Expedition Unknown (2015–…): Season 4, Episode 1 - Viking Secrets - full transcript

They're living and
exploring in places

that seem uninhabitable.

At some point, though,
in the 1400s they vanish.

Yeah.

When we talk about the success
of the Vikings,

this is one of the big
secrets to that success.

Absolutely.

This is going to be interesting.

Shut up.
Look at that!

If this is real,
it's history changing.

What is that?



It's the most Viking thing
you could find.

Look at that.
There's bones everywhere.
Everywhere.

I got to make sure
I'm keeping score, here.

We got rough water,
unexploded bombs,

and now great white sharks.

You got it.

[ Laughs ]

Literally just at your feet,
there's history here.

This is a god-killer.
This is death itself.

Iceberg!

Hold your breath.

Fierce, fearless,
and unstoppable,

the Vikings crossed
the North Sea

and raided their
first town in 793.



And for the next 300 years,

no place in Europe
with a coastline

or a river was safe.

But today, most of what we think
we know about the Vikings

comes from old German operas,

cartoons, and the hunkiest
Avenger, Thor.

But the fact is, the real
Vikings shaped our modern world

in profound ways that many
of us don't even realize.

They also left behind
several enduring mysteries.

One, how did they pull it off?

What made these waterborne
warriors so undeniably powerful?

Archeologists are making major
discoveries

in the Viking homeland

that may finally unlock
the secrets of their success.

Two, what happened to them?

Why, after colonizing Greenland,

did the entire population
there seemingly vanish?

One researcher believes
he may be unearthing

the answer right now.

And three, we know the Vikings
were masters of the sea,

but how far did
they really sail?

Norse charts and sagas speak
of a distant settlement

across the Atlantic
known as Vinland.

Many believe
it's somewhere in Canada,

but a previously-lost
piece of evidence

could reveal that they landed

in what is now the United States
500 years before any European.

If so, it's a discovery that
would rewrite American history.

So grab your magic hammer,
if you can lift it,

and join me on a transatlantic
voyage to four nations

as I tackle the mysteries
of the mighty Vikings.

My name is Josh Gates.

Whoa!

With a degree in archaeology
and a passion for exploration,

I have a tendency to end up
in some very strange situations.

It's just straight down!

Unbelievable!

My travels have taken me
to the ends of the Earth...

Oh, God!

...as I investigate
the greatest legends in history.

We're good to fly.
Let's go.

This is "Expedition Unknown."

I begin my investigation
of the Vikings

in what was once the center
of their world -- Denmark.

When you think of Denmark,

you probably think
of cold winters,

industrial design,

and a seriously depressed
Shakespearean prince,

but all that melts away in the
Danish capital of Copenhagen.

This started as a Viking fishing
village in the 10th century,

but today, it's a laid-back city

lined with canals
and cobblestones.

In case you're wondering
why I'm on a bicycle,

that's kind of the deal here.

There's more than 250 miles
of bike lanes in Copenhagen,

and considering that 50 percent
of residents pedal to work,

at any given time, there are
six times as many bicycles

as there are cars on the road.

Sure, it's insanely expensive

and the tax rate
is about 45 percent,

but hey, health care, college
and grad school are free.

People work less than
40 hours a week,

and they get six weeks
of paid vacation a year.

It's probably why Denmark
regularly ranks

as one of the happiest
countries in the world.

[ Bell dings ]

I bike past all the happy,
well-insured people

to the premier archive
of Viking history,

the National Museum of Denmark.

Inside, the relics
and treasures of the Vikings

are on display from all
over Scandinavia

because the Vikings
weren't a single nation.

They were Norsemen,
people of the north,

from what is now Norway,
Denmark, and Sweden,

who roamed and conquered
in a golden age

that began in the middle
of the 8th century

and lasted for almost 300 years.

Today, we tend to think
of the Vikings as more brawn

than brains with their only
goals to conquer and pillage,

but that popular
image of the savage

Viking warrior may be
far too simple.

So how did this band of northern
tribes become so powerful,

so feared?

To get some answers,

I leave the museum and hop into
a car for a trip out of town.

