Norway: A Football History
Definitely American Football and not just a History Article
Medieval Norway has produced a lot of greats for the world of American football, or as it was known at the time, Vinland Football. From their epic divisional rivalry with the Sami Shamans, to all the expansion franchises they helped establish, to producing a player with arguably the most storied career in American Football history. We’ll cover all this and more here.
It is important to note that the Norway Fairhairs weren’t always a powerhouse in the Scandinavian division. Rather the team came to exist because of the work of Harald Halfdansson. It is a rather romantic story. Legend has it that Harald was told by the woman that he loved that she would only marry him if he was the owner of a big market team. Thus, the new owner of the Rogaland Blacks decided to pump some serious capital into his fledgling team. Through some very dominant runs in the Vestlandet division, the fans of Hordaland, Adger, Vestfold and Sogn, to name a few, started to realise that the only team to root for was the Rogaland Blacks. With this dominance, Harald was eventually able to buy the other teams out and consolidate the Norwegian populace’s American football capital in Rogaland and rebranded them the Norway Fairhairs.
Next, as everyone knows, in order to be a really good team, you need to have a divisional rival who you can just dunk on; you know, to really flex your depth chart. The AFC North has the Cleveland Browns, the NFC North has the Detroit Lions, so of course, in Scandinavia Nord (North), the Norway Fairhairs had the Sami Shamans. Repeatedly, the Fairhairs destroyed the Shamans, eventually seeing the Shamans drop out of the league, and going through many centuries of rebuilding. (In all seriousness, what happened here is actually pretty horrific) Eventually, the Norway Fairhairs stepped out of the Scandinavia division, and in 793 CE, they introduced themselves to the world.
This next part delves into two big split offs. First, we have the Fairhairs and their legendary battles against the Britannia and Pict divisions. Secondly, we can see all of the expansion franchises that originated from Norway.
The success of the Fairhairs led to many other potential owners struggling to find a big enough market to host their teams. This led to conglomerates of ownership trying to find new markets to settle their teams. The Northumbrian Nightmares, Mercian Monarchs and Wessex Dragons all had to deal with Norwegian conglomerates trying to muscle in on their territories. At one point, the Nightmares had their fanbase size reduced to the point where they were part of the Pict division. It got so bad that they lost their fanbase in what’s not Yorkshire. This period even saw the rise of new short-term teams, as a mixture of Norwegian and Danish ownership led to great new fanbases in York, Lincoln, Stamford, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Norfolk (Some would say the prelude to the Seawolves). These teams eventually floundered and flamed out of the Britannia division, but they still left an indelible mark on American football history, and really showcased the might of Norwegian American football teams.
Norwegian conglomerates also led to the creation of the most influential team in American Football history, the Normandy Lions. What started as Hrolfr, or Rollo, the Walker’s upstart franchise in the Rouen Lions, then subsequently the Normandy Lions and finally the England Lions, ended up shaping the world of American football greatly. As a franchise, they are a shining example of great ownership. Hrolfr negotiated with the commissioner of the Frankish Football League, Charles III of West Francia, otherwise known as the simple. The Rouen Lions were thus upstarts in the West Frankish division, and quickly grew. Hrolfr’s son, William, led the Lions in a fierce rivalry against the Flanders Seafarers. The next owner, Richard consolidated the fan base in the north of France. Richard II made the Lions one of the premier teams in the league. And so on, and so on, my point here being that without the success of the Fairhairs, we don’t get one of the most influential teams in league history.
Of course, the Norway Fairhairs produced the greatest free agent/journeyman quarterbacks that the world has ever seen. Harald Hardrade (literally meaning ‘hard head’) was part of a great quarterback controversy of the Fairhairs, after his father and owner of the team, Olaf, was forced into a buyout by Cnut of the Denmark Ravens. Due to his affiliation with his father, Harald was forced out of the Scandinavian division altogether. He spent a couple of years in the Slavic North division, playing for the Kievan Rus, it was not long before his talents were noticed by the premier American football league in Europe, the Byzantine league. Playing for the Varangians, he earned the favour of the commissioner through his impressive games against all in the division. In this time period, he also learnt a great repertoire of plays from games against the Arab and Greek teams. Eventually, Harald was able to enough renown and money to reclaim the ownership of the Fairhairs. He later participated in the 1066 English invitational tournament, which requires its own article. In summary, the Fairhairs produced one of the most storied careers in American football history, and the sport, as a whole, is far richer for it.
That concludes the height of the Norwegian foray into American football, the next eight hundred years were a tough rebuilding period for the Fairhairs, being under the dominance of the Ravens for the majority of it. But I hope everyone enjoyed this, and if anyone has any requests for medieval periods for me to cover, please let me know. Have a great day.
