Background of your Character

[fysaga]

What is this about ?

Simple. Describe your character you made for Vikingr and his story, no matter if only some paragraphs or a long story, his ancestry, how he came about to fight and so on. This has already been done in part by some clans but none I know of described its members own character thorough. Hopefully this will further the immersion in Vikingr as to not only have a name but also a background to your character. He now has not only a historical name and favourite weapons, he now has a place in the Viking Age.

I got this idea by reading some of the Clans threads, their telling of the forefathers and history of their group and thought it would also be an interesting concept for people who havent joined a clan or dont intend to do so. Naturally this thread doesnt exclude those who are part of a clan, I encourage everyone who read this to join in and tell their story. Maybe also the story of your characters father ? His fathers father ? What about his maternal line ? The possibilities to get creative and make a believable, thought out, enjoyable character set in this time are big.

Vikingr is set in the late 10th and 11th century and the five factions present give the opportunity to include a lot of cultures, even those not directly represented in the game. A character who is meant to be a Slav for example doesnt has to be a Rus. He could be a Wend for example, or a Pole who joined a crew of rowers. Others could be of Frankish origin, or Frisian, just to give a few examples. The forums have given the lay person a lot of tools to work with and everyone should be able to find a period and linguistical specific name for his character. I will also try to provide help if questions arise, note though that I am mostly learned about the Frankish/German world of the time. There are many other learned persons in this community though, whose understanding and ability to put history into context are far greater than mine and I hope they will support this with their knowledge.

If there are any mistakes in what I have written, either grammatical or content, please correct me. 

 

[fysaga]

Reserved for my WIP background 

 

[HannesFury]

Post reserved for, in fact, no reason at all.

 

[Ragnarr Jarl Jomsborg]

Too lazy.

 

[hrotha]

Guys, if you're not interested, don't post.

I never thought much about the backstory of my character, largely because I didn't want to pinpoint when exactly he lived. However, some time ago I did mention that Hroðbeorht was born in Westminster, where he learned boccræft (reading, writing and literature in Old English and Latin, presumably). Maybe he started his training at a monastery? Other than that, his family is supposed to be of relatively high social standing, I guess, judging by their position in the household of a cynges þegn, but otherwise he should be pretty typical of the þegn class and there wouldn't be anything extraordinary in his background.

 

[rapier17]

I would write about the glorious life of Reeve Léofwine, þegn of the Rape* of Poyningas, but as he's now an old man in the time of Vikingr, living out his days in his hall in Suthseaxe, I won't. Leave the old man be, with his retinue from his days leading the Lewes Fyrd in to battle.

As for Hrútr gylðir? Well, maybe a tale for another time.

*To explain: Sussex is the only part of England that used the term 'Rape' to apply to large divisions of land, a tradition that carried on into the 17th/18th century - for example the Rape of Hastings.

 

[MarchHare]

Oh, I like this idea. However, seeing as I'm new to the mod (I played for the first time the week before the Maldon event, and that was because I signed up and I didn't want to suck too much. Not that it mattered, because I did suck), and I play mainly the gárberend class, or its equivalent, I don't know how I could write a background to my character.

I suppose he should be a common man, of low birth, a simple ceorl. A boy just turned man, whose main worries would be the harvest and little more. Of course, that's not so easy, and the times he has to live are harsh. Sometimes, the king, the ealdorman or the thegn calls him to the fyrd, and he goes because, while the harvest is important, there can't be harvest if the enemy burns the lands. So he goes, with an axe and a battered shield, hoping to God that he will be spared when the shieldwalls clash, that the enemy will be clumsy or just too drunk to fight. And then, when the battle is over, he might take something from the field to make his life easier. Something made of gold or silver. And after that, he will return to his homestead, and will take care of the harvest until the king or the ealdorman calls him again. And that's the life of Æstán.

So, in the end, my character is just a farmer. At least, for now. Maybe, after I play a few more events, I think of something to make him somewhat special. For now, he's just a simple ceorl and nothing more. I apologize if the writing wasn't exactly good. I'm not a good writer, but I enjoy these things, so I try to come up with something mildly decent.

 

[fysaga]

Well I wanted to stimulate some thoughts and sort of brainstorming for interesting backgrounds. Currently my character is continental Saxon but his paternal line traces back to an aristocratic family of holders of benefices and honours in the region of Rhinefranken. So far I thought they settled in one of the marks which formed due to the Saxon and later Slavic threats. They lost all of their allodial and granted holdings, aswell as their honoures in the conflicts of the later Carolingians, siding with the wrong people (for example after Louis the Pious ascended the throne again) and because of that the earlier history is mostly a shadow. In Saxony they recovered as a household and extended their familia in the region, gaining property along the way. They were favoured by the greats again and I think I will even make a maternal connection to the Liudolfingers.

As for my character he will be a victim of a feud of his kin and has to flee north, being young and having lived as a household miles so far. He often had contact with the Elbe Slavs and Danes, be it through conflict or trade, so he even learned some of their traditions. Thats what I have so far. I am not quite sure how high standing I will make him and his familia.

 

[HannesFury]

Spoiler

Guys, if you're not interested, don't post.

I never thought much about the backstory of my character, largely because I didn't want to pinpoint when exactly he lived. However, some time ago I did mention that Hroðbeorht was born in Westminster, where he learned boccræft (reading, writing and literature in Old English and Latin, presumably). Maybe he started his training at a monastery? Other than that, his family is supposed to be of relatively high social standing, I guess, judging by their position in the household of a cynges þegn, but otherwise he should be pretty typical of the þegn class and there wouldn't be anything extraordinary in his background.

    Hush, I'm thinking on it! Was being jocular.

 

[Nodosa]

((Well, here i go))

Aldwyn was born into a poor Saxon family. As his family worked on the farm, Aldwyn went to the house of God, the church. He learn how to read, write and had a bright future. Now a young man, he was ready to become a priest, but the tides of war has stopped him. Hearing about the foul and heathen warriors from the sea. He picked a Shield and Spear, ready to battle against the invaders. He is willing to protect his land, his home, and God!

((Well i just made this in about 5-7 min so if its bad dont judge me ))

 

[Mateus416]

Muhammad Jabul  al Wahhabi Akbar was born in the steppes of the syrian mountains when his family was killed by a sea Viking raid on their vilage when he was only 40 years old. He died on that fateful day. He spent the rest of his life seeking vengeance against the sea Vikings from ostsvardkelmhungen who took his family from himself and spreading the word of the prophet Mohammad.

RIP in peace

 

[fysaga]

Muhammad Jabul  al Wahhabi Akbar was born in the steppes of the syrian mountains when his family was killed by a sea Viking raid on their vilage when he was only 40 years old. He died on that fateful day. He spent the rest of his life seeking vengeance against the sea Vikings from ostsvardkelmhungen who took his family from himself and spreading the word of the prophet Mohammad.

RIP in peace

Everyone knows that the guys raiding the Syrian mountain steppes where Normans, not mere Vikings. Check your sources. 

 

[fysaga]

((Well, here i go))

Aldwyn was born into a poor Saxon family. As his family worked on the farm, Aldwyn went to the house of God, the church. He learn how to read, write and had a bright future. Now a young man, he was ready to become a priest, but the tides of war has stopped him. Hearing about the foul and heathen warriors from the sea. He picked a Shield and Spear, ready to battle against the invaders. He is willing to protect his land, his home, and God!

((Well i just made this in about 5-7 min so if its bad dont judge me ))

Well, if I may, I´d like to give you a few pointers as starting help:

- Where was he born exactly ? Is he continental (modern Germany) or Anglo-Saxon ? Where was he born in either region ?

- What was his fathers name ? You can even model your ingame name after this.

- What kind of warrior is he ? Your descripition makes it seem as if he was a member of a general fyrd (levy) but there are other possibilities aswell, like the select fyrd, or as retinue of an noble, referred to as member of a hird. This would make you a lesser nobleman though and you would be an thane, if I understood it correctly (anglo saxon history is not my area of interest).

Just for the beginning I hope this helps.

@MarchHare,

That was good already. Maybe you could come to more wealth due to your collecting of loot, resulting in you becoming even richer (if I understood correctly you already own land). Maybe you could become a thane yourself ? And the same as above, any idea where he may exactly live, what his fathers name was.

@rapier,

Please do go on, with either character.

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

[Nyah]

Who would have guessed it 

 

[gloatsneer]

Hey great initiative!

I agree with Hróþa that it is wise to stay vague about time and place.

Æþelfriþ and Æðelþryð were the children of a minor landowner, related sideways to the tribe of the Fyrnings by some ancient lineage. Since their parents died in his early childhood, the estate withered and now just four other farmsteads are connected to Æþelfriðs house, barely the five hides required of a thegn.
Ælfweardeswyrþe, their home, is a quiet little building on a hill. There's poplars down by the stream, and a big lime tree in front of the entrance. Honey bees have their own courts at the south slope, and their sweet bee-hoard is the only gold in Ælfweardeswyrþe. Thick pleated hedges are the settlements only protection. A handful of people live there, and all need to work very hard to maintain their independence. Æþelfrið copes with the burden of responsibility, something which he never learned and he has a hard time to fulfill it on his own. Luckily, there's good and strong people in his home.
Fortunes changed, for better of for worse, when the steward of the Fyrnings called upon Æþelfrið to fulfill his duty in war. The noble house suffered much, and at times, all thegns were required to gather arms. But the muster also brought opportunities, and as Æþelfrið travelled increasingly frequent to the hall of the Fyrning elders, he was welcomed with friendship. War is a nasty affair, but there is also companionship, stories and music.