You know, considering
how infamously

successful
the Vikings were,

it's kind of amazing that most
people probably can't name

one Viking king.

The Romans have Caesar and Nero.

When we think of the Huns,
we think of Attila.

The Mongols have Genghis Khan.

But, you know, there
is one Viking king

whose name we should all know,

and, in fact, perhaps,
we already do.

And he may be the key
to figuring out

what made the Vikings
so powerful

because archaeologists
have just uncovered

his long-missing fortress.

I arrive at a site
called Borrering

and meet chief
archaeologist Nanna Holm.

This is awesome.
Yes.

Welcome to
the Viking fortress.

Borrering is what is known
as a ring fortress.

The archaeologists who uncovered
it have built a skeletal frame

to show its one-time footprint.

Originally, it was constructed
from the Earth itself,

a perfect 470-foot diameter
circle with four gates

aligned with the points
of the compass.

The bank was then shored up
with timber beams

to create a defensive shield

to protect a set of
Viking longhouses inside.

The remains of those longhouses
could contain a treasure trove

of Viking relics.

And how many of these
fortresses have been found?

So far, we have
five fortresses.

They are spread out
all over the country.

And so all of these fortresses
were built at the same time?

And Bluetooth
as in Bluetooth?

King Harald Bluetooth united
the Viking tribes of Denmark

to rule for 30 years.

One of the ways
he consolidated control

was through massive
military projects,

for example, the building
of five huge ring fortresses,

including this one.

That's amazing.
Mm-hmm.

So every time
we say Bluetooth,

we're really talking
about a Viking king.

That's awesome.

The Bluetooth name is baked
right into the logo itself.

In the Norse runes for "H"
and "B", Harald Bluetooth.

Nanna is excavating in hope
of finding the remains

of the Viking longhouses,

including what may be
the central headquarters

of King Bluetooth himself.

So this whole central
part of the fortress,

none of this
has been excavated?

And this is your
secret weapon.

Okay, so what do we do?

Down in the trench,
let's go. Come on.

Nanna and I grab
hard hats and shovels

and head down into the pit
where operator Tom

begins to make methodical passes
with the bucket.

It's like doing brain surgery
with an ice cream scoop.

Is there an estimate
as to how much time it took

to build the fortress?

It took less than a year
to build it.
Wow.

So there has been a lot
of people out here...

Right.
...making this possible.

So you need a lot of people,
but you also need

a lot of organization,
right?
Mm-hmm.

Is there, kind of,
an exactness

to their design
and their geometry?
Yes.

They are put out in the exact
same measurements,

and there is also
the angles.

It's so precise.

There's real
engineering here.

And it's the first time
in Denmark.

I am, to say the least,
impressed.

The Vikings of Bluetooth's era

weren't ragtag tribes
of barbarians,

but an organized,
efficient society

with advanced
engineering skills

and leaders that inspired
them to greatness.

We excavate inward toward
the fortress' center.

After Tom gives the
ground a close shave,

Nanna spots
something in the mud.

You have to come
over here, Josh.

You find something?

That's a posthole.

Postholes in the middle
of the fortress

are evidence
of interior construction.

We may, right now, be directly
on top of an ancient longhouse.

That's incredible.
That's amazing, yes.

Nice job.
Hmm.

I've only been at the site
for a few hours,

and they're already
making significant finds.

Further evidence of
Viking engineering

would come in the form of roads,

which Nanna believes
would have been built

leading to the fortress.

She brings the excavator
outside of the fortress gates

to look for evidence
of an ancient causeway.

What is this?
Here, we're
going to see

what is outside
the fortress.
Got it.

Does that mean we have
to get down inside this?

We're going to get down.
We're going to get dirty.

Perfect.

Nanna's potential treasure trove
of Viking relics

is doing a great impersonation
of a huge pit

full of freezing mud.

Nevertheless, she persists.

We're going in.

Ew. Gross.

Once Tom digs us
to the layer of earth

that we believe is
from Bluetooth's era,

Nanna and I start
sifting through the muck.

[ Grunts ]

Who said that archeology
was glamorous?

Just when I thought we
couldn't possibly

have any more fun in the mud,

Nanna detects something
large below the surface.

