The Vikings
‘Viking’ is the name that Scandinavian sea-borne raiders of the early medieval period are now commonly known.
Vikings were not professional privateers or full-time soldiers – or, at least, not at first. Originally they were full-time fishermen and farmers who spent much of the year at home. Only in the summer would they have rallied to the call of a local leader and ventured across the sea to raid, trade or seek out new lands to settle.
We don't know why bands of Vikings followed their local chieftain across the North Sea in their longships. It may have been localised overpopulation, as plots became subdivided to the point where families could barely eke out a living; it may have been political instability, as chieftains fought for dominance; or it may have been news brought home by merchants of the riches to be found in trading settlements further west.
The Vikings left no written records and limited buildings so most of what we know comes from their victims.
The sagas that we do have were mostly written after the end of what we know as the Viking age.
A day in the life - The Viking Age
Daily life in a Viking village
The largest villages consisted of only fifteen to fifty farms. Daily life for most men and women during the Viking Age revolved around subsistence-level farm work. Almost everyone lived and worked on farms that produced most of the goods used by the people.
The work on a farm was divided between women who did the tasks in the house, while men did tasks that lay outside of the house. Farm work was mostly done by men, this involved fertilizing, ploughing, sowing, harvesting, and threshing. During the harvest, all members of the household would join in the work, was so laborious that all available hands were needed, be they male or female.
When the harvest came, the cutting was done by men with scythes, and the women raked the grain. Men threshed the grain with clubs and pokes. After this, women took over and made the grain into bread, beer, or other foods or drinks. Grain was usually ground by hand mills, but a few really wealthy and powerful people had begun using water mills during the Viking Age.
Viking women
The two main tasks of women were producing clothing and preparing food. Women baked, cooked, made alcoholic drinks and made dairy products such as milk, butter, and cheese. Milking sheep and cows were tasks that fell to women as part of this process, even though those activities were often performed outside of “the threshold.”
Craft
More specialised crafts such as ironworking were carried out on farms for local use. Professional black smiths and other craftspeople did exist in the few towns and they would sometimes trade their handiwork to farmers in exchange for surplus food.
While some people have a tendency to romanticize this “simpler” subsistence-centred life, the reality is that Viking Age farm work was perilous, gruelling drudgery that required incredible inputs of labour to accomplish the simplest of tasks. Famines, raids, and natural disasters were ever-present dangers that could rob the farming household of their crops and, ultimately, their lives.
Viking Sources - Daily life
Source 1. The Viking way of life. Clyne, J. et al, History 8 The Ancient to the Modern World. 2012.
Most Viking families lived on farms. Everyone in the family was expected to help with the farm work. The seasons dictated the rhythm of farm life. Crops would be grown during the summer and harvested in the autumn. Sheep, goats and cattle were taken to the mountain pastures in summer, and at the end of autumn brought back to the farm. The stronger, younger animals were kept inside the Vikings’ houses during the long, cold winter, while the other animals were slaughtered for food and raw material. In winter many farmers went hunting for deer, wild boar, elk, bears, foxes, seals, walruses and whales.
Questions
Using Source 1 name two animals that the Vikings farmed and two animals that the Vikings hunted?
Source 1 states that ‘the seasons dictated the rhythm of farm life’. Use an example from the source to show how this happened?
Source 2. Everyday life in Viking Times. Martell, H. 2003.
Many Viking homes had only one room and the hearth [fireplace and floor around it] was at the centre of it. The flames from the fire gave heat and helped to give light in the windowless room, although there were lamps as well. This meant that all household activities took place as near to the fire as possible. These included preparing food and cooking it, spinning wool and weaving cloth, making clothes, sleeping and eating. It could be quite crowded inside the family house as three generations of the same family might live there. As well as children, parents and grandparents, the family often included unmarried aunts and uncles.
Questions
Complete this sentence: The evidence in Source 2 that suggests that Viking houses would have been rather dark is .......................
Complete this sentence: Two examples in Source 2 of work done inside the Viking home are …...............................
Using Source 2, do you think the family was important or unimportant in everyday Viking life. Explain your answer.
Source 3. How would you survive as a Viking?, Morley J. 2005.
‘First of all we have their own messages on over 2,700 rune stones. These were put up to commemorate Viking people and their deeds. There are also the writings of people who lived at the time when the Vikings were active. Christian monks and Arab travellers have left written descriptions of Viking raiders and traders. Archaeologists have found traces of Viking towns, farms and burial sites. Objects of metal, glass and ceramics, which last well in the ground, show us the weapons, jewellery and tools the Viking used. Human bones may reveal the diseases and injuries people had, how long they lived, and how they died.
Questions
List the sources of information about the Vikings
How do we know about how Vikings dies and how long they lived?
The stereotype of Viking people is that they were fierce and savage. What are examples from two of the above sources indicating that the Vikings had other aspects to their lives?
Activity 1. Guide to daily life in a Viking village
Use the resources and your own research to create an introduction to Viking daily life.
Include the following points in your guide:
What did people do for work?
What was the role of women?
How did Vikings raise children?
Food - what did people eat?
Transport - How did people move around?
Homes - What did homes look like, what were they built from?
What was life like in the towns?
What was life like on the farms?
Extra - Check the aerial view of a Viking settlement
2. Viking artefacts
What is an artefact?
Artefacts are objects made by human beings that are used in daily life.
Historians use artefacts to piece together the lives of the people they are studying.
In this activity we will investigate some Viking artefacts to help us understand what life was like for the Vikings.
To do: Research one Viking artefact
In pairs you will investigate one of the following artefacts. Record your observations on a PowerPoint and be ready to present to the class.
