legitimacy
And all true….from a certain point of view.
Fun fact: the type of Helmet, which Ian uses in his demonstration, i.e., the type of helmet of the Gjermundbu helmet is called "Brillen-Helm" in German, which literally translates to Goggle-Helmet. A very fitting item of safety gear.
Hey, Ian. Love your content. In regards to your wood in Iceland comment, I'll just point out that, at the time of colonization, 25 to 40% of Iceland's land mass was forested. The largely treeless Iceland we envision today is a result of intense deforestation, though there are several Icelandic initiatives to reforest the island with its traditional tree species. Thought you and others might find this interesting. Cheers!
Nice one Ian! I enjoyed the effort in creating credibility for the video; atgeirr being a real weapon name, mentioned in _Saga of Burnt Njal,_ and "the Saga of Fredrick Four-fingers" really sounds like in lieu with many real names of sagas!
Yeah we used to call him Franky
I’m ashamed to admit that I was halfway through this video before I realised what day it is…
Great use of slight of hand there with the stone projectile. It was a good call to not insert a random rock into that thing.
I totally fell for this. Hats off Ian.
Been reading Njal's saga recently so it's a great timing to learn more about what exactly was meant by "Gunnar Hamundsson's atgeir was home" when he pierces an intruder with it! Although my truly misinformed Swedish translation rendered atgeir as spjutyxa or spearaxe
He is where we get the term “Gunn” from. In later chronicles they drop the second “n” to achieve our modern term for a firearm.
@@kl2645 Almost correct, actually. One of the cannons in the Tower in London bore the Scandinavian name Gunhilda, and that's where the modern term comes from.
I'd loved to have seen this on full auto. Also, wasn't gunpowder initially invented in Elbonia, with the nitrates coming from the manure of Caspian war elephants (see also: Elbonian light cavalry "trunk & tusks")?
Elbonia just CLAIMS to have invented gunpowder, and they didn't get it until the 1700s.
Full-auto, indeed! Also, war-grade nitrates from war elephants...winning combination!
Another great video Ian .
i have followed both of you and Crawford for a long time. this can be imteresting. 1st of april.
:)
Well, it may be a joke, but I found it really interesting to think about how the Vikings could have created a firearm. Firearms don't require incredible technology, it's the general idea of a gun and the composition of the powder that needed to be discovered. Crazy to think the Romans could have had guns.
I just loved the "carefully measured powder charge"!
Really cool video! So interesting the convergent innovations across history.
Awwww. Down south in New Zealand its 2 April and so, for a few glorious minutes, I thought this was real. Very well done Ian. Perfectly executed.
Ian always has the best videos for today. I'm looking forward to next year!
The date is a giveaway. However, some of you might still wonder what kind of weapon an atgeirr really was. That is no secret. In e.g. Saga of Gisli Sursson it is said that an atgeirr was a “höggspjut”. The word has two components: “högg” (to chop or stab) and “spjut” (spear). In other words a long spear that was not used for throwing but rather for ramming the opponent.
this was the collab i didn’t know i needed
For safety’s sake, 3f is rather fast, use 1f if possible. Always avoid pouring powder directly from the bottle into the piece; One spark and you’re Ian Four Fingers. You can make a tube from your enemy’s femur trimmed to One Viking Measure.
Ah man, you had me. You really had me. I noticed what's going on only when the sheep got f*ed. Been watching stupid joke videos all day long, and the reason why I didn't take this as a joke is because from all of those content creator, you were the only one who kept their typical demeanour and style of making videos. Shooting the sheep was so out of character that it finally made me realize.
Hands down the best April's fool joke this year.
Wow, pulling out all the stops for this one. Happy April!
Outstanding research sir. With four fingers I salute you.
You constantly leave me informed, entertained, and often both lol 😂 one of my favorite voices in the 2A world.
I love these videos every year. Awesome work.
Haha, as someone generally quite fed up with this tradition, I have to say this was a rather well crafted one!
Ian's "Whoa" when the hakarl aftertaste hit
was brilliant.
Sleight of hand palming the bullet too. Very well done!😊
Nearly 20 minutes... * pinches bridge of nose* 20... That's just plain magnificent.
Well done, Ian, well done..
Never thought I'd feel proud of Ian! Good day :)
Ian: Were going to do a very careful measurement of powder.
Proceeds to dump a bunch straight from the container into the funnel.
Nice one Ian, the fact that the "Ategir" is a reasonable facsimile of a 14th century pole gun made it even more believable. I have fired, regularly, a similar piece of kit in re-enactment and your efforts are appreciated. The sheep was a bit of overkill (pun intended) though