Josh, I think I got
something here.

You got something?
Come over here.

Yeah, I think
I got something.

I feel...
Where?

...feel it down here.
Ooh, yeah.

What is that?

Yeah.

Pull it up.
You got it?

Yes. Come on.
Are you ready?
Yeah.

One, two, three.

What is that?

GATES: I'm in Denmark
at an excavation

of a recently-discovered
fortress

built by the most important
Viking king, Harald Bluetooth.

Yeah, that Bluetooth.

We're using a massive excavator,

and it's already
made a discovery.

Josh, I think I got
something here.

You got something?
Come over here.

Yeah, I think
I got something.

I feel...
Where?

...feel it down here.

Oh, yeah.

Pull it up.
You got it?

Yes.
Are you ready?
Yeah.

One, two, three.

What is that?

Wow.
What is that?

That is a part
of a wheel.

Are you kidding me?
That's a wheel?

That's a wheel.

So...
You got it right there.

...these would be spokes,
and the wheel would be out here?

The wheel would
be out here.

Shut up.

Look at that.

Look at that!

This wheel would have been
part of a Viking-era wagon.

It's over a millennium old and
is a rare and important find.

It also means Nanna might have
just found her Viking road.

So 1,000
years ago...
Mm-hmm.

...this piece of
a Viking wagon...

Mm-hmm.
...ends up
buried here.

We're the next two
people to touch it.

Exactly.
That's amazing!

Nice job!

To excavate the entire fortress
will take Nanna and her team

at least another year,

though it's already clear

this was not the home
of indiscriminate pillagers

but rather an organized,
hierarchical civilization

capable of advanced engineering
and military precision.

This organization
was clearly a part

of the Vikings' great success.

To learn about another aspect
of their power, I drive west

to one of Bluetooth's
other fortresses

known as Trelleborg.

Unlike Nanna's
cutting-edge find,

the Trelleborg ring
was excavated in the 1940s,

but there's still a lot here
for me to learn.

At first glance,
the grounds look empty,

but as I approach the site,

Trelleborg is anything
but abandoned.

Every year here in Trelleborg

something really
amazing happens.

For 9 days, more than 1,000
people descend on these fields

to live like Vikings.

Now, let me be clear.
This isn't a game.

This isn't cosplay.

These people are here
to honor their heritage,

to teach their children,

and to turn back time
to experience life

in the Viking age.

The people here are
teaching their children

an ancient way of life

and giving them the rare ability
to live without technology.

Laugh if you want, but during
the zombie apocalypse,

these are the folks
who will make it.

There's also a tasty
bit of culture

that the Trelleborg Vikings have
dragged into the modern age,

a honey wine called mead.

Hello.
Is this mead?

Yeah, we've got
14 different types.

14 different types?
Yeah.

Well, I had better
try all of them.

Famous last words.

The bar is well-stocked
with enough flavors

to give Baskin Robbins
a run for their money.

This one here
is black currant.
Black currant mead.

This one is chestnut.

Then, we're going to mix
a little bit of cherry.

Cherry mead.
Cherry mead.

What is this one?

Well, take a guess.
Chili flavored.

Yeah.
Yeah, you can...

It's subtle, but you can
feel it coming through.

Yeah, it comes through.

I wet my whistle...

Cheers.

...then, I drown it.

Boy, this is going
to be a long day.

Then, for some reason,
I decide to take a break.

After a wake-up call and
a strong cup of Viking coffee,

I remember why
I've come to Trelleborg --

to meet a unique
kind of warrior,

modern-day Viking soldiers

who use authentic
Viking techniques.

I know one big reason
for the Viking's success

is how they fought.

Now, Clinton Dale
and his teammates

are going to let me
in on the secret.

Clinton?
Aye.

Josh.
Hi.

Nice to meet you, man.
How are you?
Clinton Dale.

Nice to meet you, Josh.
Nice to meet you as well.

How long have you been
coming to this?

I've been coming to Trelleborg
and making Viking fighting,

enjoying Viking fighting,
for 7 years now.

7 years?
Yes.

Now, you don't sound like
you're from Trelleborg.

No, I'm from Texas,
actually.

