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Olof Skötkonung

Olof Skötkonung, (c. 980–1022) sometimes stylized as Olaf the Swede, was King of Sweden, son of Eric the Victorious and, according to Icelandic sources, Sigrid the Haughty. He succeeded his father in c. 995. He stands at the threshold of recorded history, since he is the first Swedish ruler about whom there is substantial knowledge. He is regarded as the first king known to have ruled both the Swedes and the Geats, and the first king in Sweden to have minted coins. In Sweden, the reign of Olof Skötkonung is considered to mark the transition from the Viking Age to the Middle Ages. He was the first Christian king in central Sweden. Norse beliefs persisted in parts of Sweden until the 12–13th century, with some keeping the tradition into modern times.

Olof and the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard formed an alliance and defeated the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason in the Battle of Svolder in 999 or 1000. After the battle, the victorious leaders split Norway into areas of control. Heimskringla gives a detailed account of the division. Olof received four districts in Trondheim as well as Møre, Romsdal and Rånrike.

Etymology
One of many explanations for the name Skötkonung is that it is derived from the Swedish word "skatt", which can mean either "taxes" or "treasure". The latter meaning has been interpreted as "tributary king" and one English scholar speculates about a tributary relationship to the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard, who was his stepfather. That explanation, however, is not supported by evidence or historical sources. Another possible explanation of the name refers to the fact that he was the first Swedish king to mint coins. An ancient land ownership ceremony which placed a parcel of earth in someone's lap (Swedish: sköte) was called scotting and may have been involved in this epithet.

The Old Norse "Óláfr sœnski" means "Olaf the Swedish", an epithet used to distinguish him from the Norwegian kings Olaf Tryggvasson and Olaf Haraldsson.

Life
General knowledge of Olof's life is mostly based on Snorri Sturluson's and Adam of Bremen's accounts, which have been subject to criticism from some scholars. The eldest account by the German ecclesiastic chronicler Adam of Bremen (c. 1075), relates that Sweyn Forkbeard was expelled from his Danish realm by the Swedish King Eric the Victorious in the late 10th century. When Eric died (c. 995), Sweyn returned and regained his kingdom, marrying Eric's widow. Meanwhile, however, Olof had succeeded his father Eric, gathered an army, and launched a surprise attack against Sweyn. The Danish king was once again expelled while Olof occupied his lands. After this, however, the conflict was resolved. Since Sweyn had married Olof's mother, he was reinstated on the Danish throne and the two kings were thereafter allies. Snorri Sturluson (c. 1230) and the other Icelandic saga writers likewise say that Sweyn married Olof's mother after the death of Eric the Victorious, but without mentioning any conflict. Also, Snorri describes Sweyn and Olof as equal allies when they defeated the Norwegian king Olav Tryggvason in the battle of Svolder in 1000, and thereafter divided Norway between themselves (see below). It is commonly believed that Adam's account about Sweyn's defeats at the hands of Eric and Olof is partial and might have been misinterpreted; the marriage to Olof's mother may in fact have sealed Sweyn's senior position.

Viking expedition to Wendland
According to Snorri, Olof Skötkonung led a Viking expedition to Wendland early in his reign. He captured Edla, the daughter of a Wendish chieftain, and kept her as mistress. She gave him the son Emund (who was to become king of Sweden), and the daughters Astrid (later wife of Olaf II of Norway) and Holmfrid (married to Sven Jarl of Norway). He later married Estrid of the Obotrites, and they had a son, Anund Jacob, and a daughter, Ingegerd Olofsdotter.

Alliance with Sweyn Forkbeard
While Adam of Bremen praises Olof as a good Christian, Icelandic authors paint an unfavourable picture of the king as haughty and prickly. Olof is said to have preferred royal sports to war, which may explain the ease with which Sweyn Forkbeard retook the Danish lands Olof's father Eric had conquered. Olof may also have lost the right to tribute which his predecessors had preserved in what is now Estonia and Latvia.

In 1000, he joined forces with Sweyn Forkbeard and with the Norwegian Jarls Eric and Sven, against the Norwegian King Olaf Tryggvason. The circumstances have been much debated in modern historical research, but a contemporary poem confirms that Eric Jarl gathered auxiliaries in Sweden: "The belligerent jarl / gathered much manpower / in Svithiod, the chief went / southward to the battle." Olaf Tryggvason was attacked by the allied fleets in the Battle of Svolder, the location of which is uncertain. It may have been either in Øresund or Pomerania. Olaf Tryggvason disappeared during the battle and Norway was appropriated by the allied lords. The bulk of the conquests went to Sweyn Forkbeard while Olof gained a part of Trøndelag as well as modern Bohuslän. These lands were placed under Sven Jarl, son-in-law of the king.

Norwegian-Swedish War
When the Norwegian kingdom was reestablished by Olaf II of Norway (Olaf the Saint) in 1015, a new war erupted between Norway and Sweden. There is a circumstantial account of this in Snorri Sturluson's work. As he writes, many men in both Sweden and Norway tried to reconcile the kings. In 1018, Olof's cousin, the earl of Västergötland, Ragnvald Ulfsson and the Norwegian king's emissaries Björn Stallare and Hjalti Skeggiason had arrived at the thing of Uppsala in an attempt to sway the Swedish king to accept peace and as a warrant marry his daughter Ingegerd Olofsdotter to the king of Norway. The Swedish king was greatly angered and threatened to banish Ragnvald from his kingdom, but Ragnvald was supported by his foster-father Thorgny the Lawspeaker

Thorgny delivered a powerful speech in which he reminded the king of the great Viking expeditions in the East that predecessors such as Erik Anundsson and Björn had undertaken, without having the hubris not to listen to their men's advice. Thorgny himself had taken part in many successful pillaging expeditions with Olof's father Eric the Victorious and even Eric had listened to his men. The present king wanted nothing but Norway, which no Swedish king before him had desired. This displeased the Swedish people, who were eager to follow the king on new ventures in the East to win back the kingdoms that paid tribute to his ancestors, but it was the wish of the people that the king make peace with the king of Norway and give him his daughter Ingegerd as queen.

Thorgny finished his speech by saying: "if you do not desire to do so, we shall assault you and kill you and not brook any more of your warmongering and obstinacy. Our ancestors have done so, who at Mula thing threw five kings in a well, kings who were too arrogant as you are against us." Upon hearing this, King Olof complied with the demands of the peasantry for the time being.

