Viking Rowe and Erling Haaland’s blistering runs have influenced the World Cup pop culture and fan celebrations, while England v Norway takes the match back to ancient history – back when it was a colony.
Historian and journalist Joe Durso, who maintains a rival view of history, recalled that Viking Row was a part of England’s history that changed roles.
“Before England colonized anyone, England was colonized by the Vikings,” Durso says in his Insta post, reenacting the rowing of Norwegian football fans who did it. “Viking rowing is a very new thing, the athletes, the fans do it. But the idea of Vikings pulling up their sails and going ashore to fight is ancient. The most famous time was in England,” he says.
In 793 Viking longships landed on the island of Lindisfarne off the Northumbrian coast in northeast England. “It has a famous monastery that has been there for centuries. The island has a role in the zombie movie ’28 Years Later’. The sackings were brutal, the monks were beheaded, some were taken as slaves. It terrified Europe. The fiery dragon symbol on the sea was everywhere,” Durso says. “One report said that the monastery was stained with the blood of God’s priests. It was feared that this would happen all the time. And nowhere on the coast of Europe would be safe from these evil warriors. It was the first Viking Age. You wouldn’t describe it as a colony. Because they just raided, looted, the rest.”
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A century later it was literally colonized and plundered. “England was colonized through the back door,” says Durso. “In 902 AD, the Norsemen were thrown out of Dublin, Ireland, across the Irish Sea and landed at Wirral, near Liverpool. It’s a region, a colony, a town. Norse names are still on the Wirral map – Thingwall, Irby, West Kirby. You have the same word as Thingwall, Norse parliament.”
Durso adds that there is DNA evidence that many families in Wirral have Scandinavian blood. There is a field near Tranmere Rovers, Lake District, which means a sandy beach with cranes. “Fall, beck, tarn – these are Norse words – meaning parts of the physical landscape. In the Lake District, a fell is a hill,” Durso said. “Viking raids, colonies – Norway’s great influence on England. This row shows. The quarter is a rematch.”
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‘The row is stupid’ – Norway fan
A Killjoy fan sat in the Norwegian crowd but refused to queue. Emil Aners Lapen, a smiling fan, told Sky News he thought the celebration was “stupid”. The one-man protest called it annoying, a copycat and factually incorrect.
“I wanted to show that it was annoying and that I got my message across,” he said, speaking to Sky when it became a meme. “Their song says they crossed the Atlantic. Vikings don’t row, they went across the Atlantic. Some Vikings row across rivers and all that. But you can’t cross oceans,” he said wistfully.
Lappen was also annoyed that fans wanted a similar impact to Icelandic Klap. “Changing the motion doesn’t mean it’s different from the Viking clap,” he said, questioning the originality, adding that he’s not going to sit still and line up anywhere.
Halland Love of Wonderwall Noel
England have lit up the World Cup with a rousing rendition of Oasis’ Wonderwall, while Noel Gallagher, one half of the famous brothers, will have a tough Saturday night. Born to Irish parents, he considers himself Irish and is also an avid Manchester City fan. They have previously supported Holland and Norway.
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He told talkSPORT that previous England squads filled with Man Utd players made him indifferent to the national team. He said he would go after John Stones, the tall Man City man this time. “I’d love to see John there. John is my mate and he’s coming to the end of his time at City. Gue looks as strong as ever (he’s injured), and Erling, I mean we’re all Norway fans when he plays,” he said, leaving his allegiance unclear.
He was in the Spain vs Belgium match on Friday.
Many admirers correct Lappin’s statement that many ancient ships ran in a row on three levels, when winds were absent, i.e. during depressions.