In Northern Europe during the Middle Ages, there lived a tribe so feared by
all coastal peoples that even the mention of their name sent bolts of panic to all
God-fearing peasants. Led by savage leaders with wild, notorious names as Eric the
Red and Leif Ericsson, they looted and robbed the shores of the North Sea, killing
with no mercy while extending their conquests far into France, England, and Germany.
These people are now, of course, known to us as the Vikings.
The above statements typify a falsely tinted image that most people have of
Vikings. In reality the Vikings were not as fierce as they were cunning and courage–
ous. They sailed expertly in low, squat ships ruggedly engineered to move witli speed
and silence. They were not afraid to venture beyond the coast,
even
four centuries
before Columbus discovered America, a feat that for its time and without the aid
of a compass was monumental.
The greatest treasure, however, that the Vikings left for us their posterity were
their sagas of Viking adventure. It is from these alone that we learn in fine detail the
complete nature of these people, their philosophies, their religion, their conquests.
We know, for instance, that about II 00 A.D. a warrior named Braine traveled off
course on a voyage to Greenland to land in what is now North America.
In a very real sense our Blueprint is our saga, our story, our epic poem of our
life at Tech. It reflects for us our struggle and apprehension.
It
is a record of our
failures and accomplishments. In short, it is a tablet of our search for knowledge and
a reminder of how far we have gone in reaching that goal.
More important, as the Viking sagas were to their posterity, this book should
be a reminder to us of the principles taught us during our tenure at Tech and a
warning to us never to close our eyes to truth and accept the apparent because we
have been too lax to probe for the essence. This is the real purpose of an education;
may we never veer from these standards.
