维京史话（2012）

and the Romans loved it for making jewellery.
罗马人喜欢用它来制♥作♥首饰
All of this meant trade and trade meant new wealth for a few people
需求造就了贸易，而贸易给人带来了财富
and a desire for luxury goods from the Empire,
和对繁华帝国奢侈品的向往
the sort of stuff that only Rome could provide.
这些东西只有罗马可以提供
And that only the rich and powerful could afford.
也只有位高权重者才用的起
Many Roman discoveries in Scandinavia
在斯堪的纳维亚曾发现过很多来自罗马的文物
are of simple pottery, or occasionally coins.
大多如陶器…偶尔也有钱币
But some finds have been spectacular.
但有些东西让人叹为观止的
This is the Hoby Burial Hoard,
这些东西来自霍比墓葬
it was found in the grave of a chieftain,
是一位酋长之的墓葬
a man aged somewhere between 40 and 60 years old.
酋长的年纪介于四十到六十岁
We don't know how he died,
他的死因我们不得而知
but this collection that went into the ground with him
但他的这些殉葬物已经说明
tells us a lot about what he had achieved in life.
他生前曾经拥有的(大量)财富
It's the kind of banqueting set that you would normally expect
你通常会认为这些用于宴会上的器具
a high-ranking Roman official to have.
是某个罗马的高级官员所有的
It's a wonder to behold,
这些东西看起来...
it's so rich and elegant,
那么的富丽堂皇而精致
but the piece de resistance
最令人瞠目结舌的应该算是…
are two solid silver cups, each weighing about a kilogram.
这两个银质酒杯…每个约有一公斤重
Now, the originals are away being conserved and analysed,
如今，酒杯的真品已经被取走用于研究
but what I have here, what I'm allowed to handle, are two replicas.
而我有幸能被允许观赏一下这两个复♥制♥品
What they show are various scenes from Homer's Iliad.
酒杯上的图案描绘的是荷马史诗里的几个场景
This lavish collection
这尊奢华的酒杯
was handed over to a man who could appreciate Roman finery,
是由喜爱罗马式的服装...
who was schooled enough in Roman ways
深谙罗马生活方式的主人所拥有的
to understand Classical stories from the Classical World.
他熟悉文明世界的那些经典传说
It's telling that nothing of this magnificence
这些发现的重大意义在于…
has ever been found in the far north.
象如此奢华的东西在遥远的北方可以说是绝无仅有的
Scandinavia always remained outwith the Roman Empire
斯堪的纳维亚一直独♥立♥于罗马帝国之外
and it's important to remember that
当我们思考这些国家的发展之路时
when thinking about how the countries here developed.
我们要时刻记住这个事实
We take it for granted, in the English part of Britain at least,
众所周知，至少在英伦地区
that Rome brought more than the legions,
罗马人带来的不仅是军事占领
it brought towns and roads,
随之而来的还有城市..道路
public entertainments,
公共娱乐
towards the end of the period it brought Christianity as well.
到了其统治的后期还引入了基♥督♥教
But more than that, Rome brought literacy and the rule of law.
更有甚者，罗马人还带来了文字和法治
You can quite justifiably argue
可以客观地说…
that the Romans brought the time of our pre-history to an end.
是罗马人终结了我们的蒙昧时代
But none of that happened here,
而在此地这一切从未发生过
there were no towns, there was no literacy,
没有城市…没有文字
there were no new religions,
没有新宗教
right through the Roman period and the Viking Age itself.
纵贯罗马帝国和维京时期， 情况一直没变
An extra thousand years of being left alone
这个地区又被遗弃了一千年
and that made all the difference.
这让一切都变得截然不同
Because here was a culture that was left to do what it wanted,
因为这里的文化是"为所欲为"
people who were left to do what they wanted to do,
人们可以做任何事情只要他愿意
their own way of being,
他们可以用自己的方法活着
they had their own leaders, their own Gods.
人们有自己的首领，有各自信奉的神明
And so, in that light, perhaps it comes as no surprise
在这种状况下，什么都不足为奇了
that when those first Viking raiders
比如当第一批维京海盗
attacked a remote Northumbrian monastery
洗劫一个边远的诺森伯兰修道院时
they felt they had nothing to fear from a Christian God,
这些人对于基♥督♥教上帝完全没有敬畏之心
because he was obviously no match for Odin and Thor.
上帝在他们心目中根本比不上奥丁和托奥(雷神)
Ship-building skills and warrior prowess
精湛的造船技艺和勇猛嗜杀
gave the Vikings the means to terrorise the Christian world.
使得基♥督♥教世界对维京海盗闻风色变
But it was the Norse Gods that defined their Viking spirit.
而真正能解释维京精神的却是… 北欧的诸神们
Sagas written in the 13th century
写于十三世纪的"英雄传记"(Saga)
give us a unique insight
使得我们可以清楚洞察维京人的信仰
into beliefs that can be traced right back
而这信仰的起源...
to their prehistoric ancestors.
可以一直上溯到维京的蒙昧时代
They believe in a pantheon of Gods,
他们信奉万神殿的诸神
but the main God was Thor.
而其中托奥为诸神之尊
Which means, "Thor is the strongest of all the Gods."
