ABC Wednesday, Isle of Man and ancient Imperialism

This Wednesday, March 18 2008, the meme ABC Wednesday, developed by Mrs. Nesbitt, reached the number of 84 continuous weeks, operating in the second year and called round 4. More than hundred blogs from all over the world linked up to Mr. Linky this Wednesday for sharing their posts with the interpretation of the letter I.
Denise had chosen I is for Intelligence this week referring to her mother, but her own intelligence by starting this meme success, is also worth an honor. That´s why I join the meme once more.
At the same day I discovered that the "newest" visitor to my blog came from Isle of Man which was registered with its flag on Flagconter.com on Monday. Later, visitors from Uganda and Honduras have been here, now counting up to 119 different countries that have visited my blog last 8 months.

Being aware of the visitor from Isle of Man I could not avoid feeling very intrigued by this island in the Irish Sea. Viking settlement of the Isle of Man began at the end of the 8th century. The Vikings established Tynwald (Tynwald, the island's parliament, was nominally founded in AD 979. It is arguably the oldest continuous parliament in the world).
During Viking times, the Norse kingdom that existed in the British Isles between 1079 and 1266 had two parts called the Súðreyjar or Sudreys ("southern isles") in contrast to the Norðreyjar ("northern isles") of Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides. Later this kingdom became Anglicised as Sodor.The Nordic Imperialism developed through the Viking expansion to the west, east and south for may centuries.The Vikings sailed most of the North Atlantic, reaching south to North Africa and east to Russia, Constantinople and the middle east, as looters, traders, colonists, and mercenaries. Vikings under Leif Eriksson, heir to Erik the Red, reached North America, and set up a short-lived settlement in present-day L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, long before Columbus "discovered" America.

Since I am born at Møre and Ålesund, I have to add my birth town to this post. Ålesund is a municipality and port, western Norway, north of the mouth of Stor Fjord. The municipality is set on several islands —including Nørvøya, Aspøya, Hessa, and Oksnøya —which are connected by bridges. According to legend, the settlement dates from the 9th century when Rollo (Rolf) the Ganger established a chieftain seat nearby.
Norwegian and Icelandic historians identified this Rollo(n) with a son of Rognvald Eysteinsson, Earl of Møre, based on medieval Norwegian and Icelandic sagas that mention a Ganger Hrolf (Hrolf, the Walker). The oldest source of this version is the Latin Historia Norvegiae, written in Norway at the end of the 12th century. This Hrolf fell foul of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair, and became a Jarl in Normandy. The nickname of that character came from being so big that no horse could carry him.In 885, Rollo(n) was one of the lesser leaders of the Viking fleet which besieged Paris under Sigfred. Legend has it that an emissary was sent by the king to find the chieftain and negotiate terms. When he asked for this information, the Vikings replied that they were all chieftains in their own right. In 886, when Sigfred retreated in return for tribute, Rollo stayed behind and was eventually bought off and sent to harry Burgundy.

Later, he returned to the Seine with his followers (known as Danes or Norsemen). He invaded the area of northern France now known as Normandy. Rollo is a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror. Through William, he is a direct ancestor and predecessor of the present-day British royal family.

For more information of this interesting period go to the links mentioned in this post and follow other links from there.