However, far from keeping his promise Olof married his daughter Ingegerd to Yaroslav I the Wise instead. When Olaf of Norway heard about the arrangement he was furious and intent on attacking Olof Skötkonung. However, the Geatish jarl Ragnvald Ulfsson, colluding with Olaf II's skald Sigvat Thordarson, managed to avert the impending war. Olof's other daughter Astrid stayed with Ragnvald at the time, and it was agreed that she would take Ingegerd's place. Unbeknownst to Olof, she traveled to Norway and married Olaf II. That happened c. 1019. Olof Skötkonung was highly upset, but soon ran into trouble at home. Both the Swedes and Geats were displeased with the self-willed rule of the king. The lawspeaker of Västergötland, Emund, traveled to Gamla Uppsala and spoke to Olof's councilors, and a settlement was made. Olof agreed to share his power with his son Anund Jacob who was 10 or 12 years at the time. Olof was also forced to accept a settlement with Olaf II of Norway at Kungahälla. The veracity of Snorri Sturluson's account of Olof Skötkonung, written more than two centuries later, is difficult to assess; however, he quotes several probably genuine scaldic verses which allude to some of the related events.

One result of the hostilities between Olof Skötkonung and Olaf of Norway was, according to Snorri Sturluson, that the people of Jämtland and Hälsingland came under the Swedish rather than Norwegian king. Previously the Jämtlanders and part of the Hälsinglanders had adhered to Norway since the days of Hakon the Good. The veracity of this is not known, but the medieval provincial laws of Jämtland show Swedish influences, and there are indications that Christianity arrived from Central Sweden in the 11th century. Jämtland reverted to the Norwegian king in 1111, while Hälsingland was henceforth under Sweden.

Diplomacy
Olof's ally Sweyn Forkbeard occupied England in 1013, but died shortly afterwards, and the Anglo-Saxon ruler Æthelred the Unready was able to return. According to Adam of Bremen, "the son of the king, Cnut, returned home with the army and prepared a new war against the English. Olav [II], whom the Norwegians had chosen as their commander, now separated from the Danish kingdom. Cnut, who felt threatened from two directions, then entered an alliance with his brother Olof Eriksson who ruled in Sweden, and planned to take power in England, and then in Norway, with his assistance. Equipped with a thousand large ships, Cnut thus traversed the British Sea". From Swedish rune stones it also appears that many people joined the Danish Viking expeditions of the early 11th century. After Cnut the Great became King of England in 1016, he sent the two sons of the deceased King Edmund Ironside to Olof (who was either Canute's half-brother or stepbrother), supposedly with instructions to have the children murdered. Instead of having them killed, the two boys were secretly sent either to Kiev, where Olof's daughter Ingigerd was the Queen, or to Poland, where Canute's uncle Bolesław I Chrobry was duke.

Christian King
Included in the Westrogothic law from c. 1240 is the first brief Swedish chronicle, which begins with Olof Skötkonung. It relates that Olof was baptized in Husaby in Västergötland by the missionary Sigfrid, and made generous donations on spot. At Husaby parish church, there is a sign commemorating his baptism; nearby is a well thought to be the same sacred spring where Olof was baptized.

He was the first Swedish king to remain a Christian until his death. However, the circumstances about his baptism are not clear. A document from 1008 says that a certain bishop, dispatched by Archbishop Bruno of Querfurt, visited the Suigi tribe and managed to baptize the king, whose queen was already Christian. 1,000 people and seven communities followed his example. The Suigi have sometimes been identified as the Swedes, though this has been rejected by several other scholars. On the other hand, Olof's coinage (see below) indicates that he was a Christian already at the time of his accession in c. 995.

According to Adam of Bremen, Olof planned to tear down the Uppsala temple, which was allegedly an important cult centre. The fact that a large part of the Swedes were still pagan forced him to abandon this aim. The pagans made an agreement with Olof to the effect that he, if he wished to be a Christian, must exercise his royal authority in a province of his choice. If he founded a church, he was not supposed to force anyone to convert. Olof was content with this and installed a bishopric in the province of Västergötland, closer to Denmark and Norway. On the wishes of Olof, the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen anointed Thurgot as the first Bishop in Skara. This Thurgot was successful in disseminating Christianity among the West Geats and east Geats.

The legend of St. Sigfrid, known since the 13th century, relates that the still pagan Olof called in the English Archbishop of York, Sigfrid, to teach the new faith in his realm. On his way, Sigfrid and his three nephews came to Värend in southern Småland where the twelve local tribes endorsed Christianity at a Thing. Sigfrid left his nephews to tend matters in Värend and proceeded to Olof's court where the king and his family were baptised. Meanwhile, a heathen reaction in Värend cost the lives of the nephews, whose heads were sunk in the Växjö Lake. Hearing about this, Sigfrid returned to Värend where the heads were discovered through a miracle. King Olof then appeared in Värend with a force, punished the murderers, and forced the locals to yield properties to the Church. Whether the legend reflects the expansion of Olof's realm to the south is unsure. The account seems to incorporate various elements in order to legitimise the establishment of the Bishopric of Växjö in c. 1170. It is nevertheless known from Adam of Bremen that an English missionary called Sigfrid preached among the Swedes and Geats in the first half of the 11th century.

Coinage and extent of the realm
Olof Skötkonung is the first king in Sweden known to have minted coins, of which a few hundred are extant and serve as contemporary source material about his reign. His son and successor Anund Jacob also minted coins, but after him the practice stopped, and the next coins minted in Sweden are by Knut Eriksson in late 12th century.

When he stamped coins in Sigtuna in the province of Uppland Olof used the word rex for kingOLUF REX as in the coin displayed above or OLAF REX. The use of Latin seems to suggest that he was already baptised at this time but on the other hand the coins were imitating English pennies in type and style. Sigtuna is written SITUN, ZINT (in the coin above), ZTNETEI, or SIDEI. The two last have been deciphered as Si(gtuna) Dei meaning God's Sigtuna. The earliest of Olof's coins merely depict him as "King in Sigtuna", while the later ones have "King of the Swedes".

It has been suggested that this change in nomenclature relates to a widening of Olof's base of power around 1000. Sigtuna may be understood as the area in Uppland ruled from the town of this name, while rulership over the Swedes may indicate a more extensive realm. Contemporary scaldic poetry indicates Olof as the ruler of the Swedes as well as the Geats (Götar), and the same goes for the account of Adam of Bremen. The exact nature of the relation between the Swedes and Geats, and the process by which a unified kingdom was created, has been intensively debated. While the unification has traditionally been thought to depart from the provinces around lake Mälaren some scholars hold that the Geatic provinces were leading the process, and that the construction of a Swedish kingdom was a long process that was only concluded in the 13th century.

Yngvars saga víðförla
According to Yngvars saga víðförla (Ingvar's saga) the Semigallians are also described as a tributary of Sweden and Olof. That the people of Semigallia paid taxes to Sweden and Olof. But that due to rebellion payment had ceased. Olof sent a Swedish force lead by Ingvar and subdued the rebellious Semigallian chieftains in war. According to Snorri Sturlasson, several countries in the East paid tribute to the Swedes. In the Olaf saga Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and all the countries longer inland paid tribute to Sweden as tributaries or client state. Several of these client states in the Baltic rose up after the regular Swedish military expedition in the Baltics stoped due to the war with Norway. Which could be connected to the uprising of the Semigallians in the Ingvars saga. Whatever dominion or tributary system Sweden had in the east Olaf seem to have lost due to uprisings. In the early 11 century whatever dominion the Swedish king seemed to have had over Aldeigjuborg seemed to have been lost. Even though Olaf received Aldeigjuborg as a dowry by Yaroslav. Several attempts were made to reclaim Swedish glory in the east receiving Aldegjuborg might have been one of those Swedish efforts. Aldeigjuborg in current Sankt Petersburg seem to have burned in 870s. Which coincides with a much larger presence of Swedish goods all over eastern Europe. The grains cultivated in Sankt Petersburg have the same DNA structure as Swedish grain in Birka indicating a strong Swedish presence in Western Russia. In the 10 century Swedish presence is found in all of Russia and Ukraine. In the late 10 century Aldeigjuborg seemed to have been burned again and the Swedish presence removed as described by Heimskringla indicating that the Slavic and Finnic peoples under Swedish control had rebelled.

Óláfsdrápa sænska
The Icelandic skald Óttarr svarti spent some time at Olof's court and composed the poem Óláfsdrápa sænska describing Olof's war expeditions in the east. The poem is interesting, since it gives a view of the reign of Olof: "The warrior guards his land, few kings are as mighty as him; Olof pleases the eagle, the Swedish king is outstanding". Other skalds who served Olof were Gunnlaugr ormstunga, Hrafn Önundarson and Gizurr svarti.

Death
Judging from Snorri Sturluson's chronology of events, Olof died a natural death in the winter of 1021–1022. Adam of Bremen asserts that he died at approximately the same time as Cnut the Great (1035), which is certainly too late.

Claims that he was martyred after refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods are likely due to a mix-up with the king Olof from Vita Ansgari and Olof Trätälja from Norse sources.

Since the 1740s, it has been claimed that he was buried in Husaby in the Christian part of his kingdom, but such identifications are controversial.

Family
Olof was the son of Eric the Victorious (Erik Segersäll) and a woman whose identity is debated. According to Adam of Bremen she was the sister or daughter of Boleslaw I Chrobry of Poland, but, according to Icelandic sources, she was Sigrid the Haughty (Sigrid Storråda), a daughter of the Viking chief Skoglar Toste. Certain sources say that Olof had a brother called Emunde.

With his mistress Edla, daughter of a Slavic chief, he first had three children:
 * Emund the Old, King of Sweden in c. 1050–1060
 * Astrid, d. after 1035, married to Olaf II of Norway (Olaf the Saint)
 * Holmfrid (possibly sister of Olof), married to Sven Jarl of Norway

With his spouse Queen Estrid he had two children:
 * Anund Jacob, King of Sweden in 1022–c. 1050
 * Ingegerd, d. 1050, married to Yaroslav I of Kiev

title: Olof Skötkonung


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Eurasian wryneck

The Eurasian wryneck or northern wryneck (Jynx torquilla) is a species of wryneck in the woodpecker family. They mainly breed in temperate regions of Europe and Asia. Most populations are migratory, wintering in tropical Africa and in southern Asia from Iran to the Indian subcontinent, but some are resident in northwestern Africa. It is a bird of open countryside, woodland and orchards.

Eurasian wrynecks measure about 16.5 cm in length and have bills shorter and less dagger-like than those of other woodpeckers. Their upperparts are barred and mottled in shades of pale brown with rufous and blackish bars and wider black streaks. Their underparts are cream speckled and spotted with brown. Their chief prey is ants and other insects, which they find in decaying wood or on the ground. The eggs are white as is the case with many birds that nest in holes and a clutch of seven to ten eggs is laid during May and June.

These birds get their English name from their ability to turn their heads through almost 180 degrees. When disturbed at the nest, they use this snake-like head twisting and hissing as a threat display. This odd behaviour led to their use in witchcraft, hence to put a "jinx" on someone.

Taxonomy and etymology
The Eurasian wryneck was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae in 1758. The type species came from Sweden.

The genus name Jynx is from the Ancient Greek name for this bird, iunx. The specific torquilla is Medieval Latin derived from torquere, to twist, referring to the strange snake-head movements. The bird was used as a charm to bring back an errant lover, the bird being tied to a piece of string and whirled around. The English "wryneck" refers to the same twisting movement and was first recorded in 1585.

The family Picidae has four subfamilies, the Picinae (woodpeckers), the Picumninae (piculets), the Jynginae (wrynecks) and the monotypic Nesoctitinae (Antillean piculet). Based on morphology and behaviour, the Picumninae was considered to be the sister clade of the Picinae. This has now been confirmed by phylogenetic analysis and the Jynginae are placed basal to the Picinae, Nesoctitinae and Picumninae.

Jynginae includes one genus (Jynx) and two species, the Eurasian wryneck and the red-throated wryneck (Jynx ruficollis), resident in sub-Saharan Africa. There are six subspecies of Jynx torquilla:
 * Jynx torquilla chinensis Hesse, 1911
 * Jynx torquilla himalayana Vaurie, 1959
 * Jynx torquilla mauretanica Rothschild, 1909
 * Jynx torquilla sarudnyi Loudon, 1912
 * Jynx torquilla torquilla Linnaeus, 1758
 * Jynx torquilla tschusii O. Kleinschmidt, 1907

Description
The Eurasian wryneck grows to about 17 cm in length. The subspecies Jynx torquilla tschusii weighs 26 to 50 g. It is a slim, elongated-looking bird with a body shape more like a thrush than a woodpecker. The upperparts are barred and mottled in shades of pale brown with rufous and blackish bars and wider black streaks. The rump and upper tail coverts are grey with speckles and irregular bands of brown. The rounded tail is grey, speckled with brown, with faint bands of greyish-brown and a few more clearly defined bands of brownish-black. The cheeks and throat are buff barred with brown. The underparts are creamy white with brown markings shaped like arrow-heads which are reduced to spots on the lower breast and belly. The flanks are buff with similar markings and the under-tail coverts are buff with narrow brown bars. The primaries and secondaries are brown with rufous-buff markings. The beak is brown, long and slender with a broad base and sharp tip. The irises are hazel and the slender legs and feet are pale brown. The first and second toes are shorter than the others. The first and fourth toes point backwards and the second and third point forwards, a good arrangement for clinging to vertical surfaces. The juvenile has a livery much similar to the adults but with a milder and less distinct coloration.

The call of the Eurasian wryneck is a series of repeated harsh, shrill notes quee-quee-quee-quee lasting for several seconds and is reminiscent of the voice of the lesser spotted woodpecker. Its alarm call is a short series of staccato "tuck"s and when disturbed on the nest it hisses.

Distribution and habitat
The Eurasian wryneck has a palearctic distribution. The breeding range of the nominate subspecies includes all of Europe to the Urals, except the British Isles and Iceland. In the north it reaches the Arctic Circle and the range includes Spain in the southwest. In the south and east it intergrades with J. t. tschusii (smaller and more reddish brown) which is found in Corsica, Italy, Dalmatia and parts of the Balkans. J. t. mauretanica (also smaller than the nominate form, light, with whitish throat and breast) is resident in Algeria and Morocco and possibly also the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and parts of Sicily. J. t. sarudnyi (considerably paler than the nominate with fainter markings) occurs in the Urals and then in a wide strip of Asia through southern Siberia, Central Asia, including the north-western Himalayas to the Pacific coast. J. t. chinensis breeds in eastern Siberia and northeastern and central China while J. t. himalayana breeds in Pakistan and the northwestern Himalayas. Eurasian wrynecks also inhabit the island of Sakhalin, Japan and the coastal areas of southern China.

The Eurasian wryneck is the only European woodpecker to undertake long-distance migrations. The wintering area of European species is located south of the Sahara, in a wide strip across Africa extending from Senegal, Gambia and Sierra Leone in the west to Ethiopia in the east. Its southern limit extends to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. The populations from West Asia use the same wintering areas. The Central and East Asian breeding birds winter in the Indian subcontinent or southern East Asia including southern Japan.

During the summer the bird is found in open countryside, parkland, gardens, orchards, heaths and hedgerows, especially where there are some old trees. It may also inhabit deciduous woodland and in Scandinavia it also occurs in coniferous forests.

Behaviour
The Eurasian wryneck sometimes forms small groups during migration and in its winter quarters but in the summer is usually found in pairs. It characteristically holds its head high with its beak pointing slightly upwards. A mutual display that occurs at any time of year involves two birds perched facing each other with their heads far back and beaks wide open, bobbing their heads up and down. Sometimes the head is allowed to slump sideways and hang limply. On other occasions, when excited, the head is shaken and twisted about violently. When disturbed on the nest or held in the hand, the neck contorts and twists in all directions. The bird sometimes feigns death and hangs limply with eyes closed.

On returning to the breeding area after migration, the birds set up territories. On farmland in Switzerland it has been found that old pear orchards with large numbers of ant nests are preferentially selected over other habitats. Areas used for vegetable cultivation provided useful habitat when they include areas of bare ground on which the birds can forage. Territories are not chosen at random as arriving birds favoured certain areas over others with the same territories being colonised first year after year. The presence of other Eurasian wrynecks in the vicinity is also a positive influence. Orchards in general, and older ones in particular, provide favoured territories, probably because the dense foliage is more likely to support high numbers of aphids and the ground beneath has scant vegetation cover, both of which factors increase the availability of ants, the birds' main prey. Despite some territories being consistently chosen over others, reproductive success in these territories was no higher than in others. Limiting factors for such crevice-nesting species as Eurasian wrynecks are both the availability of nesting sites and the number of ants and their ease of discovery. Modern farming practices such as the removal of hedges, forest patches and isolated trees and the increasing use of fertilisers and pesticides are disadvantageous to such birds.

The diet of the Eurasian wryneck consists chiefly of ants but beetles and their larvae, moths, spiders and woodlice are also eaten. Although much time is spent in the upper branches of trees, the bird sometimes perches in low bushes and mostly forages on the ground, moving around with short hops with its tail held in a raised position. It can cling to tree trunks, often moving obliquely, and sometimes pressing its tail against the surface as a prop. It does not make holes in bark with its beak but picks up prey with a rapid extension and retraction of its tongue and it sometimes catches insects while on the wing. Its flight is rather slow and undulating.

Breeding
The nesting site is variable and may be in a pre-existing hole in a tree trunk, a crevice in a wall, a hole in a bank, a sand martin's burrow or a nesting box. In its search for a safe, protected site out of reach of predators, it sometimes evicts a previous occupant, its eggs and nestlings. It uses no nesting material, and a clutch of normally seven to ten eggs is laid (occasionally five, six, eleven or twelve). The eggs average 20.8 x and weigh about 0.2 g. They are a dull white colour and partially opaque. Both sexes are involved in incubation, which takes twelve days, but the female plays the greater part. Both parents feed the chicks for about twenty days before they fledge. There is usually a single brood.

Status
The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the Eurasian wryneck as being of "least concern" in its Red List of Threatened Species. This is because it has a world population estimated at up to fifteen million individual birds and a very wide geographical range. The population may be decreasing to a certain extent but not at such a rate as to make the bird reach the threshold for a more threatened category. In continental Europe, the largest populations are in Spain, Italy, Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Belarus and Ukraine, and only in Romania is the population trend believed to be upward. In Russia, where there are believed to be 300,000 to 800,000 individuals, the population trend is unknown. In the United Kingdom the numbers of bird are on the decrease and it is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and is listed on Appendix II of the Bern Convention. It is protected as a migratory species under the Birds Directive in the European Union. In Switzerland, the population has also been decreasing, but the species has reacted positively to conservation measures such as the addition of nestboxes in suitable habitats.

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title: Eurasian wryneck


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Red-throated wryneck

The red-throated wryneck (Jynx ruficollis), also known as the rufous-necked wryneck or red-breasted wryneck, is a species of wryneck in the woodpecker family closely related to the Eurasian wryneck. Its three subspecies are resident in much of sub-Saharan Africa in open habitats with some trees. It is a slim, elongated bird about 19 cm in length, with a small head, fine bill, long fan-shaped tail and cryptic plumage intricately patterned in greys and browns. The sexes look similar, although males are slightly larger. The diet of the adults and young is almost entirely ants at all stages of their life cycles. The call of the red-throated wryneck is a series of repeated harsh, shrill notes. When threatened, a bird will twist its neck and head in a snake-like manner while making a hissing sound, presumably to deter predators.

The red-throated wryneck nests in pre-existing holes, usually in trees, preferring old barbet or woodpecker nests. The unlined nest cavity is usually 3 – above the ground, and the clutch is typically three or four white eggs, laid at one-day intervals. Both sexes incubate the eggs for 12–15 days until the blind, naked chicks hatch. The chicks are fed by both adults for 25–26 days until they fledge. There are usually two broods. The red-throated wryneck has a very extensive range, and its population is large and increasing. For this reason, it is evaluated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Taxonomy and etymology
The woodpeckers are an ancient bird family consisting of three subfamilies, the wrynecks, the piculets and the true woodpeckers, Picinae. DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis show that the wrynecks are a sister clade to other woodpeckers including the Picinae and probably diverged early from the rest of the family.

The wryneck subfamily Jynginae has one genus, Jynx, introduced in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. It contains two species, the Eurasian wryneck, J. torquilla, and the red-throated wryneck, J. ruficollis. The two wrynecks form a superspecies that probably separated early in their evolution from the piculets, although there has subsequently been only limited divergence between the Jynx species.

The red-throated wryneck was first identified by German ornithologist Johann Georg Wagler in 1830. It is also known as the rufous-necked wryneck or red-breasted wryneck. The genus name Jynx is from the Ancient Greek name for the Eurasian wryneck, ιυγξ, iunx, and ruficollis is from the Latin rufus, "rufous" and collum "neck". The English "wryneck" refers to the habit of birds in this genus of twisting and writhing their necks when agitated. It was first recorded in 1585.

The red-throated wryneck has three subspecies:
 * Jynx ruficollis ruficollis (Wagler, 1830), the nominate subspecies found in southeastern Gabon, southwest to eastern Uganda, southwestern Kenya, northern Tanzania, northern Angola, northwestern Zambia, Mozambique, Eswatini and eastern South Africa.
 * J. r. aequatorialis (Ruppell, 1842), the highlands of Ethiopia. Also known as the Ethiopian wryneck.
 * J. r. pulchricollis (Hartlaub, 1884), in Nigeria, Cameroon, South Sudan and northwestern Uganda. Also known as the bar-throated wryneck.

Fossil record
The woodpecker family appears to have diverged from other Piciformes about fifty million years ago, and a 2017 study considered that the split between Jynx and other woodpeckers occurred about 22.5million years ago. A fossil dating from the early Miocene, more than twenty million years ago, consisting of the distal end of a tarsometatarsus had some ‘’Jynx’’-like features, but was classed as an early piculet. By the (Pliocene five million years ago) woodpeckers were similar to those now extant. Fossil wrynecks are known from Europe in the Pleistocene, between 2.6million and 11,700 years ago.

Description

The red-throated wryneck grows to about 19 cm in length. The sexes are very similar in appearance, and cannot be distinguished in the field, but the male averages 2–3% larger than the female, has a shorter tail, and is heavier at 52 – against her 46 –. It is a slim, elongated bird with a small head, fine bill, long fan-shaped tail and a body shape unlike that of a typical woodpecker.

The overall impression is of cryptic plumage patterned with greys, browns and black. The upperparts and head are brown, barred and mottled in dark shades, and the rump and upper tail coverts are grey with speckles of brown and black. The chin, throat and breast of the subspecies Jynx ruficollis ruficollis are red, and the lower breast and belly are white with some dark streaks; there is a cinnamon tint to the flanks and the underneath of the tail. The wings are brown above and more buff-toned below. The grey bill is long and thin, the irides are chestnut, and the legs are grey. As with all woodpeckers, the first and fourth toes point backwards and the second and third point forwards, a good arrangement for clinging to vertical surfaces. Young birds resemble adults after 20 days, but are darker and more barred above, and lightly barred below with a smaller and darker red patch.

The three subspecies differ in appearance, mainly in the extent of red on the breast. In Jynx ruficollis ruficollis the red extends from the chin to the chest, whereas in J. r. aequatorialis it extends further down the breast, and there is a more cinnamon tinge to the flanks. J. r. pulchricollis has a brown-barred white chin and upper throat, and its red patch is darker and confined to its lower throat and upper breast. This race also has more rufous upperparts.

The two wrynecks cannot be confused with any other species, but some Eurasian birds may winter within the range of red-throated wryneck. The African species, compared to its migratory cousin, differs in its usually obvious red throat, larger size, overall browner appearance and the lack of a dark streak through the eye.

Moult
Most woodpeckers have only one moult as soon as breeding has finished, but wrynecks have a partial moult prior to breeding, and also replace their tail feathers in a different sequence from true woodpeckers since they have no need to retain central tail feathers for support, as is required by their arboreal relatives. Details of the moult can be complex and variable, and ageing wrynecks from their plumage appearance can be challenging.

Vocalisations
The call of the red-throated wryneck is a series of repeated harsh, shrill notes kweek-kwik-kwee-quee, usually slower than the call of the Eurasian wryneck. It is a far-carrying territorial call given from a prominent perch. There is also a peegh alarm call followed by a repeated harsh krok. Young in the nest make wheezing squeaks initially, later a repeated buzzing tsch. There is a quiet "click" call given as an alarm or pre-roosting. All calls are given by both sexes, but the male's kweek call is lower pitched than that of the female.

Wrynecks do not drum like woodpeckers, but may tap near the nest hole or on branches, apparently as a displaced aggression activity during interactions between two birds.

Distribution and habitat

The rufous-necked wryneck has a distribution confined to sub-Saharan Africa. It occurs in about 20 countries in disjunct areas ranging from Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Ethiopia in the north down to South Africa and Eswatini in the south. It is not truly migratory, although there may be local movements and post-breeding dispersal. It is a vagrant to Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe, and an occasional non-breeding visitor to Lesotho.

The typical habitat is open grassland with trees, particularly acacia and also miombo woodlands, but it is also found in other semi-open woodland, such as forest edges and clearing. It will use man-made habitats such as farmland, parks and gardens as long as there are trees present, which can include introduced eucalyptus and conifers.

It occurs at altitudes from 600 m to 3300 m. It is found up to 1550 m in South Africa and mainly between 1400 – in Kenya.

Behaviour

The red-throated wryneck normally perches upright on a branch with its tail and wings pointing vertically down and its head pulled into its shoulders, although when it calls it raises its head and stretches its neck out. When displaying at another wryneck, it leans forward with its tail pointing vertically upright and its bill raised while it calls loudly and sways from side to side. Like its Eurasian cousin, when threatened the red-throated wryneck will twist its neck and head in a snake-like manner while making a hissing sound, presumably to deter predators.

Wrynecks fly by alternating powered flaps with glides on closed wings, giving the bouncing flight appearance typical of woodpeckers.

Pairs of wrynecks are territorial, particularly in the breeding season, one study showing territory sizes from 8 –, mean 17 ha. All territories included clumps of trees. Territories are advertised throughout the year by calling from prominent perches, mainly by the male.

The red-throated wryneck feeds almost entirely on ants, their larvae, pupae and eggs, although termites and other small invertebrates are occasionally taken, prey items being gleaned with its long sticky tongue. The young are fed the same mostly ant-based diet. This wryneck is a solitary feeder, and 90% of its foraging is on the ground, probing into ant hills. When birds feed in trees, they pick prey off the vegetation but do not excavate.

Breeding

As with the Eurasian species, the red-throated wryneck nests in pre-existing holes, usually in trees. They do not excavate cavities themselves, but they may enlarge a hole if the wood is soft enough; no nesting material is added. Old barbet and woodpecker nests are preferred, although holes in fence posts and nest boxes are also used. The wryneck competes with other species for suitable sites, notably the crested barbet. The nest is usually 3 – above the ground, with a cavity that is typically 300 mm deep, and at least 300 m from neighbouring nests. Nests may be reused in subsequent years, in one case in alternation with a pair of violet-backed starlings, and also as winter roosts.

The clutch is between one and five, usually three or four, cream-white eggs, laid at one-day intervals. They measure 22 x and weigh about 3.25 g. Both sexes incubate the eggs for 12–15 days until hatching. The chicks are initially pink, naked and blind, but after about eight days their eyes open, and their feathers are growing. The chicks are fed by both adults for 25–26 days until they fledge; they hiss and make snake-like head movements if intruders visit the nest. There are usually two broods, although up to four have been recorded. The young become independent about two weeks after fledging. The timing of breeding varies across Africa, nesting taking place somewhere in every month except June and July. In South Africa, 57% of nests were successful and 40% of eggs produced fledged young.

A single claim of hybridisation between the two Jynx wrynecks reported from Cameroon was subsequently considered to be an aberrant red-throated wryneck.

Parasites and predators
The red-throated wryneck is a host of at least two Ischnoceran lice, Penenirmus serrilimbus and Brueelia straminea, and the Leucocytozoon L. sqamatus.

The wryneck's nests are visited by brood parasitic honeyguides, especially the lesser honeyguide. The adult honeyguide does not remove the host's eggs or chicks, but its monitoring of active nests may attract other predators. Once it has hatched, the honeyguide nestling will kill the host chicks. Chicks may also be killed if a crested barbet pair take over a wryneck nest for their own use.

Although the two wrynecks breed or winter over much of Europe, Asia and Africa, their predators have been little studied outside the European breeding range of Jynx torquilla, where nests may be raided by snakes for eggs and young, and the main avian threat to adult wrynecks is Accipiter hawks.

Status
The red-throated wryneck has an extremely large range, and its population is large and increasing. For this reason, it is evaluated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In South Africa it is locally common, and the range has expanded due to introduction of non-native trees to formerly unwooded grassland areas.

title: Red-throated wryneck


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Paignton

Paignton is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton has origins as a Celtic settlement and was first mentioned in 1086. It grew as a small fishing village and a new harbour was built in 1847. A railway line was opened to passengers in 1859 creating links to Torquay and London. As its population increased, it merged with the villages of Goodrington and Preston. Paignton is around 25 mi north east of Plymouth and 20 mi south of Exeter.

History
A Roman burial was discovered in 1993 on the Hookhills estate by a householder digging a patio. At first thought to be Neolithic, it was later radiocarbon dated to be between 230 and 390 CE. The burial is of a young woman aged between 15 and 25 years. The burial included oysters and her teeth and bone reveal a diet rich in carbohydrates and proteins. Despite living near the sea marine food only accounted for 10% of her diet. The skeleton is the most complete yet found in Devon and is on display in the Torquay Museum.

Paignton is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Peintone in the ancient hundred of Kerswell. Formerly written Peynton, Payngton and Paington, the name is derived from Pæga, an Anglo-Saxon personal name, -ing meaning "the people of" and tun an enclosure, estate or homestead, the original Anglo-Saxon settlement. Originally, the beach was backed by low sand dunes with marshes behind on the flat land between the sea and the hills behind. The settlement grew up on the dry ground at the foot of the hills, and also as a separate hamlet in the shelter of Roundham Head, which was a fishing settlement. The first church was probably built using wood in the eighth century.

In late Saxon times, the manor was owned by Leofric, the Bishop of Exeter. Later bishops built the Bishop's Palace adjoining the parish church, some remains of which, including the Coverdale Tower are still standing. Winner Street owes its name to a corruption of the word "Wynerde", referring to vineyards or, at least to traders in wine in the medieval period. The bishops secured a charter from Edward I in 1294 giving the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair, making Paignton a market town. The market declined following the English Reformation in the 16th century.

Paignton then remained a small fishing and farming village (noted for grapes, cabbages and cider) until the 19th century, when in 1837 the Paington Harbour Act led to the construction of a new harbour. Around the same time, the modern spelling, Paignton, first appeared. The historic part of Paignton is centred on Church Street, Winner Street and Palace Avenue which contain fine examples of Victorian architecture. Kirkham House is a late medieval stone house which is open to the public at certain times of the year. The Coverdale Tower adjacent to Paignton Parish Church is named after Bishop Miles Coverdale, who published an English translation of the Bible in 1536. Coverdale was Bishop of Exeter between 1551 and 1553 and is reputed to have lived in the tower although this is doubted by modern historians.

The railway line to Paignton was built by the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway, and opened to passengers on 2 August 1859, providing Torquay and Paignton with a link to London.

The Paignton Pudding, first made in the 13th century, is the origin of the nickname pudden eaters for the people of Paignton. The puddings were made infrequently and were of great size. When thousands turned up hoping to obtain a piece of a huge pudding that had been baked to celebrate the arrival of the railway in 1859 chaos occurred and the event became notorious. A Paignton Pudding was baked in 1995 to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the town's market charter, and another baked in 2006 to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Oldway Mansion is a large house and gardens constructed in the 1870s for Isaac Merritt Singer, who had amassed a considerable fortune with his improvements to the sewing machine. The building was occupied by Torbay Council until an agreement was signed in September 2012 to develop the site into a hotel and retirement apartments. Other Singer legacies in Paignton include the Palace Hotel and the Inn on the Green, which were built as homes for Singer's sons Washington and Mortimer.

Torquay Tramways were extended into Paignton in 1911, but the network was closed in 1934.

Governance
There is only one tier of local government covering Paignton, being the unitary authority of Torbay, which covers a larger area than just Paignton, also including Brixham and Torquay. Torbay Council is based at Torquay Town Hall.

Paignton was an ancient parish. The parish included the hamlets of Goodrington and Preston, which were gradually absorbed into Paignton's urban area as it grew. Until 1863 the parish was administered by its vestry in the same way as most rural areas. Paignton was made a local government district in 1863, governed by a local board. The local board built itself what is now the Old Town Hall, Paignton, at the corner of New Street and Totnes Road, being completed in 1870.

Local boards were reconstituted as urban district councils in 1894. In 1946 the council bought Oldway Mansion to serve as its headquarters, having outgrown the old Town Hall.

In 1968 the urban districts of Paignton and Brixham, the municipal borough of Torquay and the parish of Churston Ferrers were all abolished. A county borough called Torbay was created to cover the whole area (with some adjustments of the boundaries to neighbouring parishes at the same time). As a county borough, Torbay was administratively independent from Devon County Council. Six years later, in 1974, local government was reformed again, with Torbay becoming a non-metropolitan district and Devon County Council providing county-level services to the area again. Torbay regained its independence from the county council in 1998 when it was made a unitary authority. Torbay remains part of the ceremonial county of Devon for the purposes of lieutenancy.

Most of Paignton is in the Torbay constituency. At the 2015 general election, Kevin Foster became the Conservative MP with a majority of 3,286. He retained it with a majority of 14,283 in 2017. Some areas in the southern and western parts of the town are in the South Devon constituency. In 2015, Sarah Wollaston retained the seat for the Conservative Party with a majority of 18,385, reduced to 13,477 in 2017. Wollaston resigned from the Conservative Party in February 2019, moving between various political parties and sitting as an independent MP, before standing for the Liberal Democrats at the December 2019 general election. She was defeated by the Conservative candidate, Anthony Mangnall, with a majority of 12,724.

At the 2024 General Election Kevin Foster was replaced by Liberal Democrat Steve Darling and Anthony Mangall by Liberal Democrat Caroline Voaden.

Economy
Paignton's economy relies extensively on tourism and the town is marketed as a location for family holidays. The main seafront area is dominated by Paignton Pier, a 780 ft long structure opened in 1879. It was designed by George Soudon Bridgman, the local architect who also designed the original Oldway Mansion.

The Festival Theatre, opened in 1967, was once a seafront theatre capable of staging large summer shows. In 1999 it was converted into a multiscreen cinema. The Torbay Air Show, launched in 2016, is held over the Bay in front of Paignton Sands in early June annually. The Paignton Festival (formerly known as the "Torbay Carnival") is over 100 years old and is held annually in late July. It features a Carnival Procession together with various entertainments and charity stalls on The Green.

Regatta Week during early August is the peak holiday season. During this period there is a funfair on Paignton Green, along with a large fireworks display. Later in August is Children's Week, which includes a wide range of events and competitions. Paignton has a variety of holiday accommodation, complemented by numerous pubs, nightclubs and restaurants.

Tourist attractions include Paignton Zoo and the Dartmouth Steam Railway, which operates steam trains from Paignton to Kingswear, from where a ferry can be taken across the River Dart to Dartmouth. The line was sold in 1972 without cessation of services by British Rail in the aftermath of the cutbacks of the Beeching era in the 1960s, and is operated today as a heritage railway line. The 630 mile South West Coast Path National Trail runs along the coast.

Suttons Seeds, a supplier of seeds, bulbs and horticultural products, is based in Paignton.

Places of interest
The Paignton Picture House (now closed) is believed to have been Europe's oldest purpose-built cinema and was built in 1907. Seat 2 Row 2 of the circle was the favourite seat of Torquay-born crime novelist Agatha Christie, who lived in neighbouring Galmpton. The cinemas and theatres in her books are all said to be based on the Paignton Picture House. It was also used as a location for the 1984 Donald Sutherland film Ordeal by Innocence and the 1981 film The French Lieutenant's Woman (which was filmed mainly at Lyme Regis in Dorset).

The Royal Bijou Theatre is now demolished, but a blue plaque marking its former location can be found next to the Thomas Cook travel agency in Hyde Road. The theatre was the venue for the premiere of The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan on 30 December 1879. The performance was given at short notice to secure the British copyright on the work after problems had arisen with unauthorised performances of HMS Pinafore in the USA. The Palace Theatre in Palace Avenue has been the main theatre in the town since the conversion of the Festival Theatre to a cinema in 1998.

The department store Rossiters was a centrepiece of the town until its closure in January 2009. The store is said to have been the inspiration for the sitcom Are You Being Served? In 2010, it reopened as a discount store.

From 1889 to 1897 the mathematician Oliver Heaviside lived in Palace Avenue, in the building now occupied by Barclays Bank. A commemorative blue plaque can be seen on the wall. Heaviside is buried in Paignton Cemetery.

Beaches
Paignton beach and the nearby Preston Sands, which are continuous at low tide, are used for water sports including kite surfing and dinghy sailing. Both are sandy and gently shelving and have no strong currents, making them popular with swimmers and families. Both have green spaces immediately inland. Paignton Green has a pirate-themed Adventure Golf course and the Paignton Geoplay Park, a children's play area, which has the area's geology as its theme, inspired by the UNESCO Global Geopark of which Paignton is a part. Immediately to the east of Paignton Harbour is Fairy Cove, which has no facilities, but features good exposures of the Torbay Breccia, a red sandstone with pieces of rock which washed into it when the area was a desert. Also within the former Urban District of Paignton lies Goodrington which has another popular beach backed by Young's Park, with its boating lake, and a large outdoor waterpark, Splashdown Quaywest. Beyond Goodrington are Waterside and Saltern Coves, which have no facilities and are accessed through fields, followed by Broadsands, on the Brixham border. The reed beds found behind Broadsands beach are a haunt of the rare cirl bunting. Hollicombe beach, situated at Paignton's northern boundary with Torquay, features a geological stratotype at its northern end, known as the "Corbyn's Head Member" Elberry Cove is used by jetski enthusiasts, while Saltern Cove is a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its distinctive geology and its marine biology.

Railway
Paignton railway station is situated close to the town centre and is a short walk from the beach along Torbay Road. Train services are provided mainly by Great Western Railway; these consist of approximately half-hourly services to Torquay, Newton Abbot, Exeter and Exmouth along the Riviera Line, with some longer distance services to Taunton, Bristol, Cardiff and London Paddington. CrossCountry provides two services per day currently to Manchester Piccadilly station via Bristol.

Heritage
Queen's Park station, for services on the Dartmouth Steam Railway, is adjacent to the main railway station on the beachside of the level crossing. A service of steam trains is provided from February to December, although it is daily only between April and October.

The other railway station in Paignton is Goodrington Sands (opened in 1928), which is now part of the Dartmouth Steam Railway.

Buses and coaches
The bus and coach station faces the main entrance to the railway station. Bus services are provided by Stagecoach South West, Torbay Minibuses, Country Bus (Newton Abbot) and the Dartmouth Steam Railway & Riverboat Company. Principal services lead to Totnes and Plymouth; Torquay and Newton Abbot; Torquay, Teignmouth and Dawlish Warren; Brixham; and Kingswear, for the ferry to Dartmouth. A range of long-distance coach services is operated by National Express.

Ferries
Ferry services are provided seasonally by Paignton Pleasure Cruises and We Ferry to Torquay and Brixham from Paignton Harbour.

Notable person

 * Sue Barker, the television presenter and former professional tennis player, was born in the town.

title: Paignton


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User:JasonM~enwiki

I'm an occasional wikipedia tweaker, hyperlinking here and adding the odd bit of info there...(I'm English/Austrailian FYI)

title: User:JasonM~enwiki


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War Pigs

"War Pigs" is an anti-war protest song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970. It is the opening track from the band's second studio album Paranoid (1970).

Overview
The original title of "War Pigs" was "Walpurgis", dealing with the witches' sabbath. "Walpurgis is sort of like Christmas for Satanists. And to me, war was the big Satan", said bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler. "It wasn't about politics or government or anything. It was Evil itself. So I was saying 'generals gathered in the masses / just like witches at black masses' to make an analogy. But when we brought it to the record company, they thought 'Walpurgis' sounded too Satanic. And that's when we turned it into 'War Pigs'. But we didn't change the lyrics, because they were already finished."

During this time period, national service had recently ended in the United Kingdom but with the Vietnam War still ongoing, many young men feared they'd be conscripted to fight in it. "That's what started this whole rebellion thing about not going to war for anybody", said Butler. "I was dreading being called up", the lyricist recalled.

Prior to its official release, the band often altered the lyrics significantly when performing it live. An example of this can be found on Ozzy Osbourne's compilation The Ozzman Cometh, which features an early version recorded by Black Sabbath for BBC Radio 1 on 26 April 1970. While Butler has said that "War Pigs" is "totally against the Vietnam War, about how these rich politicians and rich people start all the wars for their benefit and get all the poor people to die for them", vocalist Osbourne has stated that the group "knew nothing about Vietnam. It's just an anti-war song." The song's instrumental outro is entitled "Luke's Wall" on US releases of the album, formatted as "War Pigs/Luke's Wall".

Drummer Bill Ward's first memory of performing the song was at The Beat Club in Switzerland in 1968. The band was required to play multiple sets every night and had little material in their repertoire at that point, so they would perform lengthy jam sessions to fill in the sets. Co-writer and lead guitarist Tony Iommi has said that "War Pigs" originated from one of those jam sessions.

The addition of the air-raid siren and the speeding up of the song's end were done by producer Rodger Bain and engineer Tom Allom. The band had no input in these decisions, though they were pleased with the results.

Legacy
Music journalist Martin Popoff has called the song an "ugly, antiwar classic now considered one of Sabbath's top two or three most enduring compositions". Guitar World described the song as "the greatest HM song ever." The magazine also included the song on their list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" and ranked it in 56th place. Steve Huey of AllMusic called the song a "standard".

Kelefa Sanneh wrote, "What is memorable is the way Osbourne evokes not merely war's cost but its seductive appeal. Part of what made Black Sabbath seem new was a disinclination to uplifting, or hopeful, or self-righteous."

"War Pigs" is widely considered one of Black Sabbath's greatest songs. In 2020, Kerrang ranked the song number four on their list of the 20 greatest Black Sabbath songs, and in 2021, Louder Sound ranked the song number one on their list of the 40 greatest Black Sabbath songs.

"War Pigs" was ranked the best Black Sabbath song by Rock - Das Gesamtwerk der größten Rock-Acts im Check.

The song is notable for its publication in the American folk music magazine Broadside, which normally did not feature rock songs.

The song's iconic guitar riff largely inspired that of Arctic Monkeys' 2014 single "Arabella", to the extent that the band often perform an interlude of the song, to enable front man Alex Turner to pick up his guitar in time for his solo. In more recent times, when performing a live rendition of Arabella, the Arctic Monkeys often end the live performance of the song with a tease of the songs riff.

War Pigs was featured in the credits of the 2014 film 300: Rise of an Empire, a sequel to the 2007 film 300.

War Pigs was one of the 40 songs featured in the Music Monday series of the Newseum, and thus part of the Reporting Vietnam exhibit as a major musical reflection of the time.

WWE has used the song for their NXT TakeOver: WarGames events as well as their Survivor Series WarGames event.

Several of the University of Arkansas' sports teams, nicknamed the Razorbacks, use War Pigs as their run-out/tunnel walk music. The song is also part of the regular repertoire of the Razorback Marching Band.

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked the song number five on the list of the 100 greatest heavy metal songs.

Personnel

 * Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
 * Tony Iommi – guitar
 * Geezer Butler – bass
 * Bill Ward – drums

Covers
Faith No More released a cover of the song on their 1989 album The Real Thing (non-vinyl bonus number). On 9 November 1990, Ozzy Osbourne performed the song together with Faith No More and James Hetfield of Metallica on guitar at the Hollywood Palladium. The song was also covered by different other artists.

T-Pain covered the song on his 2023 album On Top of the Covers. Geezer Butler approved of the song and Ozzy Osbourne described it as "the best cover of 'War Pigs' ever".

title: War Pigs