Abstract
The Vikings roamed the seas around ad 1000, and through their engagements with other cultures it set a lasting stamp on the world view on Scandinavians, lasting all the way until today. Although the Vikings were mainly traders and merchants benefiting from innovation in naval navigation and seamanship, coupled with a distinct savage nature, they did have habits similar with the Modern Scandinavian people.
In this master thesis the similarities with modern Danish people and the past Vikings, will be identified and mentioned as historical facts and furthermore used to see any future possibilities with the current Danish cultural values.
The future possibilities and ideas for a country is by some renowned as the concept of nation branding and this particular concept has its positive and negative connotations throughout the world. The interesting thing about the concept of nation branding is however that is has changed focus. Primarily it has been originating from the marketing arena and the symbolist way of viewing the world, but now it has changed to be something more; a deeper social, cultural and even psychological discipline on a larger scale.
The future possibilities and ideas alias nation branding are sometimes put in relief with impossibility as the terminology according to some is difficult to transfer from the marketing discipline and onto something multi faced in a cultural and political setting. Even the most dedicated and practiced expert (Simon Anholt) in the nation brand field, occasionally expresses his disbelief with the discipline of nation branding. The Danish Government have strong beliefs in the nation branding concept and with the nation brand index, which is an indication measurement tool invented by Simon Anholt himself.
The trading skills, technical ideas and seamanship (etc.) that the Vikings were known for and those skills that the modern Danish people are known for, are according to some melting together as the Viking background cannot escape the Danish culture, even though 1000 years have vanished. This belief that some people consist of, will be investigated in the current master thesis by mapping out representative statements on the Danish culture and Denmark in general. The analysis will be divided into three different sections. And the comparison between values of past Vikings and modern day Danish people, in phase three, will be transferred into that discussion which is secluded from the perception analysis in phase one and two of the analysis.
Are Danish people, the happiest people in the world or are Danish people a developed bi-product of a Viking era? Are the Danish people known for something in the world except for the Viking image? And is it possible to brand a small sand corn nation in a large sandbox-world, and make people change or make up their minds about it?