Vikings in Modern Culture

The Viking Age is said to have ended circa 1066 AD, however many themes and influences are clearly visible in a variety of cultures throughout the 21st century. After completing The Vikings course here at the Rochester Institute of Technology, I have come to realize many Viking impacts that are seen in certain aspects of my daily life. Spanning from the music I tend to enjoy, to the methods of how I enjoy my time of leisure, themes from the Viking age are constantly making itself known.

Music has always played a major role in my daily life. I rely on certain melodies and tunes to provide the extra boost to get me through the challenges and obstacles of my day. I am a particular fan of the metal genre, and taking this course has motivated me to explore a new sub-genre of metal entitled “Viking Metal.” Viking metal is a type of music that combines aspects of death, folk, and black metal. This type of music relies on dramatic lyrical themes that separate it from the other sub-genres of metal. Viking Metal lyrics paint an imaginary picture of Viking battles, epic warriors, and imaginary themes. Coupled with deep growling vocals are pan flute, accordion, and harp influences. Viking metal listeners are most concentrated in Scandinavian countries such as Finland and Norway. The early roots of Viking metal were planted by Led Zeppelin who used gods from Norse mythology as the topics of their songs. Bands such as Bathory and Amon Amarth are noted to perfecting and popularizing the sub-genre of Viking metal (1).

The Vikings have heavily influenced something that is renowned to take up a large portion of my leisure time: the world-popular game “World of Warcraft.” After spending over three years playing this game, I have never noticed how deeply Norse mythology has made its way into the structure of the game’s storyline. It seems as if the whole backstory to World of Warcraft is a “spinoff” or Norse Mythology. For example, characters share similarities