Nerror
12-26-2006, 01:21 PM
I really like GW's take on Norsemen. A large part of my interest stems from the fact that I am Danish, and as such my ancestors are norse too. :cool: It's important to realize that the Norse aren't the same as the tribes from the Chaos Wastes like the Kurgan and the Hung and the Great Eagle tribe and what-not. Anyways, on with it:
In my Roleplaying Tzeentch thread (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?p=86458) I briefly introduce the Norse with information from the Liber Chaotica (http://www.blacklibrary.com/product.asp?prod=60040281005&type=Book):
Norsemen means literally 'men of the north', and as such is not the name by which they call themselves, but rather a moniker their victims have given them. They live in Norsca, a harsh and cold land, that borders Kislev to the south, the Sea of Chaos to the west, and a vast glacial shelf to the north. The Norse are made up of many different families and tribes, with little to connect them but a similar tongue and way of life. Thus such a warrior would never call himself a "Norseman", but instead a "Bjornling" or a "Varg", for their only loyalty is to their families and their kin.
They are constantly in bloody strife and war amongst themselves, pausing only to launch raids by land or sea upon the people to the south, slaughtering, defiling their holy places and enslaving their children.
Blood feuds are common among the Norse and can last for many years between tribes and settlements. Feuds can also occur within towns and villages as well as between different groups of close kin. When these take hold, they are settled quickly and bloodily. But it is unto their gods that the Norse owe their highest fealty. They care only for the material advantages that their Lords can bestow.
For the Norse there is no kingdom of Morr, there is nothing after death except for the realm of their gods, and they will only travel there to be lauded and praised as true and strong warriors, or to be reviled and tortured as betrayers and cowards. Thus every Norseman fights with an insane fervour driven by this belief.
The Tome of Corruption (http://blackindustries.com/?template=WH&content=wfrp-tome-corruption) goes into more detail (and is perhaps slightly less biased) about some aspects. I can warmly recommend the book to anyone interested in Chaos.
Society
Norse society is made up of 7 distinct tribes that venerate their own heroes and their own visions of the Gods, but all share similar social structures. Due to geography and the influence of Chaos, there are some marked differences between the Northern and Southern tribes.
The northern tribes bordering the Frozen Sea are closer to the Chaos Wastes and develop more mutations and variety than the southern tribes. They are also more savage since they regularly come into conflict with the Kurgan tribes of the Wastes. The tribes include the Graelings, Vargs and the Aeslings.
The southern tribes are somewhat milder than their brethren to the north. They raid and plunder like all norsemen do, but they also sometimes trade and have other peaceful interactions with Kislev and the Empire. However, if the Gods call for war, they will march south with the rest of the Chaos Warhost, bent on destruction and conquest. The southern tribes include the Bjornlings, Skaelings, Baersonlings and Sarls.
The Norse have a classed society. At the very bottom are the thralls, slaves who have been captured in raids. They are men, women and children who are forced into a hard life of servitude and labour. Most end their lives as a sacrifice to curry the favour of the Gods. When a new Longship is finished, the norsemen line the approach to the sea with screaming thralls, to crush the life out of them as the warriors push the boat into the waters.
Next on the rung are the peasants. They are the Norsemen who lack skill or ability at arms. Reviled as inferior and weak, they are relegated to serving the Jarls as builders, farmers and craftsmen.
The ideal person in Norscan culture is the young, virile slayer. He's courageous, skilled, and tough. He is the warrior. He is the hunter, the defender, the raider, and the hero. He fights not only for honour and glory but for the respect of his ancestors and the favour of the Dark Gods.
Seers advise the Jarls in matters pertaining to the will of their ancestors and the Gods. It falls to these priveledged men and women to interpret the movements of the Winds of Magic, the whispers of Daemons, and the spirits of fallen warriors to guide the Jarl to choose the proper course for his tribe. Vitki fulfil a role similar to the Seers, but are steeped in the arcane traditions of the Ruinous Powers. With a word, a Vitki can order any peasant's death, and thralls die by the scores to fuel the dark magic needed to perform their rituals.
The Jarls are great warriors who are loyal to their king, and get warriors, land, treasure and thralls in return.