意思是"托奥是诸神中的最强者"
Cos I remember, as a little boy,
记得我小时候
from the comics that I was reading, knowing about Thor,
我在连环画中知道了托奥神
is it true he had the hammer, he had the belt of power?
他真的有雷神之鎚，真的有魔力腰带吗?
Yes. Is all that in the old versions?
这些在古书上提到了吗?
Yes.
是的
Which means Thor has three special objects,
说的是托奥有三件法宝
one is a hammer. Mjolnir.
一是雷神之鎚--Mjolnir
I remember Mighty Mjolnir.
我还记得威力巨大的 Mjolnir
Does Mjolnir mean anything, as a name?
Mjolnir这个名字有什么意思吗？
Does it have a sense of something powerful in the name?
是不是要用这名字给人一种威力强大的感觉?
It means... it designates the crushing power that he has.
意思是…代表着摧毁一切的强大力量
It says that the Giants are well familiar with the hammer
传说巨人族很熟悉鎚的威力
because Thor is always crushing their skulls with it.
因为托奥总是用大鎚击碎他们的脑壳
There is the Girdle of Might, obviously...
他还有一根有魔力的腰带...
That's not quite so catchy, is it?
这东西并不太显眼，对吗?
So when he puts on this girdle, his strength doubles.
当系上腰带的时候他的力量会加倍
And he gets a much neater waist.
他的腰也会利索多了哦…
Probably, as well.
可能是吧…
Is Thor top of the tree, top God?
托奥是诸神中最大的吗?
Well, he's among the top Gods, but probably the highest one is Odin.
呃…他是其中之一… 真正最大的那个叫奥丁
And as it says here,
书上是这样说的
he is the highest and most glorious of the Gods that we know of,
奥丁是已知诸神中地位最尊贵的
and so he is the one who is worshipped by chieftains and kings.
所以他才是被北欧的酋长和国王们膜拜的主神
Unlike Christianity, Viking belief
和基♥督♥教不同，维京人的信仰
wasn't so much about an immortal soul
并不追求不朽的灵魂
but an immortal reputation.
而是追求永恒的荣誉
They didn't really care about the afterlife,
维京人并不关注死后会如何
they wanted glory and honour in this life.
他们追求的是此生的荣耀
And then it says here in the sayings of Odin...
这里提到奥丁说的一段话
"Your castle will die, your friends will die, you'll die."
"城♥堡♥会坍塌，朋友会离去，你自己也会死去"
"Your reputation will never die if you get a good one."
"只有英名会永垂青史"
That's why they weren't afraid of dying in battle,
所以他们无惧英勇而光荣的…
with courage and honour.
战死沙场
The worst thing that could happen to a Viking
维京人最怕的是
was to be said a coward.
被人说成是胆小鬼
The end of the Roman Empire early in the 5th century
公元五世纪上半页，罗马帝国已岌岌可危
saw Scandinavia standing on the brink of the Viking Age.
而此时的斯堪的纳维亚已经站在属于维京人时代的门口了
A final piece of the jigsaw
万事具备，只欠东风…
was the emergence of bigger regional leaders.
一位伟大的维京首领
Heading back to Sweden, 40 miles North of Stockholm,
我回到瑞典…斯德哥尔摩以北四十英里
there's evidence of a consolidation of power
这里的遗址能够证明
across ever greater areas of land.
这个地区已经崛起前所未有的强大集团
Stretching away ahead of me are the burial mounds of Gamla Uppsala.
我脚下的是格姆拉乌普萨拉墓葬
They were built sometime between around 550AD and 700AD,
这些墓葬建于公元550年至700年之间
that's a time after the Romans but before the coming of the Vikings.
此时罗马帝国已经灭亡，而维京世纪还未到来
These mounds seem truly vast,
这些土丘真的非常巨大
even compared to those of Bronze Age Denmark, 2,000 years earlier.
即使相比两千年前的青铜器时代的那些也不逊色
And, crucially,
关键是
these were only built for a very select few.
这些墓只属于有限的几个人
We'll never know exactly who was buried here.
我们无从得知这些墓里面埋的是谁
The pyres, the funeral bonfires that raged here
这些柴堆，篝火曾在此熊熊燃烧...
and that these mounds were built on top of burned so intensely
这些土丘下的柴堆曾经猛烈燃烧
that nothing survived to be buried
除了烧焦的骨头和殉葬品外
except some charred human bone and some melted grave goods.
什么也没有留下
But whoever they were,
然而无论这些人是谁
the people who could command this kind of burial
能拥有这种规模坟墓的人
were certainly amongst the wealthiest and the most powerful in all of Scandinavia
必然是整个斯堪的纳维亚地区最有权势的人
and they wielded power all across the land.
他们必然控制着整个地区
The mounds were built one after the other
这些坟丘一个接着一个
during a period lasting 100 years, maybe more,
建成的时间相差一百多年，或者再久一些
so it's tempting to think about a dynasty, a royal lineage,
人们很容易想到这是属于某个王朝的皇室家族
one family maintaining control generation after generation
这个家族一代传一代的统治着这个地区
so the people buried in these mounds might be the very first Kings and Queens.
这些坟丘中埋葬的很可能是最早的维京国王和王后
In the shadow of these mounds
在这些坟丘的旁边发掘出的东西
evidence has been even found of an ancient royal palace.
显示古时候这里曾经是皇宫所在地