The Saxon kings of Britain were avid falconers at the dawn of the Viking Age. Germanic tribes were using falconry by the 6 th century A.D. With the help of such birds, a Viking could make a fine dinner of meat and foul he ordinarily would not have even known were there. Their fantastic eyesight and astounding dive speeds (sometimes in excess of 200 mph) make them some of nature's most perfect predators. They are highly trainable (with skill and patience), and they have the size and strength to retrieve game worth eating. It would seem ravens were pleased to follow Odin but quickly lose interest in humans.įalcons, hawks, and even eagles were a much better match. One reason for this may be that ravens rely on their complex social structures and are not solitary predators like falcons, eagles, or hawks. Ravens are exceptionally intelligent, good hunters, and capable of learning, but humankind has seldom been able to make consistent use of these magnificent, mysterious birds. With the common knowledge of Odin's two raven pets (Huginn and Muninn), who were given the magical ability to speak about what they saw and hear, it makes perfect sense that Vikings were intrigued and excited about the idea of training large birds of prey to hunt for them. According to the Landnámabók, Floki, the 9 th century Viking, discovered Iceland by releasing three ravens and following their flight. Ravens were symbols of Odin, and imagery of their feasting on the bodies of the battle-slain are ubiquitous in Norse poetry. The Vikings employed falconry and enjoyed its benefits, and they played a large role in its spread and prestige.īy far the bird most associated with the Vikings is the raven. But it was in the Middle Ages that falconry had its real heyday and shifted from a clever means of supplementing the diet to a true sport of kings. The techniques of training these natural-born killers to catch and retrieve other birds and small mammals spread over Eurasia in the centuries that followed. There are references to falconry in Assyria and China, both going back to the 7 th century B.C. One of the most impressive and dramatic applications of this principle is falconry – using birds of prey to catch game. People have made up for some of the limitations of our species by harnessing the strengths of others. Horses enabled us to cover ground, oxen increased our work capacity, and dogs helped us hunt or herd. In the long struggle for survival, humankind has found help by forming relationships of symbiotic cooperation with animals.
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