Texas?
Austin, Texas.

And you guys are
fighting today?

Yeah, I mean,
if you'd like,

you're looking like
the type of person

I think could do
very well in this.

You have a big stature.

You can hold a shield
with no problem.

If you would like to learn
how to fight like a Viking,

I think Patrick and Rasmuss
and I can teach you this.

And when you fight, is it,
like, plastic weapons?

Absolutely not.

We fight with steel weapons.

And do people
ever get hurt?
That's part of it.

You can't go swinging
metal weapons at other folks

and not expect to, occasionally,
get a lump or two.

Right, which is
why most people

don't swing metal
weapons at each other.

Yeah.
Okay.

So what do we do?
If you want to fight
like a Viking,

you have to dress
like a Viking.

Okay.

GATES:
I don yet another embarrassing
period-accurate costume

and get ready to rumble.

-Oh, there he is.
-Great.

Now, you're looking
like a Viking.

Huh?

All right.
I got the clothes.

So now, you have to have
the training.

Yeah, I need the skills.

And we're going to teach you
the basics of Viking fighting.

Okay, let's go.
Come on.

But before
I learn how to fight,

I ask these experts about why
their Viking forebearers

were so skilled
in these brutal arts.

When you look at how far
the Vikings traveled

and how successful
they were at raiding

and pillaging
and at warfare in general,

why do you think
they were so successful?

What gave them an edge
as fighters?

They were brought up as fighters
from when they were small.

They have a culture where it's
your deed that gives you value.

We have a poem that said,
friends die, foe die,

one day you
will die.
Hmm.

But the memories of
a good man will never die.

They went into the battle
already accepting

that they could die
just then.

Right.
And this was
an okay result.

They wanted, like, this is
a good afterlife for them

in Valhalla.

Valhalla was the mythical
afterlife for Viking warriors,

a divine hall where
the honored dead

would receive
their reward to drink,

sing, and celebrate
for all eternity.

Dying was a promotion.
Yes, absolutely.

Because you get to go
to Valhalla.

And then you get to fight
and drink perpetually, right?

Right.
Boy, I love these guys.

All right.
So we're going to move on now,

and we're going to do
some basic training.

Okay.

This is the weapon that won
the battles in the Viking age,

the long spear.
Uh-huh.

You could use this
from a distance

and you could make devastating
damage to your enemy

even when they're
wearing the chain mail.

Got it.

Far from the berserkers of myth,

the Viking fighting style

actually favored distance
weapons like spears

and long axes
over clumsier swords,

even the shield was used
as an offensive weapon.

Okay?
It's looking
really good.

[ Horn blows ]

Suddenly, a horn sounds,

and I realize what
these guys have spent

all year training for.

Today, two armies
of over 150 warriors

are facing off
on the battle field

using only the 10th century's
finest weapons and tactics.

The combatants, who I'm amazed
to find include me,

cross over a moat
to the arena.

The rules are simple --
fight to the death,

or at least
the simulation of it.

The armies face-off
on the pitch.

They're wielding real axes,
real spears,

and there's a real chance
of serious injury.

Despite the crowd of spectators,
you can hear a pin drop.

And then, it's war.

[ Yells indistinctly ]

[ Indistinct shouting ]

GATES: I'm in the middle of --
well, hang on.

I've kind of got
my hands full here.

Aah!

Valhalla, here I come.

I'm ready.

I'm so ready.

Sorry about that.

My performance at the Trelleborg
Viking Festival's battle

wasn't exactly the
"Game of Thrones" fantasy

I had envisioned.

Fighting continues
for a solid hour.

This winner-take-all melee
is a nail-biter

and ends with a festival
first...

Aah!

GATES: ...last man standing
isn't a man at all.

Unprecedented for
the festival, perhaps,

but not to Norse history

where women were known
to fight in battle.

Recently, archaeologists
in Sweden

found that a decorated grave
from the 10th century

belonged to a female
Viking warrior.

It's time for a Viking
celebration,

which will involve
a metric ton of mead

and, hopefully,
some designated driving.

