User blog:Elgb333/Season 2 Finale: Marco Polo vs Leif Erikson



To finally end one frutiful season of blood, gore and awesomeness, I give to you one final badass battle that will take us across the known and unknown worlds, though rough seas and giant mountains, in an adventure that would span the length of our admiration for this world and beyond it.

It's a battle between two of the greatest world traveller and adventurers in history!

Marco Polo: The venetian merchant, whose dangerous trek connected the Far East and the Known West!

vs

Leif Erikson: The steelhardy viking who mastered the Atlantic Ocean and discovered America!

Who is DEADLIEST?!

Marco Polo
Marco Polo (1254 – January 8–9, 1324) was a Venetian merchant traveller whose travels are recorded in Livres des merveilles du monde (Book of the Marvels of the World, also known as The Travels of Marco Polo, c. 1300), a book that introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China. Marco Polo was not the first European to reach China, but he was the first to leave a detailed chronicle of his experience. This book inspired Christopher Columbus and many other travellers. There is a substantial literature based on Polo's writings; he also influenced European cartography, leading to the introduction of the Fra Mauro map.

He learned the mercantile trade from his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, who travelled through Asia, and met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, He travelled the silk road, fought bandits and other challenges along the way, before being inducted into the Mongolian court. Before returning 24 years later to find Venice at war with Genoa. Marco led an army during the Venetian–Genoese Wars, before he was captured and imprisoned, to which he dictated his story to a fellow prisoner. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married, and had three children. He died in 1324 and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Venice.

Weapons and Abilities
Short= Knightly Sword The knightly sword is the most common and widespread sword during the High Middle Ages. It is a straight, double-edged weapon with a single-handed cruciform hilt and a blade length of about 70 to 80 centimetres (28 to 31 in). It was popular for knight and men-at-arms in many European Wars of its days, and Marco Polo may have used one during his brief tenure in the Venetian-Genoese wars. In many drawings and depictions of Marco Polo after his death, he is always depicted wearing his colorful Eastern costumes. One of the ornaments that stood with Marco polo in many illustrations is his prized decorated Mongol saber. The Turko-Mongol saber had a long, curved blade with a single cutting edge, and has a blade length of 48.5 inches. Besides his sword, Marco Polo is also depicted carrying a traditional Mongol composite bows. A very deadly weapon that help created the Mongolian Empire, Marco Polo would have no doubt been trained to use one during decades as member of the Mongolian court. The Mongol bow is a recurved composite bow consisting of a wooden core, with horn on the belly (facing the archer) and sinew on the back (away from the archer), all held together with animal glue. It had a maximum range of 500 meters, and contrary to popular belief, also worked well on foot.
 * Straight double-edged blade
 * 31 inch blade
 * Pommel
 * Cold Steel
 * -|Mid= Turko-Mongol Saber
 * Curved single-edged blade
 * 48.5 inch blade
 * -|Long= Composite Bow
 * Steel-tipped arrows. Mongol archers used a wide variety of arrows (such as armor-piercing arrows, wide tipped assault arrows, fire arrows)
 * 350 meters range

Leif Erikson
Leif Erikson (970 – c. 1020) was an Icelandic explorer considered by some as the first European to land in North America (excluding Greenland), before Christopher Columbus. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern-day Canada. Leif was the son of Erik the Red and his wife Thjodhild, and the grandson of Thorvaldr Ásvaldsson, and distant relative of Naddodd, and was a Viking in his early days.

Erikson was described as wise, considerate, and strong man of striking appearance. Leif was the son of Erik the Red, the founder of the first Norse settlement in Greenland and a ruthless chieftain known for his bloody conquest of Green. He was likely born in Iceland, and grew up in the family estate Brattahlíð in the Eastern Settlement in Greenland. Leif had two known sons: Thorgils, born to noblewoman Thorgunna in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as chieftain of the Greenland settlement.

Weapons and Abilities
Short= Viking Sword The Viking long Sword had a straight blade with two cutting edges and a one-handed hilt with a lobed pommel. The blade had deep fullers running the length of the blade to lighten it. The weapon was about to and a half to three feet long, although later swords were longer. It also has a larnyard to prevent the sword from being disarmed. In many depictions of Leif Erikson in contemporary times, such as his sculptures and the US commemorative stamp, has him carrying an axe by his side. The Dane axe is an early type of battle axe, primarily used during the transition between the European Viking Age and early Middle Ages. Viking battle axes had a wrought iron head and a high carbon steel edge and a wooden pole, making them cheap and, unlike a sword, could be made by a village blacksmith with no special skills. Viking bows were used primarily for hunting but were also used in battles. In mass battles, archers opened fire before the opposing sides closed to fight at close range. Bows were made from the wood of a yew, ash, or elm. Typically, they were 1.6 to 2m (60 to 80 in) long. A complete bow found at Hedeby was made of yew and was 192cm long. But what makes the Viking bow so unique is not its size or its power, but its speed. Vikings were know to chuck away barrage of arrows after arrows in just seconds. In one saga, enemies of the Viking reported that the hail of arrows the vikings released felt like "sleet, hail, and rain."
 * Straight double-edged sword
 * 36 inches
 * Large pommel
 * Iron
 * -|Mid= Dane Axe
 * Axe head with single sharp surface
 * 48 inches overall length
 * -|Long= Viking Bow
 * 200 meters

X-Factors
Marco Polo vs Leif Erikson

35 - Training - 85

In this category, I gave the edge straight to Leif Erikson. No matter how you look at it, Marco Polo has always been a merchant. While he may have some form of basic training during his travels and as part of the Mongolian court,  this is nothing compared to the viking training that Leif Erikson had. Like all Vikings he was trained and morphed as young as 12 years old in one of the harshest lifestyles in history.

60 - Experience - 40

It took me some time researching the adventures of these two men, and in the end I have to give this to Marco Polo. Don't get me wrong, Leif Erikson's still a viking. But the problem about him is that there's been little to no mention of him having fought any battles at all, or even having any recorded military career. We can all argue that he may have fought in Eric the Red's bloody wars, but still those are just assumptions. Marco Polo himself is also shrouded in mystery. While many historians believe that he (probably) reached China and met Kublai Khan, many of his stories of travelling have been fiction. He definately lied about fighting in the Batte of Xiangyang or in the campaign of a legendary Christian king of the East named Prester John. But still, he did indeed have to go through a lot of obstacles in his journey, such as bandits, pirates and even cannibals from the Bay of Bengal, and as an envoy of the Khan he may have overseer some military campaigns himself. In Europe, Polo also fought briefly as a commander during the Venetian-Genoese War.

80 - Physicality - 90

Both men have their own fair share of surving impossible odds and enduring every sort of bodily harm mother nature has thrown at them. Marco Polo is no slouch in being physical for he trekked both land and sea, but this is nothing against Erikson who honed his body in the way of the Viking.

90 - Intelligence - 75

To sum it all up, we need to see each warrior's accomplishments and feats. Leif Erikson is no doubt a born leader. He singlehandedly led his fellow Vikings in a colony across the Atlantic. In many accounts he's always described as this tall but soft-spoken and wise leader. Marco Polo on the other hand, may have been too young to lead men, but was still a capable and cunning individual. The Khan didn't just made him part of Mongolian court too for nothing. This was a guy who had a firm grasp on politics and moving people across the Eastern lands (and he also speaks 5 languages so there's that). But what really gives the edge for Marco Polo is his cunning. After serving the Khan, he did something that no one in their right minds would ever though of doing: He ran away and escaped from the Khan. And this isn't just a ordinary runaway, he actually escaped from the clutches of Kubla frigging Khan himself.