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History weaves its influence into popular culture via many avenues …
Among the strangest is the Viking affect on Star Trek, particularly the Next Generation.

Since that series found the airwaves, I’ve often wondered if one or even more of their writers were descended from peoples who endured raids in the North and then used this show to exact their version of revenge.

I’ve always been interested in the influence that the Viking era had on western civilization, which is considerable. Listed here are just a few examples:

1. Vikings come up with first governing legislature of ‘common’ citizens in history, calling their parliament a thing, which is also in which the English language derived that word.

2. Viking law was the very first in Europe, at least, to conduct trials having a jury from the accused’s peers.

3. It had been virtually Five centuries before any other culture would design a spead boat that could travel as swiftly like a Viking dragonship (and let’s remember that those ships sailed to North America 500 years before Columbus did).

4. Four of the seven days of the week — within the English language — are named after Viking gods:

a. Tuesday, for Tyr – the god of truth,

b. Wednesday, for Odin – the ‘Allfather’ of Viking gods,

c. Thursday, for Thor – the ‘thunder’ god, and

d. Friday, for Frigg – Odin’s first wife.

(Some scholars argue the latter is known as for Frey, the god of fertility, but I’ll stick with the Oxford Dictionary version, which gives the honor to Frigg.)

5. William the Conqueror would be a Viking descendant; enough said.
Vikings dominated England for 300 years, a lot of their language influenced English. The suffix ‘-by’ may be the Viking word for ‘village,’ hence city names for example Rugby and Grimsby, to mention only two. The suffixes ‘-bury’ and ‘-berry’ are Anglicized spellings from the word ‘berg’ (pr: ‘berry’), the Viking word for ‘mountain,’ hence names for example Shrewsbury, Queensbury and Shaftsbury refer to nearby landmarks.

Elsewhere, the Slavic peoples’ reputation for Vikings was ‘Rus,’ meaning ‘rowing men.’ Viking dominance of the Slavic river systems was so prevalent that the region became known as ‘Russia.’ In France, King Charles the Simple am fed up with Viking attacks on Paris that he ceded them land in return for a cessation of raids. The French word for Viking was ‘Norman,’ and also the ceded region became known as Normandy. The Viking chieftain who accepted these terms was the famous Rolf the Walker (so named due to his height, as no horse was big enough to carry him); Rolf, incidentally, was the forebear of William the Conqueror.
Anyway, you get the idea. The Vikings might be gone, but their mark on our lives, even today, is indelible.

Still, it’s mildly surprising to see the Viking stamp on one of the most popular science fiction number of modern times. Not surprisingly, their ‘presence’ appears to be personnified through the villains.

Take the Klingons. Until they became uneasy allies of the Federation, these were the scourge of this galactic quadrant which bordered ‘ours.’ Their interstellar warriors’ ultimate honor ended up being to die bravely and loudly in battle. Well, in older days, which was every Viking’s ultimate honor, too. Such bravery was viewed as the only method to earn an eternity in Valhalla, Odin’s castle of the ‘chosen’ slain, where just the most valiant would reside forevermore in Viking nirvana, featuring its fighting all day and partying through the night. I am unable to recall the episode, but it seems the Klingons believed that would be a fantastic way to while away the afterlife, themselves.

Those guys were holdovers from the original Star Trek series and the Next Generation writers didn’t have the license to ensure they are a lot more sinister than that. So, they went farther into space to find two other Viking caricatures.

One was the Ferengi. The sporadic Trekkie may think these phones be inspired by Shakespeare’s stereotypical ‘Shylock’ in the Merchant of Venice, however the studied Viking historian notes a deeper connection of names. Vikings were known to become traders as much as fighters, and were very hard bargainers in every feeling of the term. Ultimately, the King of Byzantium (which became Constantiople and is now known as Istanbul) capitalized on both of those traits and created a regiment of Viking mercenaries to become their own elite storm troopers, known as his Varangian Guard. The foundation of this title would be a Viking term that referred to a ‘sharer of spoils,’ and Varangians indeed became the best-paid troops of time. Their ultimate goal was great wealth, and most of these first got it in a single way or any other.

All of the the truly amazing Vikings, Harald Hardraada — who also reigned like a great Norwegian king — stayed as a Varangian. Legend said he stood seven feet tall, probably because his physical stature was so that he actually did tower over his adversaries. This claim was, without doubt, ‘stretching’ reality a bit, but he was much more typical to look at for any Varangian than are the Trek race they inspired!
Comparisons between Varangians and Ferengi might be subtle, but there’s no mistaking the connection. Nothing was subtle, though, about the Trek writers’ next and many ominous incarnation of Viking stereotypes — the Borg.

The name is Nordic. ‘Borg’ (actually pronounced ‘bor-ee’ in Old Norse) is the Viking word for ‘fortress,’ which conjures a precise vision of their spacecraft.

Vikings fought like a collective. In one famous instance, during among those annual sieges of Paris, in france they king du jour wanted to negotiate funds. He was quoted as asking, “Who is your leader?” The fact is one of the most famous in Viking lore: “We’re all equals!”
Sound familiar, Trekkies?

Vikings maintained for assimilation, too. However, theirs was the alternative from the Borg. Vikings who settled in another country adapted to the local customs. William, for example, spoke French. Kiev would be a Viking outpost and the first ‘royal’ family there was of Viking blood. Their offspring took Slavic names and spoke the local language. Yet, as I stated earlier, the Viking influence did remain. There is just one Viking empire — King Knut’s arena of Scandinavia and also the British Isles lasted for 3 decades — but traces of Viking life and culture spanned all of Europe.

