I would argue there’s still a difference between “callous because medieval life sucks” and Viking “plundering as the core value”. Viking is a profession after all, not an ethnicity.
Mongols are a bit different case, as I would argue the idea of Mongols that exists in popular culture is pretty far off, and fits better to earlier steppe cultures - Cumans, Pechenegs, etc. By the time Mongols rolled into what is now Russia, the Golden Horde was an empire. With massive production capabilities, logistics, the works.
That said, I agree that the level of everyday violence and cruelty of those periods is severely underestimated
Honestly, when I read about what the Mongols and other medieval empires did to their enemies, it actually does make me feel like we’ve come a long way. As evil and destructive as people can still be towards one another, we don’t dehumanize each other to such absurd levels as feudal regimes did.
I would argue there’s still a difference between “callous because medieval life sucks” and Viking “plundering as the core value”. Viking is a profession after all, not an ethnicity.
Mongols are a bit different case, as I would argue the idea of Mongols that exists in popular culture is pretty far off, and fits better to earlier steppe cultures - Cumans, Pechenegs, etc. By the time Mongols rolled into what is now Russia, the Golden Horde was an empire. With massive production capabilities, logistics, the works.
That said, I agree that the level of everyday violence and cruelty of those periods is severely underestimated
Honestly, when I read about what the Mongols and other medieval empires did to their enemies, it actually does make me feel like we’ve come a long way. As evil and destructive as people can still be towards one another, we don’t dehumanize each other to such absurd levels as feudal regimes did.
BUT DO WE HAVE THE EDDA AND MONGOLIAN THROAT SINGING