Though Norse society is patriarchal, women have a stronger place in these lands than many might suspect. A woman may own property and can become a Jarl if her husband dies and has no male offspring. It is up to the woman to decide whom she weds and if she divorces. Whilst women are expected to stay behind during raids and wars, it falls to them to protect the home, so most are competent, if not out-right skilled, warriors.
Culture
The Norsemen have a rich society with traditions passed down intact since the time of Sigmar. They are free spirits who form a nation built upon the foundations of honour, loyalty, and respect.
The Norsemen live in two worlds: one is visible, tangible; the other is the world of spirits and Daemons, lying just beyond the senses. They believe what they see around them is the lie, a deception created to test them. Instead, the Spirit World is the truth, and only through the guidance of their mystics and the blessings of their Gods can they penetrate the veil of the senses and peer into the true reality.
Since life as experienced by the senses is a deception, the Norsemen do not cling to life like the other races. They throw themselves into the thick of combat to show their worth to their Gods and their ancestors, all in the hope of receiving a blessing , or to be plucked from the dream in death by one of the shadowy Warrior Hags to join their fellows in the Halls of Glory. Pain, suffering, and other physical maladies are all illusions and are accepted as part of their existence.
A Norseman may only journey to the Realm of the Gods by proving his worth in the dream, and to prove it he must die a glorious death in battle. Those who beg for mercy or cling to the world of the living are found wanting and cursed to to wander the world as disembodied spirits, or worse, fed to the Great Dragon that Squats, where they are reborn as slaves, women, or worse, Old Worlders.
Religion
Norse religion is dynamic and complex, featuring a broad pantheon of Ancestors, Heroes, Daemons, and Gods. The Gods themselves vary from tribe to tribe, but each group of Norsemen embrace a pantheon that reflects four central themes: War, Desire, Decay, and Hope. Norse pantheons rarely feature just a single God per theme, rather they may have several. Instead of a single God of Battle, they might have three: one for wrath, another for death, and a last for excellence in arms.
The Norsemen see themselves as honest men, strong, mighty, and courageous. And for these virtues they thank the Gods. They worship the Gods they do because they see their power in all things, and are vividly reminded of that potency. Southern Gods, like Sigmar, are weak in comparison to the primal forces of life and death represented by their deities. To the Norsemen, the blessings of the Gods (e.g. mutations) are the clearest sign of their power, proving to them that the Gods of the Empire are weak and impotent.
In my Roleplaying Tzeentch thread (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?p=86458) I briefly introduce the Norse with information from the Liber Chaotica (http://www.blacklibrary.com/product.asp?prod=60040281005&type=Book):
Norsemen means literally 'men of the north', and as such is not the name by which they call themselves, but rather a moniker their victims have given them. They live in Norsca, a harsh and cold land, that borders Kislev to the south, the Sea of Chaos to the west, and a vast glacial shelf to the north. The Norse are made up of many different families and tribes, with little to connect them but a similar tongue and way of life. Thus such a warrior would never call himself a "Norseman", but instead a "Bjornling" or a "Varg", for their only loyalty is to their families and their kin.
They are constantly in bloody strife and war amongst themselves, pausing only to launch raids by land or sea upon the people to the south, slaughtering, defiling their holy places and enslaving their children.
Blood feuds are common among the Norse and can last for many years between tribes and settlements. Feuds can also occur within towns and villages as well as between different groups of close kin. When these take hold, they are settled quickly and bloodily. But it is unto their gods that the Norse owe their highest fealty. They care only for the material advantages that their Lords can bestow.
For the Norse there is no kingdom of Morr, there is nothing after death except for the realm of their gods, and they will only travel there to be lauded and praised as true and strong warriors, or to be reviled and tortured as betrayers and cowards. Thus every Norseman fights with an insane fervour driven by this belief.
The Tome of Corruption (http://blackindustries.com/?template=WH&content=wfrp-tome-corruption) goes into more detail (and is perhaps slightly less biased) about some aspects. I can warmly recommend the book to anyone interested in Chaos.
Society
Norse society is made up of 7 distinct tribes that venerate their own heroes and their own visions of the Gods, but all share similar social structures. Due to geography and the influence of Chaos, there are some marked differences between the Northern and Southern tribes.