[ Chanting and cheering ]

Having seen the Viking's
organization

and engineering skills
at Borrering

and now their fighting prowess,

I drive to learn the next secret
of the Viking's success.

Well, it's clear the Vikings
were fierce fighters

but just strength alone does not
make for a successful empire.

You have to be able
to mobilize that strength

and take it abroad,

and when it comes to
navigating the high seas,

the Vikings were
maritime masters.

To find out more about
the mysterious secrets

that gave the Vikings
such an edge on water,

I'm meeting master
shipbuilder Martin Dael

at the Viking Ship Museum
just outside of Copenhagen.

These are actual
Viking ships.

These are the actual
Viking ships,

1,000 years old,
that you see around us.

And let's talk
about these boats.

Where do they go?

Because of
these boats,

the reach of the Vikings
were extraordinary.

And what is it, generally,
about the design of these boats

that makes them
so good?

It was really
well-engineered.

It was quick, and it was well --
you know, it sailed really well.

Right.

This advanced technology allowed
for an astonishing expansion

of the Vikings' ambition.

They were able to extend west
to Britain, Ireland, and France,

south to Spain
and the Mediterranean,

and as far east
as Finland, Russia,

and even down to the Black
and Caspian Seas.

Well, the big
question for me then

is how the hell
did they build them?

I'll show you.
You can show me?

Yeah, I can show you.
Yeah.

We go behind the museum and
the ships from the Viking past

leap into the present.

This workshop is where
Martin and his team

are building fully-functional
Viking vessels the Viking way,

using only the materials
and tools available

to a 10th-century
Norse shipbuilder.

Wow.

Look at this place.
This is crazy.

Outside the workshop,
I see something incredible,

a brand new Viking ship
taking shape.

And how long will it take you
to build this whole ship?

Pretty much 2 years
is the plan.

Wow.
So it's 11,
12,000 man-hours.

12,000 man-hours
to build this.

And one of the really
labor-intensive things

is to cleave out
these oak logs.

Well, okay. This is what
I need to understand.

How do we go from trees to,
you know, a Viking ship?

How does that happen?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I'll show you.
Okay.

In the 10th century,
getting lumber wasn't as easy

as running to Home Depot.

The Vikings had to make
planks out of these,

and not only didn't
they have chainsaws,

they didn't have anything
that could mill an oak log.

The only thing
they had was this.

To split an oak tree
the Viking way,

Martin drives a series of wedges

that get progressively
larger into the wood.

The physics are simple.

In practice, it's brutal.

I got one.

GATES: At the Viking Ship Museum
outside of Copenhagen, Denmark,

master shipbuilder Martin Dael
is teaching me how the Vikings

established dominance
over the seas

and helped define 3 full
centuries as the Viking era.

This oak log is destined
to become wood planks

for a new Viking ship
that Martin is building,

if we can manage
to split it in two.

She's going!

-Yeah!
-Whoo-hoo!

Whoo-hoo!

Hey.
Well done.

Nice job.
Awesome job.

Now, we need to turn
our unfinished board

into a smooth,
perfect plank,

and the band saw won't be
invented for 800 years or so.

So what's
the technique here?
Yeah, so the technique
is that you have

to be not too,
too tense.

It's a little bit
like skiing.

This is nothing
like skiing.

All right.
All right.

I give the wood a pass
with the razor-sharp ax.

To my surprise, it goes
through the plank

like a knife through butter.

Just like that,
yeah.

Okay, so once
we get this

down to the right thickness,
then what happens?

We need a fire.
Okay.

To make the plank
more flexible and strong,

we heat it over the coals.

This activates a polymer
in the wood called lignan,

which allows the wood fibers
to bend and then set.

Wow, look at that.
Yeah,
it's pretty good.

It's, like,
elastic now.
Yeah. Yeah.

And that's just
from heating it up.
That's it.

Once it's nice and flexible,
we have only 5 minutes

to get the plank into place
on the boat's frame

before it becomes
as stiff as a...

a board.

Okay, in here?

Yeah,
up a little higher.

Uh-huh.

Okay, giant Viking
clothespin.

Check.
Yeah.

Look at that. I mean,
it's almost 90 degrees.
That is.

And that's forming the bottom
of the keel of the boat.

