Viking Revival - Sweden

Sweden

The term Viking was popularized with positive connotations, by Erik Gustaf Geijer at the beginning of the 19th century. His poem The Viking (Vikingen) appeared in the first issue of the Swedish periodical, Iduna . The word Viking was taken to refer to romanticized, heroic, idealized Norse seafarers and warriors, who had very little to do with the historical Viking culture. This renewed interest of the Romanticism of a historic past had political implications: A myth about a glorious and brave past was used to try to give the Swedes the courage to retake Finland, which had been lost in 1809 during the war between Sweden and Russia. The Geatish Society, of which Geijer was a member, popularized this ideal to a great extent. Another author who had great influence on the perception of the Vikings was Esaias Tegnér, another member of the Geatish Society who wrote a modern version of Frithiofs Saga, which became widely popular in the Nordic countries, England the United States and Germany.