The northern tribes bordering the Frozen Sea are closer to the Chaos Wastes and develop more mutations and variety than the southern tribes. They are also more savage since they regularly come into conflict with the Kurgan tribes of the Wastes. The tribes include the Graelings, Vargs and the Aeslings.
The southern tribes are somewhat milder than their brethren to the north. They raid and plunder like all norsemen do, but they also sometimes trade and have other peaceful interactions with Kislev and the Empire. However, if the Gods call for war, they will march south with the rest of the Chaos Warhost, bent on destruction and conquest. The southern tribes include the Bjornlings, Skaelings, Baersonlings and Sarls.
The Norse have a classed society. At the very bottom are the thralls, slaves who have been captured in raids. They are men, women and children who are forced into a hard life of servitude and labour. Most end their lives as a sacrifice to curry the favour of the Gods. When a new Longship is finished, the norsemen line the approach to the sea with screaming thralls, to crush the life out of them as the warriors push the boat into the waters.
Next on the rung are the peasants. They are the Norsemen who lack skill or ability at arms. Reviled as inferior and weak, they are relegated to serving the Jarls as builders, farmers and craftsmen.
The ideal person in Norscan culture is the young, virile slayer. He's courageous, skilled, and tough. He is the warrior. He is the hunter, the defender, the raider, and the hero. He fights not only for honour and glory but for the respect of his ancestors and the favour of the Dark Gods.
Seers advise the Jarls in matters pertaining to the will of their ancestors and the Gods. It falls to these priveledged men and women to interpret the movements of the Winds of Magic, the whispers of Daemons, and the spirits of fallen warriors to guide the Jarl to choose the proper course for his tribe. Vitki fulfil a role similar to the Seers, but are steeped in the arcane traditions of the Ruinous Powers. With a word, a Vitki can order any peasant's death, and thralls die by the scores to fuel the dark magic needed to perform their rituals.
The Jarls are great warriors who are loyal to their king, and get warriors, land, treasure and thralls in return.
Though Norse society is patriarchal, women have a stronger place in these lands than many might suspect. A woman may own property and can become a Jarl if her husband dies and has no male offspring. It is up to the woman to decide whom she weds and if she divorces. Whilst women are expected to stay behind during raids and wars, it falls to them to protect the home, so most are competent, if not out-right skilled, warriors.
Culture
The Norsemen have a rich society with traditions passed down intact since the time of Sigmar. They are free spirits who form a nation built upon the foundations of honour, loyalty, and respect.
The Norsemen live in two worlds: one is visible, tangible; the other is the world of spirits and Daemons, lying just beyond the senses. They believe what they see around them is the lie, a deception created to test them. Instead, the Spirit World is the truth, and only through the guidance of their mystics and the blessings of their Gods can they penetrate the veil of the senses and peer into the true reality.
Since life as experienced by the senses is a deception, the Norsemen do not cling to life like the other races. They throw themselves into the thick of combat to show their worth to their Gods and their ancestors, all in the hope of receiving a blessing , or to be plucked from the dream in death by one of the shadowy Warrior Hags to join their fellows in the Halls of Glory. Pain, suffering, and other physical maladies are all illusions and are accepted as part of their existence.
A Norseman may only journey to the Realm of the Gods by proving his worth in the dream, and to prove it he must die a glorious death in battle. Those who beg for mercy or cling to the world of the living are found wanting and cursed to to wander the world as disembodied spirits, or worse, fed to the Great Dragon that Squats, where they are reborn as slaves, women, or worse, Old Worlders.
Religion
Norse religion is dynamic and complex, featuring a broad pantheon of Ancestors, Heroes, Daemons, and Gods. The Gods themselves vary from tribe to tribe, but each group of Norsemen embrace a pantheon that reflects four central themes: War, Desire, Decay, and Hope. Norse pantheons rarely feature just a single God per theme, rather they may have several. Instead of a single God of Battle, they might have three: one for wrath, another for death, and a last for excellence in arms.
The Norsemen see themselves as honest men, strong, mighty, and courageous. And for these virtues they thank the Gods. They worship the Gods they do because they see their power in all things, and are vividly reminded of that potency. Southern Gods, like Sigmar, are weak in comparison to the primal forces of life and death represented by their deities. To the Norsemen, the blessings of the Gods (e.g. mutations) are the clearest sign of their power, proving to them that the Gods of the Empire are weak and impotent.