That's it. Yeah.
Wow.

The technology, once you
see it, feels so basic.

It's elemental.
That's true, yeah.

But the skills required...

You just have
to know how.

When we talk about the
success of the Vikings...
Yeah.

...this is one of the big
secrets to that success, right?

Absolutely.
The skill of building boats

but also the skill
of sailing boats.
Right.

Through that combination,
absolutely.

Thus far, I've seen the Vikings'
ability to organize and build

and got a first-hand taste
of their battlefield skills.

Now, I see how they developed

the most advanced
technology of the day

to dominate the waters
of Europe and beyond.

I leave Martin behind
and take to the road

for an archeological site
that may show us

how the Vikings
used their sea power

for more than we ever imagined.

I'm driving now
to the town of Ribe,

which is one of
the most important

Viking sites in the world,

and I've arranged to meet
with an archaeologist

named Soren Sindbaek,

who is making
extraordinary discoveries

that could totally reshape
our understanding

of the true nature
of Viking power.

Arriving in Ribe,
I find a dig site

that's taking up valuable
real estate in the city center.

I duck behind the barriers
to meet Soren.

This is amazing.
Do you like it?

You've got a site going,

like, literally
in the middle of town.
Yeah.

Ribe is a pretty little town
today, but in the Viking age,

it was a really
amazing place.

It's the first place we can
call a town in Scandinavia,

the first town
of the Vikings.

And so what's going on
in this Viking town?

What, specifically,
is right here?

What we're looking at here
was really the marketplace

where the craftsman and
the merchants had their shops.

This is the Viking mall.

And what's being sold
at the Viking mall?

Well, everything you want
if you're a Viking.

You can get jewelry.
You can get glass beads.

You can get a good sword.
You can get a treasure chest.

Right.

Huh.
It's funny.

It's just the image of Vikings
strolling around in a market

and trading for things
and buying things...

It makes perfect sense.

It just, sort of, cuts against
that stereotype of them...

Yeah.
...as these marauders,
you know?

This is a much more
civilized look...

Yeah.
...at that culture.

It's all about trade.
It's all about

exotic commodities
being exchanged here

because of the ability
to sail.

Can you show me
what you're finding?

Yes, sure.
Yeah?

Join me.
Please. Yeah.

Okay.

We go into a pit that Soren's
team is currently excavating.

Relics are literally
sticking out of the walls.

This isn't digging.
It's pointing.

-Look here.
-Yeah.

Absolutely.

This is a Viking crucible.

GATES: Crucibles like this
are containers

that were put into a fire

to melt precious metals
like gold and silver.

It was an essential tool
for casting jewelry

and other fine objects.
That's incredible.

It's a great find,
but the pit has more to offer.

Oh, hang on.
Do you know what this is?

It's what we call a loom weight,
which is used when you weave...

Right.
...material textile.

Indications of a loom mean
there were skilled artisans

here making
sophisticated crafts.

If you never imagined a Viking
knitting a sweater,

you could start now.

After finding evidence
of a jeweler

and a textile maker
in this Viking mall,

I'm half expecting to find a
food court with a Sbarro Pizza,

but what we find next
is nearly as exciting.

Hang on a sec.
What's that?

Is it bone?

No, I think it's stone.
What is that?

Okay, yeah.
I think it's soapstone.

No, hang on.
Do you know what this is?

Oh.

This is a mold.

It's a casting mold
made of several...

You would pour metal
into this?
Yeah.

This is for -- Oh!

The mold we found was a simple
way to make ingots,

blocks of metal,
which could be melted,

traded, or processed into goods.

I think we need
to wash this.
Yeah, okay.

It's fantastic.
Let's go.
Let's wash it out.

We take our find outside
to a washing station

along with another wheelbarrow

full of archeological
potential.

Hello.
Oh, hello.

Hi, how are you?
I'm Josh.
I'm Anita.

Hi. This is the
washing station?

It is.

Soren washes 1,000 years of dirt
from our casting mold.

Under the flow of the water,
it turns out to hold

even more significance
than we thought.

Oh, hang on.
There's something here.
Oh, what's that?

What is that?!

