What Does SKOL Really Mean?!
You’ve heard it at every Minnesota Vikings Football game since 2016. There’s various ways to say it. Skol Vikes! SKOL! But what does it really mean? As a Vikings fan, I get asked every once in a while, and I knew the basic answer, but I wanted to dive deeper! After some research, here’s what I found regarding the SKOL chant for the Minnesota Vikings:
Danish, Swedish, Norwegian? The word, Skol is actually from Skål, which is native to those three languages. SKOL is loosely translated to the word “cheers.” or is a like a salute, or toast. Since the historical Vikings are from European descent, the term was used with the team, as sort of a cheers during games, or another way to show support for the Minnesota Vikings. However, the Vikings do make it into a “Minnesota Vikings” war cry, by cheering it to the beat of a drum!
This chant was brought into the newly constructed US Bank Stadium as the Main Minnesota Vikings chant in 2016, although “Skol Vikings” has been a saying since the beginning of the NFL team, back in the 1960’s. The chant itself, the clapping above the fan’s heads and all, comes from Iceland’s Soccer team surprisingly. The Iceland Soccer team had an incredible upset in 2016, beating England, and started the chant, with a slight variation to how we perform it here in Minnesota. Instead of yelling “Skol!”, they chanted “Huh!”, as shown in the video below:
The Vikings soon asked if the Minnesota team could use a similar form of this chant, and the Iceland Soccer team allowed it. An Iceland Soccer player and Thor Bjornsson (The MASSIVE guy in the television show, Game of Thrones) created a video that was released before the first Vikings game in 2016, showing the fans how to do the SKOL Chant. The rest is history! The Vikings organization has become known for this goose-bump creating chant, that literally shakes the stadium. As a Vikings fan, and have had the opportunity to participate in the chant at a game, it is quite an amazing experience!
The chant isn’t over-performed at the Vikings games either. Typically, there are just two formal Skol Chants during each game. At the beginning, and sometime during the game. This doesn’t include the fan created chants, or the impromptu chants of an insane play, game winning touchdown, or something crazy happening! It’s an awesome experience, and a great sign of support for our Minnesota Vikings. SKOL VIKES!
Information Sources Used in gathering information for the article:
1. https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/06/15/iceland-skol-clap-meaning-explained-world-cup-history
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skol,_Vikings
3. https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/minnesota-vikings-chant-skol-meaning