The True Story of Thorkell the Tall | Vinland Saga

I will be taking you to the 10th and 11th century Scandinavia and England this was a time of everlasting War Strife betrayal and bloodshed Thor called the tool would distinguish himself amongst his fellow Warriors for his immense fighting prowess he would climb the ranks of the yom's Vikings the most Savage and highly skilled Warriors in Scandinavia and arguably the world and would ultimately become their Chief this is his story first let's have a look at his early life Thor call the tool also known a store called the high was said to be born in the late 950s he was the son of strut Harold ayal who ruled over the Danish territory of Scania strut Harold was the son of gorm the old the king of Denmark so thorkel had Royal Blood running through his veins once thorkel had reached adulthood it is said that he stood taller than any man this combined with his Skillet arms would lead him to the legendary order of the yom's Vikings so thorkel would travel to their Castle in yomsburg in hopes of joining the famous mercenaries according to the yom's Viking Saga Thor called The Tool and his brother Sig valdi prepared a trip to yomsburg to see if they could get into legendary order their father said to them it would be wise to join the yoms Vikings to increase their Fame and honor he would also say to them it is now time for you two brothers to put to the test whether you are worth anything as men the yom's Vikings were an order of Viking warriors who had a particular way of life it was not easy to become a yom's viking as only Elite warriors were proven themselves worthy could even join the order a man was required to prove themselves with a feat of strength such as lifting a huge Boulder or they would have to Jewel real yom's Viking and defeat them in single combat to be admitted once admitted you would have to adhere to a strict way of life in order to strengthen your mind and body each yom's Viking was bound to defend his brothers in arms and if they fell on the battlefield or in any other way their deaths would need to be Avenged for their Spirit to be at ease it was forbidden to speak ill of another member behind their backs as this was a sign of cowardice blood feuds between the members were mediated by officers and they were forbidden to show any fear or flee from the battlefield all Spoils of War were to be shared among the members equally and no yom's Viking could be absent from their stronghold for more than three days unless they were on a campaign or had permission from the Brotherhood no women or children were allowed within the Fortress walls and none were to be taken captive any violation of these rules would result in expulsion from the order thorkel would pass his initiation and join the order he would soon have his first taste of battle in the year 986. the yoms Vikings had accepted payment from Harold blue to the Christian whose aim it was to convert Norway and Denmark to Christianity the yoms Vikings were Pagan but they fought for gold not for personal ethics and they joined Harold to fight against a fellow pagan hackens siguration [Music] thorkor looked forward to proving himself in battle in front of his new brothers the order of mercenaries sailed to Norway and could see that they were outnumbered the yoms Vikings and their Allied Forces only had 60 ships while the enemy had 180 thorkor knew that one yam's Viking was worth 10 men and showed no fear before the battle commenced a hail storm would begin the ships would then Ram into each other and the Battle of ojunkovar would begin the battle was fierce and both sides would take many casualties thorkel would fight with a translight fury killing anyone in his path however Sig valdi the new leader of the yom's Vikings order saw the devastation and the amount of Warriors that were being slaughtered and ordered a retreat this resulted in his name being disgraced he would still however remain as the chief of the Young's Vikings thorco would later take part in the largest naval battle of the Viking age the battle of swold in the year 1000 the yoms Vikings Allied themselves with King Olaf trigvason of Norway however in this particular naval battle Sig valdi the chief of the yoms Vikings betrayed King Olaf and told him rumors of a fake planned ambush he then lured him into a real ambush in the Baltic Sea and him and the John's Vikings slaughtered his men King Olaf would then commit suicide by jumping into the sea thorkel's brother Sig valdi and the chief of the yoms Vikings would soon meet his end in England knew that his predecessor had been ridiculed after the battle of ajunkavar due to him breaking his orders sacred Lords of no retreat in the face of the enemy and not allowing his men to die gloriously on the battlefield thorkel also knew of his brother's treachery in the Battle of svold but may have overlooked this as king Olaf wanted to convert the world to Christianity nonetheless the name and reputation of the Sacred order had been tainted by cowardice and treachery Thor Kell however a man of Honor had sworn an oath when he joined the order and the death of Sig valdi his former Lord and brother had to be Avenged in August of the Year 1009 thorkel and his band of Warriors would sail to sandwich in England there they would kill raid and pillage for wealth and for Revenge thokal would eventually March his men to Canterbury where he was paid three thousand pounds of silver by the people of Kent to sway him and his men from attacking stalker and his men would now reside in England instead of returning to their Castle in yomsburg on September the 8th in the year 1011 thorkel returned to Canterbury and laid Siege to the city for three weeks they were eventually able to take the city but they took it by treachery an English man named afmere gave Thor called the information he needed to break into the city soon enough the yoms Vikings would occupy the great and Rich City of Canterbury they would take many hostages of importance such as the Archbishop of Canterbury this however would prove to be a mistake the Archbishop would convert many yom's vikings to Christianity during his captivity creating tension amongst the order the Pagan yoms Vikings and dorkel would soon grow sick of the Archbishop and would demand three thousand pounds of silver for his release the Archbishop however bravely refused to be ransomed and told the people not to pay the order of mercenaries this would further infuriate the yoms Vikings later at a great feast the OMS Vikings would bask in each other's Tales of glory and Triumph and while the Warriors Got increasingly drunk their attention would turn to the Archbishop they began pelting him with the bones of cattle and ham bones then an axeman approached him he smashed the Archbishop on the back of his head with the butt of his ax killing him thorkel was infuriated even though the Archbishop had caused problems he could no longer Ransom him and Dogo had instructed his Warriors to not kill him throughout the yom's Viking occupation of Canterbury they would raid Southern England using Canterbury as a base of operations they eventually halted their attacks when they received a series of Dane gold payments accumulating to around 50 000 pounds of silver Thor Kell would then do something that no leader of the yoms Vikings had ever done before he would Ally himself with the King of England the yom's Vikings at their core were mercenaries so if the price was right they would fight thorkel and his loyal yom's Vikings would enter the service of King ether at the unready and they would soon fight for him in 1013 Swain forkbeard and his son knut would try to invade England with a large Force thokal and his yom's Vikings force would defend England and their new ally King ethelred thorkel's efforts however were in vain as by 1013 the English and yoms Viking resistance had collapsed a Swain had proved himself to be a great General and conquered the whole country thorkau would personally escort ethelred to his Exile in Normandy Swain however the brilliant General and new king of England had a short-lived Reign and died on the 3rd of February 1014 having the title of King of England for only five weeks ethelred the exiled King then saw his opportunity to take his land back he sailed to England and recaptured London knut who was Swain Fork bit's son then decided to withdraw from England by April what happened to Thor Kell and the yon's Vikings after this is unclear but he did leave ethelred's service and sailed to Denmark and swore allegiance to Swain's son Knute knut knew that Thor Kell and the fabled yoms Vikings would be valuable and Powerful allies many of them being the veterans of a hundred battles he even overlooked the fact that they had fought against him and his father which conveys that he knew of Thor Kell's military prowess England seemed to be a different land however a warrior Prince had emerged named Edmund Ironside he was the son of King ether at the unready and was everything a king should have been strong bold and ready to fight and die for his country he would Inspire his men to follow him into the battlefield and this would prove a problem to thoku and Knute nevertheless thorkel and his yoms Vikings would sail to England with the intention of taking it just as knut's father Swain had done a few years earlier over the next few months Walter Newton thorkill conquered most of England king ethered would die in April of 1016 leaving his son Edmund Ironside to take up the defenses of the country soon enough the famed Edmund Ironside and knut would face each other head-on in the hills of sherston on June the 25th the Danish and English armies would Clash door curled at all would summon his yom's Vikings from their 40 ships and would face the enemy in the front line to prove his loyalty to knut the battle was fierce and thoka and his Young's Vikings would fight with such ferociousness that no man could face them vanquishing all Englishmen in their path but Edmund iron inside the warrior Prince would also fight amazingly cutting down many Danish troops and inspiring his men to fight on canoe to nedmund saw the amount of Bloodshed and death and eventually called the battle off and neither side won that day there would be no celebration that night for the deaths on both sides were too many to count later that year on the 16th of October 1016 a decisive battle would take place that would decide the fate of England the Battle of assenden would take place in Essex where knut and thorkel would face off once again against Edmund Ironside during the battle both the English and danish armies fought valiantly but edrich striona the elderman of Mercia betrayed Edmund Ironside and abandoned the battle allowing the Vikings to break through the English lines and annihilate Edmund's forces after the battle the Vikings and knut had such respect for Edmund as a warrior that they allowed him to rule Wessex while knut ruled the rest of the country until one of their deaths in which the Survivor would take control of England thalkill the lord of the yoms Vikings would be made into the yarl of East Anglia for his help and fighting prowess against the English Edmund Ironside would soon die leaving knut to rule the whole of England he would now be known to history as knut the Great around five years later for unknown reasons thorkel had a falling out with knut and was banished from England he would sail to Denmark by 1023 the two men had reconciled Knute perhaps sensing that the legendary thoughtful was too powerful a man to make an enemy of he then granted thorco the eldom of Denmark gave him the role as Foster father for his son Hearth Knute after this Thor Kell completely disappears from history his Fate has been widely speculated most historians believe that he returned to the yom's Viking castle at jonsburg thorkel the tool the lord of the yom's Vikings no doubt lived a full life but it was full of War strife and bloodshed he had been at War for over 30 years in the front lines from 986 to 1016 and never fell in battle he was evidently a worthy leader of the fabled order of the yoms Vikings and has now been immortalized in the anime series of Inland Saga if you enjoyed the video make sure to like subscribe and share and I'll see you all soon for another history profile

Channel: History Profiles

Views: 134,622

Keywords: History Profiles, Lost History, Forgotten History, Interesting History, Thorkell the Tall, Thorfinn, Vinland Saga, Vinland, Vikings, Vikings Valhalla, Viking, Thors, Berserker, Jomsviking, Sweyn Forkbeard, Cnut the Great, Aethelred the Unready, Edmund Ironside, The Last Kingdom, The Northman, Uhtred, Vinland Saga Anime, Thorkell, Strongest Jomsviking, Gorm The Old, Jomsborg, Emma of Normandy, Sigvaldi, Palnatoke, Harald Bluetooth, battle of Hjorungavagr, Battle of Svold, Sherston, Ashdown

Id: DSlDw3Y3bFQ

Length: 15min 17sec (917 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 05 2023