GATES: I'm at a dig site
in Ribe, Denmark,

where archaeologists
are excavating

what may be one of the first
marketplaces in Scandinavia.

One of the artifacts
we discovered

may help us understand

how the Vikings
became so dominant.

Oh, hang on.
There's something here.
Oh, what's that?
What is that?!

ANITA: Wow.
It's an ax.
It's an ax.

Wow.
It's a little amulet.

They reused the back
of that for an amulet.

The backside of it.
Yeah,

so you could cast your
ingots here on the front side,

and then, on the back side,
do you see that?

How Viking can you get?

That's incredible.

It's the most Viking thing
you could find.

I mean, right? Does anything
get more Viking than that?

That is awesome.

GATES: The marketplace at Ribe
makes it clear,

the Vikings weren't just raiders

but traders who molded
ingots for currency

and artists who created
stunning jewelry and crafts.

Their organized society
put their skills to use

building huge
military fortresses,

while their desire
to trade and create

pushed them
to relentlessly expand.

Their warriors fought
with cutting-edge

tactics and weapons,

and their shipbuilding
capabilities

allowed them to explore

all over the known
world and beyond.

It's there that I'm going next,

to the place the Vikings
expanded west

and where the final secret
of their success awaits,

Iceland.

Right at the top
of my short list

of the world's coolest capitals
is the city of Reykjavik.

It's got all the design
sense of Scandinavia

but with this funky flair
that is unmistakably Icelandic.

It's, kind of, Bohemian
and backpacker-y,

and yet, at the same time,
it's lined with high-end shops

and a killer food scene.

In short, there's really
no place else like it,

which is, perhaps,
not surprising

considering it's an isolated
island of modern-day Vikings.

Iceland's capital sits just
below the Arctic Circle

and at the base
of a massive volcano

that's anything but dormant.

The unique geography also
contributes to a feeling

that, in the summer months,

can drive a person
a little crazy.

It is, and I [BLEEP]
you not, 11:30 at night.

It's like the sun is broken.
Nothing works.

Why?
How does anybody sleep here?

It doesn't make any sense.

[ Sighs ]

Don't let the metropolitan
veneer of Reykjavik fool you.

Iceland is wild.

Just a few miles out of town
is a brutal land

exactly like the one
the Vikings first saw

when they arrived here from
Scandinavia 1,200 years ago.

By the time they got to Iceland,

the Vikings were already
a military powerhouse,

but they weren't yet
the cultural force

that would resonate
through history.

To find out how Iceland
helped the Vikings' empire

and legend endure,

I traveled to the ancient
village of Reykholt,

where I meet
archaeologist Kevin Smith

and his colleague
Gudmundur Olafsson.

So let's talk
a little bit about

how the Vikings
came to be here.
OLAFSSON: Hmm.

So in what year did the Vikings
make it to Iceland, roughly?

Roughly around 870.
Around 870.

Why?
Why come here?

It seems like
a very remote place.

Hmm.
It's a hard winter.

It's kind of a imposing
landscape, really.

One of the reasons is it was
there, and it was unoccupied.

So if you think about it,
coming from Scandinavia,

here's a huge island,
nobody there.

This is a great place
to set up shop.
Right.

And that is kind of
the Viking way, right?

They just keep, sort of,
pushing out and out

and finding new places.

GATES: The Vikings in Iceland
farmed volcanic soil here

and perfected new skills they
hadn't mastered in Scandinavia,

like writing.

Reykholt is culturally vital
to Iceland and the Vikings

because it is
the hometown of a writer

who's work makes Shakespeare
look like a flash in the pan.

This is the former home
of Snorri Sturluson.
Correct.

And I would say that
many people,

by many people
I mean me...
Mm-hmm.

...don't really know
who that is,

but this is a name
that we should know, right?

Absolutely.

Sturluson was a local chieftain

who wrote down
the oral traditions

of the Norseman's mythology

into a work known
as the "Prose Edda."

The book features
gods and legends

we're still telling
stories about today,

Odin, the Allfather,

Thor, the thunder god
with his mighty hammer,

and Freyja, the goddess of
love, fertility, and war.