969 Words.
Definitely American Football and not just a History Article
Medieval Norway has produced a lot of greats for the world of American football, or as it was known at the time, Vinland Football. From their epic divisional rivalry with the Sami Shamans, to all the expansion franchises they helped establish, to producing a player with arguably the most storied career in American Football history. We’ll cover all this and more here.
It is important to note that the Norway Fairhairs weren’t always a powerhouse in the Scandinavian division. Rather the team came to exist because of the work of Harald Halfdansson. It is a rather romantic story. Legend has it that Harald was told by the woman that he loved that she would only marry him if he was the owner of a big market team. Thus, the new owner of the Rogaland Blacks decided to pump some serious capital into his fledgling team. Through some very dominant runs in the Vestlandet division, the fans of Hordaland, Adger, Vestfold and Sogn, to name a few, started to realise that the only team to root for was the Rogaland Blacks. With this dominance, Harald was eventually able to buy the other teams out and consolidate the Norwegian populace’s American football capital in Rogaland and rebranded them the Norway Fairhairs.
Next, as everyone knows, in order to be a really good team, you need to have a divisional rival who you can just dunk on; you know, to really flex your depth chart. The AFC North has the Cleveland Browns, the NFC North has the Detroit Lions, so of course, in Scandinavia Nord (North), the Norway Fairhairs had the Sami Shamans. Repeatedly, the Fairhairs destroyed the Shamans, eventually seeing the Shamans drop out of the league, and going through many centuries of rebuilding. (In all seriousness, what happened here is actually pretty horrific) Eventually, the Norway Fairhairs stepped out of the Scandinavia division, and in 793 CE, they introduced themselves to the world.
This next part delves into two big split offs. First, we have the Fairhairs and their legendary battles against the Britannia and Pict divisions. Secondly, we can see all of the expansion franchises that originated from Norway.
The success of the Fairhairs led to many other potential owners struggling to find a big enough market to host their teams. This led to conglomerates of ownership trying to find new markets to settle their teams. The Northumbrian Nightmares, Mercian Monarchs and Wessex Dragons all had to deal with Norwegian conglomerates trying to muscle in on their territories. At one point, the Nightmares had their fanbase size reduced to the point where they were part of the Pict division. It got so bad that they lost their fanbase in what’s not Yorkshire. This period even saw the rise of new short-term teams, as a mixture of Norwegian and Danish ownership led to great new fanbases in York, Lincoln, Stamford, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Norfolk (Some would say the prelude to the Seawolves). These teams eventually floundered and flamed out of the Britannia division, but they still left an indelible mark on American football history, and really showcased the might of Norwegian American football teams.
Norwegian conglomerates also led to the creation of the most influential team in American Football history, the Normandy Lions. What started as Hrolfr, or Rollo, the Walker’s upstart franchise in the Rouen Lions, then subsequently the Normandy Lions and finally the England Lions, ended up shaping the world of American football greatly. As a franchise, they are a shining example of great ownership. Hrolfr negotiated with the commissioner of the Frankish Football League, Charles III of West Francia, otherwise known as the simple. The Rouen Lions were thus upstarts in the West Frankish division, and quickly grew. Hrolfr’s son, William, led the Lions in a fierce rivalry against the Flanders Seafarers. The next owner, Richard consolidated the fan base in the north of France. Richard II made the Lions one of the premier teams in the league. And so on, and so on, my point here being that without the success of the Fairhairs, we don’t get one of the most influential teams in league history.
Of course, the Norway Fairhairs produced the greatest free agent/journeyman quarterbacks that the world has ever seen. Harald Hardrade (literally meaning ‘hard head’) was part of a great quarterback controversy of the Fairhairs, after his father and owner of the team, Olaf, was forced into a buyout by Cnut of the Denmark Ravens. Due to his affiliation with his father, Harald was forced out of the Scandinavian division altogether. He spent a couple of years in the Slavic North division, playing for the Kievan Rus, it was not long before his talents were noticed by the premier American football league in Europe, the Byzantine league. Playing for the Varangians, he earned the favour of the commissioner through his impressive games against all in the division. In this time period, he also learnt a great repertoire of plays from games against the Arab and Greek teams. Eventually, Harald was able to enough renown and money to reclaim the ownership of the Fairhairs. He later participated in the 1066 English invitational tournament, which requires its own article. In summary, the Fairhairs produced one of the most storied careers in American football history, and the sport, as a whole, is far richer for it.
That concludes the height of the Norwegian foray into American football, the next eight hundred years were a tough rebuilding period for the Fairhairs, being under the dominance of the Ravens for the majority of it. But I hope everyone enjoyed this, and if anyone has any requests for medieval periods for me to cover, please let me know. Have a great day.
969 Words.