Posted: March 20th, 2017

Vikings and Islam

For your discussion please describe in one original post why you find Viking culture and Islamic culture to be vital and dynamic cultures during the Early Middle Ages. Please use at least one specific example from the movie for each group and make sure that you are being original in your commentary.

Example of a post:

The vikings were amazing craftsmen. They had a knack for art and they implemented it often. The beauty and immense amounts of detail in their jewelry and boats easily stand out and are easily recognizable even to untrained eyes; however, their language/runes are some of the most dynamic part of their culture. The runes are drawn with emphasis on straight lines because they are easier to draw on wood and stone. The runes were constantly changing and updating because new sounds were being created from learning different languages. From what started with ~20 symbols in their alphabet eventually surpassed 30.

Islamic art, specifically the architecture and tools, are astonishing and were constructed in a way no one else has done. For example, the symbolism of the Dome of the Rock. Everything about this building was carefully calculated – the proportions have meaning. Heaven is represented as a circle, earth as a square, and then the building is constructed as an octagon because if you put a circle and two squares together in a specific way, the symbol in the middle is an octagon. This building is meant to represent a bridge between heaven and earth. Another example is their star charts. A big part of Islamic culture is praying towards Mecca, and in the evenings, there were tools they used to map the stars so they could figure out which direction Mecca was.

Another example:

One of the reasons why the Viking culture was a vital and dynamic culture during the Early Middle Ages is because of their elegant and exquisite art that goes against their stereotypically “barbarous” nature. Vikings were able to create beautiful and intricate art, which is shown in jewelry, ships, and runes. For example, a brooch the Vikings created was “modeled on the buckles used by Roman soldiers on their sword belts” and was “adapted and turned into a brooch for ladies.” Another example of Viking art is a ship that was decorated by Viking carvings. The ship appearing in the “Men of the North” documentary was completely decorated by many animal carvings and shapes. One last example of Viking art is their runes which can be covered in stories, writing, letters, and symbols. In one of the ruins, it is said that “Gidiyor loved her husband and remembers him with her tears.” I think that because the Viking culture contains so many examples of beautiful and intricate art, the art helps make it a vital and dynamic culture.

One of the reasons why Islamic culture was another vital and dynamic culture during the Early Middle Ages is because of their usage of architecture in spirituality. One of their most famous examples of architecture is the Dome of the Rock, which happens to interestingly be in the shape of an octagon. The shape of this piece of architecture is so important because the octagon is a “symbolic bridge between heaven and earth.” The Dome of the Rock was also purposefully located in Jerusalem, “the most loaded religious spot-on earth.” This is just based on the outside of the architecture, which was clearly well thought through, but also the inside architecture of the Dome of the Rock has spiritual meaning as well, from the marble flooring to the lighting inside. I think their usage of architecture and the way their architecture has been created to represent spirituality, helps make Islamic culture a vital and dynamic culture.

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