As the Viking myths
encouraged warriors

to join their fallen
brethren in Valhalla,

so too did their gods
prepare for Ragnarok,

a world-ending cataclysm
when the gods would perish

in the flame of
the fire demon, Surtr.

I'm sure
the "Thor: Ragnarok" movie

will be totally faithful
to all of this.
Absolutely.

What is amazing is how much
of literary and pop culture

has been influenced
by Viking mythology...

Mm-hmm.
...by Norse
mythology.

I mean, look at "Game of
Thrones" right now.

That same sense of the battle
in the north of the Frosts,

the Giants,
and such coming.

C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling,
"Lord of the Rings,"

Tolkien was a scholar
of Old Norse and Old English,

even going to the Westerns,
the frontier sense of this...

Right.
...lone person
against the others

and either defending law
or being an outlaw.

The word "outlaw" that we have
is a word from Old Norse.

Outlaw isn't the only English
word we get from the Old Norse.

Husband, haggle, and hell
are just a few,

and that's only
from the H's.

All told, there are
hundreds that we use

every day, literally.

You may not realize it,

but the names of
several days of the week

are taken directly
from Old Norse.

Wednesday, that's Wodin's,
AKA, Odin's day.

Thursday, that's Thor's day.

Friday, Freya's day.

So the gods
are right there.
Yeah, the gods
are right there.

The three top gods.

The three top gods
that you always hear

in Snorri's descriptions
were Odin, Thor, and Frey,

and they're three days
of the week, side by side.

The big question is how did this
mythology add to their success?

In Iceland, it's...

We're just beginning to come
into focus about that,

and today, we'd like
to take you up

into the mountains here,
up under the glaciers.

It certainly is a place
where mythology and archeology

all come together in a really
kind of spectacular place,

and I'm hoping you'll come
with us to take a look at it.

I would love to see it.
Fantastic.

Let's go.
Let's go.

Deep in the wilds of Iceland,
Kevin knows a place

where the Norse myths
weren't just stories,

where monsters
and demons dwelled,

and only the Vikings
dared to tread.

So now, we're heading to
one of the most rugged

frontiers on Earth

to uncover the last secret
of the Vikings' greatness.

GATES: In order to learn
how the Vikings' mythology

helped make them
a world player,

archaeologists Kevin Smith
and Gudmundur Olafsson

are bringing me to a site

where myth and history
violently collide.

To get there, we drive onto
a road unlike any on Earth.

Wait, what is all that?

SMITH:
That is a lava field.

That's lava?
That's lava.

And it's enormous.

Eventually, we run out
of what little road we have.

Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi.

This is like driving
on the moon.

I would like
to congratulate you.

I think in 10 years
of driving

on some of the worst roads
in the world,

you have found
the worst one.

Perfect.
Yeah.

This is award-winning here.

There's a reason that Iceland
is one big pothole.

The island has over
30 volcanoes,

and the ground
on which we're driving

was once a raging
sea of molten rock.

Though this was once one of the
hottest places on the planet,

it now looks like we should be
less concerned with fire...

Okay.

The river is high.

...and more with water.

The road is gone.

Gudmundur, you think
we can get through that?

Should be.
Should be.

Should be only
1 or 2 feet deep.

All right.

Okay, here we go.

Window closed.

I mean, if it's that deep,
we're screwed.

All right.
Fair enough.

Okay, boys.
Hold your breath.

Okay.

It's deeper than
2 feet over here.

It's real deep.
It's dragging it.

Ah!

[ Engine sputters ]

Come on, girl.

Come on, girl.

[ Sputtering continues ]

There's more
"Expedition" to come.

My investigation
of the Vikings

takes me to the edge
of the apocalypse.

This is a god-killer.
This is death itself.

GATES: And then...
I'm headed to one of the most

dangerous environments
on Earth...

Iceberg!
Turn, turn.

...to discover why
the Vikings vanished.

So life is getting
harder here.
Yeah, exactly.

And finally...

I'm tackling the biggest
mystery of all.

This is going to
be interesting.

Did the Vikings discover
what is now the United States?

If this is real,
it's history-changing.

Next time on
"Expedition Unknown."