To be continued... (?)

 

[Gibby]

I would write about the glorious life of Reeve Léofwine, þegn of the Rape* of Poyningas, but as he's now an old man in the time of Vikingr, living out his days in his hall in Suthseaxe, I won't. Leave the old man be, with his retinue from his days leading the Lewes Fyrd in to battle.

As for Hrútr gylðir? Well, maybe a tale for another time.

*To explain: Sussex is the only part of England that used the term 'Rape' to apply to large divisions of land, a tradition that carried on into the 17th/18th century - for example the Rape of Hastings.

Do it!

 

[Cynfar]

Irving of the Dál Airt:

Irving Mac Conall was born to the former Toiseach Conall Mac Alpin. He died fighting off a viking raid, when his son was 23 years old. Aedh, the brother of Conall denied taking leadership of the Dál Airt and so Irving became directly the leader.
As a child Irving used to live a simple life, as most people did living in the western highlands of Alba. Most of the time he would work the hide of animals or help harvesting the fields, but sometimes his uncle or his father would take him hunting.
At the age of 16 Irving first fought a viking. The northerman coming from the Orkney island had a two handed axe and the Toiseach's son just had to dodge one attack and he was able to stab his scian through his throat.
Over the next years Irving would often accompany his father and uncle to fight off vikings and even saxons.
When his father died he promised to his people, that he wouldnt stop fighting until the last heathen has fallen and the last saxon coming up to Alba surrendered.

I wish I could add kind Off more, but since there isnt a real setting there isnt much to tell.

 

[fysaga]

So yeah, abandoned thread by me much ?  Sorry for my laziness, I promise to make up for it. Also please take notice that I kept some free room for when all this takes place. This why I dont give names for the Duke. Also, the bastard daughter of Henry and the feud are purely fictional, as most of the characters are.

Liebger was born to Heriman, Loricatus in the service of the Duke of Saxony. Heriman had four children: Liebger, Henry, Oda and Heriman. Heriman had married a bastard daughter of Henry I., brother of Otto I., though as a bastard she didnt bring any property with her. It still was an advantageous marriage, as it brought him closer to the familia of the Liudolfinger, though it was a vertical relation. Heriman received, when he was becoming an old man, honores from his Lord in form of allodial property. It was not much, an estate and several peasants, free and unfree with their possessions, south of Quedlinburg. The land was good but poor harvest years brought him into the direct service of his Lord again. Liebger was named after his grandfather of the paternal line, an Loricatus with uncertain social background.

Liebger was the oldest of four children and as such he was the heir to his fathers allodial land, as property couldnt be divided in the land of the Saxons. When he grew older, his father often took him with him to the court of the Duke, where he learned fighting, riding, was taken to the hunt and learned of the known world. Early people recognized the strength of the boy. On the estates of his father, which grew through benefices, he often went woodworking, sometimes even in the Harz, the mountains south of his fathers property. He felt bound to this environment, to the forest and its animals. In the nearby poor monastery which was sponsored by his father he also learnt reading and his brother Henry received an even more intense literary education as he was destined for a career in the church and he should go to the cathedral chapter of Halberstadt. He also learnt of the traditions and some of the language of the Slav tribes when he accompanied his father who went with the Duke eastwards to fight or receive tribute form the slavic tribes. In one such campaigns he also took part in his first battle, when he was already a man.

This all should change. The Duke of Saxony was a Billunger, and a feud erupted into more and more violence and also took hold of their subordinates. His father had died already when it became clear that Liebgers father was on the losing side of the conflict, and in consequence Liebger was refused the benefices of his father and his property was confiscated. Barely could he flee his pursuers. With him he only had an axe, cloak and clothing, gold worth some solidi and his horse. He was alone. His family scattered. Henry was already on his way to become a canon, but also fled to Mainz and the Archbishop there. Oda was married and far away. Heriman was taken in the service of a Franconian Lord, after he left the paternal property as youngest son. It was Liebger after which the hounds of the victorious Billunger were. He had to flee north, his destiny was the well known Hedeby. Maybe he had to leave the old continent altogether.