Viking Tales

The internet is a wonderful invention, but there's no denying that sometimes all it does is to draw attention to the fact that - some people have too much time on their hands.

Take the case of the new 'Viking' logo chosen by Serco Northlink to brand its lifeline ferry services to Orkney and Shetland - which is pictured above.

Now this is based on a fictional charatcer - Magnus the Viking - who has his left arm raised in the air - but this hasn't stopped the company's critics from claiming that the logo could be taken for a fascist, Nazi symbol.

Now I don't know about anyone else - but the comparison sounds ridiculous and more than a bit overblown to me - because we're talking here about a passenger ferry service and not the Waffen SS.

Not everyone agrees, however, and a lecturer in Nordic Studies - Dr Victoria Whitworth - based in Orkney has described the artistic choice of a Viking with horned helmet as “the number one schoolboy howler” - claiming the image contained undeniable associations to Ayran propaganda used by the Nazis.

Dr Whitworth said:

"There is an Ayran element unfortunately associated with the Vikings. We didn’t feel [Serco Northlink] had perhaps projected the image they were intending.

The artistic style that they have chosen is very much of that early 20th century aesthetic. I think they could have consulted more widely perhaps.

There is so much baggage associated with this kind of iconography. I think this could also be a problem for Scandinavian visitors given their complex relationship with that ideology."

Mmmmmm.........

And along with many other things from the world of academia - I think I'll take that these silly comments with a giant pinch of salt.