6

This recent question: In Scandinavia, was there a cultural continuity from Goths to Vikings or were they two different groups of people? was tagged as , which reads:

For questions about the Scandinavian seafaring raiders and traders of the 8th--11th centuries AD, as well as about their home culture.

So, the OP was immediately reminded (in a very polite way, of course) that his question was not about vikings, because the vikings were the raiders and they came from several different cultures.

So, the tag is on-topic (by its own description) in questions that are not about vikings, and in which mentions to vikings prompt a correction by the public. Mmmm... that does not sound very "user friendly".

Maybe it would be interesting to remove the part about the "home culture" and explain instead that question about their different home cultures should be tagged, let's say, or even (to be created) ?

1
  • As mentioned, I think "vikings" and "viking age" are useful colloquialisms no more inaccurate than phrases like American Indians. Running with that theme, the term Colonial America isn't just used to describe the world of European colonists, but often also natives, and imported slaves, and it often implies focus on only very particular areas of the colonized Americas. The word "vikings" is like that to me; technically wrong, but useful, denoting Scandinavia prior to full conversion. That said, it does seem to really bother a lot of folks, and on that basis I don't mind seeing it replaced.
    – Random
    Jun 20, 2018 at 4:44

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
8

Redirect it to . This would encompass both the people and the culture.

Note that in Scandinavian scholarship, "Medieval Scandinavia" would be interpreted as Scandinavia after the Viking age.

1
  • 1
    This is even better.
    – Semaphore Mod
    Jun 11, 2018 at 17:45
8

I agree with this proposal, and especially with adding a redirect to redirecting to as @andejons suggested is even better, imho. If that tag doesn't already exist, please feel free to create it by editing it into that question.

While I can see the merits of the old wording, in that it probably seems intuitive to frame questions like that to some people, as you say its not technically correct. I think a redirection in the excerpts is a good enough resolution for that.

3
  • Started to write an answer against this, but the more I looked into it, ...perhaps its OK. The main issue is that we do not currently have a Norse tag. However, if its defined roughly the way WP defines it (the people that spoke Old Norse), I think it wouldn't be too bad. Its inclusive of Vikings, and only slops over the Viking Age by a century or two on either side.
    – T.E.D. Mod
    Jun 11, 2018 at 20:09
  • Perhaps it is a meta question in itself, but how is it determined if such a proposal is accepted? Should I feel encouraged to create the tag 'norse' or not?
    – b.Lorenz
    Jun 12, 2018 at 19:46
  • 1
    @b.Lorenz If no one objects after a suitable time period, I would say it's accepted by the community. Say, a week.
    – Semaphore Mod
    Jun 12, 2018 at 20:21

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .