Why the Vikings refused to turn back: The psychology of great explorers | Lars Brownworth

Brownworth discusses the extraordinary exploratory achievements of the Vikings, who reached North America 500 years before Columbus and sailed vast networks of ocean routes and river systems without compasses. He tells the story of Naddod, the first Norseman to accidentally reach Iceland, who discovered Irish monks had already arrived there in skin boats - an even more impressive feat given the distance and primitive vessels. Brownworth draws parallels between Viking exploration and Werner Herzog's documentary about a penguin that leaves its tribe to march toward certain death in the mountains, suggesting this represents a fundamental human drive to explore the unknown. He identifies two distinct motivations for exploration: the hardcore Viking spirit of raiding and resilience, and the monastic desire to escape civilization to be closer to God. Throughout the discussion, Brownworth emphasizes the Vikings' refusal to yield in the face of uncertainty, whether facing sea monsters or falling off the edge of the world. He concludes by referencing Tennyson's poem 'Ulysses' with its famous line 'to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield,' arguing this captures why Vikings remain romantically popular today - they embody the admirable human quality of taking leaps into the scary unknown without stopping.