During the Viking era, nearly every mass prayer inside a European church was prefaced by ‘Deliver us, O Lord, in the wrath of the Northmen.’ While I do wonder if that’s how Guinan (played by Whoopi Goldberg) and her planet prayed (they were one of the Borg’s conquests), it’s clear that’s the way the Federation felt. Before the Enterprise found a way late in the series, resistance was futile.

That’s clearly more than the Trek’s writers could say. They couldn’t and didn’t resist taking their liberties with Viking lore. In spite of their efforts, though, probably the most noble of Viking deeds remains entrenched within the Star Trek universe, given homage before every episode. Perhaps this is the ultimate irony, because in an era when other cultures feared to venture beyond view of their coastlines, the Vikings — as evidenced by their voyages to the ” new world ” in 1000 AD — boldly went where no man choose to go before.

You will find three talk shows that I watch on television, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. (I now also watch The Colbert Report. with Stephen Colbert.)

Stewart occurs too late for me personally, however i can catch it several times the following day together with Colbert.

Locally, Leno starts at 10:35 p.m. and Letterman comes on at 11:05 p.m. Why they are available on at these times instead of 10:00 and 11:00 is really a mystery to me. I would just like to say it really tees me off. I guess I’m picky, picky!

Jay Leno

I watch Leno the first 30 minutes of his show after which Letterman the very first 30 minutes of his show.

Sometimes I change backwards and forwards. Clickity, Click!

I usually don’t stay up for the second half of Letterman unless he has a guest which hits them back with me.

Leno has (do not put derogatory remark here) writers. His jokes sometimes stink. But he has that funny little-boy humor that gets him through the monologue. Occasionally, all of the jokes are funny, but not that often. When he finds a stinker, he points it out as being exactly that, in most cases receives a laugh.

It is the albatross round his neck.

Sometimes, Leno’s orchestra leader, Kevin, saves him during the dialogue. Kevin sometimes destroys him. Leno is a good sport and shakes it off.

I do not think there’s enough malice, selfishness, anger, etc., in Leno to make him a great comic, but he usually has got the job done.

Sometimes the show’s skits appear and some times they do not, however i like skits and hope for the best.

Sometimes he’s a report from outside by a person who might be funny. He’d a couple of young ladies a few years ago who have been fun to watch. I think they are raising babies, one in Oklahoma.

His recent surveys haven’t been as funny.

There’s a rule in the industry that says:

When not funny, it’s too damned long!

Okay!

There is NO such rule!

I made it up.

I had been just trying to show that I’m an expert about this subject.

Leno is not nosy enough or interested enough in the quest to be considered a good interviewer. He never gets you into the nuts and bolts of his guest.

Leno could be more effective if he’d simply tell a guest, “Let’s see. You were born in Kentucky?”

Or,

“I heard that you simply wanted to be a chiropracter whenever you were just a little kid.”

He loves to sniff the ladies and say they are pretty. (Letterman performs this “sniffing” too, however in a less intrusive way.)

I love it when Jay has animals. He’s very good with them. He always goes beyond what is required.

He is also good when his fellow comedians seriously. That is his bailiwick stemming from his continuous standup comedy routines off set.

His sidewalk interviews and headlines are always worth watching.

He is the King of the night time with a big audience.

David Letterman

David Letterman is an old man with a youngster. He’s had coronary bypass surgery. We know he’s human.

Letterman doesn’t depend on the monologue. He tells 2 or 3 jokes, one about rats or squirrels as well as their nuts, and that is that. Orchestra leader, Paul, like Kevin on the Leno show, adlibs and either screws up or reinforces the monologue.

Letterman cant wait to get at his table and from there you do not know what’s going to happen.

Letterman uses facial and verbal antics to get attention. He throws pencils and cards round the studio. The other night a flaming man ran through the studio as did the New York Marathon winners. He had a bear that they put away every night which is now in hibernation. He plays “Will it Float,” drops things off buildings, fools around with the diner owner next door, and often terrorizes the neighborhood by jumping motorcycles on the street.

Letterman talks to the crowd almost as much ast Leno does, but he has “Know Your Cuts of Meat,” etc., to add interest. Sometimes his guest includes a trick or tries to fool the band having a song.

I have a song which i want to trick the band with. It’s “Once I Went in Swimmin’.”

Letterman is an extremely good interviewer but not as good as Jack Paar or Johnny Carson. He has deeper questions than Leno. I have only seen him dumbfounded by one quest. (Paris Hilton has something missing that helps most people to reply to questions rather than just sitting there saying, Duhhhh.)

Letterman never forgets his “Top Ten List.” The following is my list for that show:

How come David Letterman ALWAYS wear white socks?

1. He has jungle rot from WW II.

2. He hates to consider matching socks in the dark.

3. He doesn’t want to forget his “Country Pumpkin” roots.

4. His brother is a male nurse having a large clothing allowance.

5. It helps him hide within the cotton field from the revenuers, besides he’s a Chicago White Sox fan.

6. He is an avid Whitetail Deer hunter.

7. He works a night job in a bakery.

8. He thinks he’s Frosty the Snowman.

9. His great grandmother wore white socks and that is how he remembers her.

And also the 10th reason why David Letterman wears white sox is:

10. He hopes to try out for the next Mickey-Mouse-type Disney Character.

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart has a cynical humor that keeps his young audience laughing. Sideline characters provide skits to add to the fun. I like Samantha, but she will be too vulgar (as are others) and my wife makes me switch the channel.

Stewart also has a guest and also the interview is generally serious.

Politicians, on the show, sometimes like to clown around and things funny. (They are in danger of getting clobbered by Jon’s insights.)

The one thing I do not like about the Daily Show is that it is too short. Adding the Cobert Report has added the additional half hour it needed.

Obviously, Stephen Cobert is really a complete fool as well as on his way to fame and fortune.

We want comedy in this unfunny time.