A real Ragnarok plunged Scandinavia into years of darkness and killed up to half the people of Norway and Sweden, new research has found.
According to Vikings, Ragnarok is the end of the world, when the Norse gods die in an apocalyptic final battle against demons and giants.
And the torment of Ragnarok begins with the Fimbulvetr – a three-year winter that ends almost all human life.
Now new research has shown that the Scandinavian world really did experience such a long winter and that its impact on human life was devastating.
By analysing tree rings, scientists from the National Museum of Denmark have proven that a real climate catastrophe occurred 1,500 years ago.
Morten Fischer Mortensen, a senior researcher at the museum, said it was the result of volcanic eruptions that shrouded the world in a veil of ash and sulphur.
He said: ‘I can imagine it must have been terrifying – the volcanic eruptions happen so far from Europe that no one knows what causes them.
‘Then you realise – perhaps overnight – that the sun is hidden behind a veil, and that it’s not warm and yellow, but cold and bluish.
A real Ragnarok plunged Scandinavia into years of darkness and killed up to half the people in Norway and Sweden, new research shows (artist’s impression)
By analyzing tree rings, scientists from the National Museum of Denmark have proven that a real climate disaster occurred 1,500 years ago
“There were no shadows even in the middle of the day, and there were no stars in the sky for more than a year.”
To complete their research, scientists analyzed 650 pieces of oak wood from the period between 300 and 800 AD.
They found that tree rings became dramatically smaller from 536 AD, and even smaller between 539 and 541 AD.
Mortensen described the impact on civilization.
He continues: “Based on our research into the tree rings, we can see that there were really bad growing conditions for many years, which must have been the case for the farmers’ crops as well.
“We are in a period where everyone lives on and off the land and is 100% self-sufficient.
‘So if the harvest fails for several years in a row, that is really crucial.’
For many, it was insurmountable.
Morten Fischer Mortensen, a senior researcher at the museum, said the event was the result of volcanic eruptions that shrouded the world in a veil of ash and sulfur.
Photo shows a depiction of the gods’ final battle during Ragnarok by Johannes Gehrts
Mortensen said: ‘Landscape reconstructions based on pollen analyses show that some areas were deserted and that forests were scattered across the deserted fields.
‘Power structures have changed and in Denmark we have many large gold deposits that have been interpreted as offerings to the gods to bring back the sun.
“Many settlements ceased to exist and it is easy to imagine that hunger, famine and disease claimed the lives of a large part of the population.”
He added: ‘In Norway and Sweden, researchers think that up to half the population died, and it is not inconceivable that the same thing happened in Denmark.
‘I almost get shivers when I see these small, narrow growth rings, because I know how much sorrow, death and misfortune they represent.’
Furthermore, the resemblance to the Fimbulvetr from the Ragnarok legend cannot be a coincidence.
Mortensen: ‘It is remarkable that the oak trees have almost no summer growth for three summers in a row.
‘The myth of Ragnarok begins with a three-year winter, with no summer in between.
‘Of course, we cannot prove a direct connection between the climate event and the myth, but there is a strong correlation.
‘It is therefore conceivable that elements of what people have experienced have found their way into the myths and are therefore an echo of earlier experiences.’
It has not been determined which volcanoes caused the long winter.
But candidates have been proposed in Papua New Guinea, El Salvador, Indonesia, Iceland and North America.
In any case, the disaster was not limited to the Scandinavian world; climate models show a global temperature drop of several degrees.
Written sources from as far apart as the Roman Empire and China testify to the change in climate.
It has even been suggested that the drop in temperature increased the fertility of crops on the Arabian Peninsula, increasing food supplies and contributing to the Islamic conquests.
For the Danes, however, the winter has left a different – less dramatic – legacy.
Mortensen explains: ‘Danes are very fond of rye bread.
‘Rye is a cereal that arrived very late in the country and only became common in the centuries after the climate crisis.
‘At the same time, rye can survive with the fewest hours of sunshine and can grow in relatively poor soil.
‘Therefore, it is likely that rye is a crop that we adopt as a protection against bad times; a crop that has the best chance of yielding returns in the bad years.’
Mortensen and his colleagues published their research in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
DID THE VIKINGS DISCOVER NORTH AMERICA?
Some experts believe that Vikings discovered North America nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage to the New World.
The site, discovered in an area called Point Rosee in southern Newfoundland, is 400 miles (643 km) southwest of a Viking settlement found in the 1960s at L’Anse aux Meadows.
Now, an expert claims to have found a mysterious location known as “Hop.”
Based on Viking descriptions, three key things identify this mystical settlement: an abundance of grapes, salmon, and canoes made from animal hides.
One archaeologist claims that the only place that fits this description is the Miramichi-Chaleur Bay area in northeastern New Brunswick, Canada.
This would be the third Viking settlement found in North America, although it may be difficult to prove this once and for all.
The Vikings are believed to have first discovered America by accident in the autumn of 986 AD, according to a historical source, the Saga of the Greenlanders.
It tells how Bjarni Herjolfsson stumbled across North America after being blown off course while trying to sail from Norway to Greenland but failing to make landfall.
Inspired by his stories, another Viking, Leif Ericsson, set out on his own expedition and found North America in 1002.
He found it to be a fertile land, rich in grapes and berries, and named it Vinland.
Ericsson also mentioned two other “lands” on the North American coast – one with flat rocks, which he called Helluland, and one that was flat and forested, called Markland.