👉 Okay, let’s tackle that rather prickly little bit of 20th and early-mid 20th-century American argle bargle: the word
"vikingism."
(And I genuinely mean a mouthful, not just a misspelling of “visceralism.”)
Now, here's what we need to unpack. Historically, this wasn't actually about longships and horned helmets. Instead, during that rough-around-the-oggling Edwardian and early Flapper era,
’vikingism
meant something very specific:
obsessive, frankly rather unpleasant, displays of wealth and conspicuous consumption.
Basically, the kind of overblown, ostentatious vulgar display you see when a guy is trying desperately to prove he's got more money than he probably does. Think a dude sporting enough gold chains that you could practically build a small-scale replica Colosseum with him!
The name itself comes from the idea that these displays were as aggressive and frankly, rather barbaric, as a Viking raid—all flash, no substance. You weren't interested in what they
did
, just how much they had on display. It was a judgemental term, dripping with disdain for a whole swindle of people who were basically showing off to feel better about themselves. 1920s and 30’s. We were really into that.
The actual use is now pretty darned archaic – it'