Make sure you use lots of labelled photographs of the artefact and illustrations of people using them
Activity 2. What is an artefact?
To do: Research a Viking artefact
In pairs you will investigate a Viking artefact. Record your observations on a PowerPoint and be ready to present to the class.
Make sure you use lots of labelled photographs of the artefact and illustrations of people using them
Possible artefacts to research:Farming tools
Warrior clothing
Viking Jewellery
Sun compass and sun stones
Ocean navigation methods
Knarr ship
Bow and arrow with accessories
Hunting tools
Sword, spear and shield
Helmet and armour.
Answer the following questions in your research of the artefact.
What is the purpose of your artefact?
Who used it and when?
How was it made? (construction materials and methods)
What skills do you think would be needed to make the artefact?
What does it tell us about how people lived at the time?
Any other observations?
3. Norse Mythology
The Viking Gods
Norse mythology features a rich pantheon of gods, primarily divided into two tribes:
The Aesir Gods: The Aesir value strength, power, society, and war. They are associated with realms involving battle, strength, and social relationships.
The Vanir Gods: The Vanir value nature, mysticism, wealth, and harmony. They are linked to fertility, material success, and the wilderness.
Activity 3. Viking God media profile
To do: Create a social media profile for a Viking God/ess of your choice
Use the following questions as a guide for your social media profile.
Name: What is the god’s most common name?
What does the name mean? What other names is the god known by (if any)?
Personality: How is the god’s personality described? (e.g. greedy, harsh, cruel, kind, gentle, creative)
Famous achievements: What is this god most famous for? (e.g. what is an important story about them? Do they have a special weapon or skill?)
Sources/Sagas: Name two sources that tell us about the god (e.g. a particular saga title)
Strengths and weaknesses: In your opinion, what are the strengths and weaknesses of this god?
Sociability score: Does this god interact with people? Why/why not?
4. Getting to know you: Erik the Red
Most of what is known about Erik Thorvaldsen, or Erik the Red, comes from Nordic and Icelandic sagas. He is believed to have been born in 950 in Rogaland on the south-western tip of Norway.
At age 10, Erik’s father, Thorvald, was exiled for manslaughter, a method of conflict resolution that would become something of a family custom. Thorvald settled the family in north-western Iceland.
According to legend, Erik was brazen and volatile, and coupled with his flowing red hair and beard, this earned him the nickname “Erik the Red.” Sometime after his father died, Erik married Thjodhild and moved from northern Iceland and settled in Haukadale, which he called Eriksstead.
Around 982, Erik the Red entrusted his setstokkr (large beams with Viking symbols that held mystical value in Nordic pagan religion) to Thorgest, a fellow settler. Later, when he went to reclaim the beams, Thorgest refused to relinquish them. Erik took them. He then and made his way back to his settlement. Fearing retaliation, Erik set up an ambush for Thorgest and his clan. A massive brawl erupted, and two of Thorgest’s sons were killed. The village court met, and once again Erik was banished for manslaughter, this time for three years.
Sailing to Greenland
Erik the Red decided to leave Iceland altogether. He had heard of a large landmass due west of Iceland, discovered nearly 100 years earlier by Norwegian sailor Gunnbjörn Ulfsson. The journey covered approximately 900 nautical miles of open ocean, but the danger was mitigated by the Viking ships’ advanced design and Erik’s superior navigation skills. He believed the land he explored was suitable for raising livestock and named it Greenland, hoping it would sound more enticing to would-be settlers.
Establishing colonies in Greenland
In 985, Erik the Red’s exile sentence had expired and he returned to Iceland. By the next year, he had convinced several hundred people that Greenland held great promise. In 985, he set out with 25 ships and more than 400 people. Here, Erik the Red lived like a lord with his wife and four children. The settlements are said to have survived a deadly epidemic, but never grew to more than 2,500–5,000 people. The colonies eventually died out around the time of Columbus (1492). Legend states that Erik died due to complications from injuries sustained after falling off a horse.
To do: Erik the Red: Questions
How do we know about Erik the Red?
When and where was he born?
Where did the family move to after the father was exiled?
Why was he called Erik the Red?
How violent was he?
When and why did he set out for Greenland?
Was he the first Viking to see Greenland?
What happened after he discovered Greenland?
Why do you think the Viking settlements eventually died out?
5. Task : Viking culture analysis
The Vikings are popular in modern culture, tv shows, movies to cartoons and advertising.
For your investigation you will need to do the following:
Choose a modern representation of Viking culture.
It could be a movie, music video clip, fiction for children or teenagers, cartoons, toys (Lego for example).
Compare the media representation with the historical facts about how Vikings actually lived and worked, and what they valued and believed.
How are the gods represented?
How is daily life portrayed?
How is daily life represented?
Explain why the modern representation is a weak or strong example of historical Viking culture.
Make five (5) suggestions for how your modern representation could be improved to reflect the actual history of Vikings.
The Podcast option
Produce a script which will be recorded as a podcast - this document will need to be detailed with questions, historical answers (link your evidence) and it should include some fun facts which are relevant to the topic.
You will present your information as a podcast. The task template can help to guide your writing and the format of your podcast - you must present your report as a podcast with your script written as a separate word document.
Script for podcast - 800 words
How to do the Viking culture analysis task
Title:
Use an engaging, catchy title that tells the reader what they can expect to learn from your culture analysis
Introduction
Describe your modern representation. Why have you chosen it to study as a present day example of Viking culture?
Include images to support what you are saying. Make sure that you label your images.
Discussion
How does your modern representation compare with the facts?
How did Vikings respond to their landscape, climate and the seasons.
What was daily life really like?
How did they interact with other people in their voyages and travels?
Vikings believed in many gods, have they been portrayed correctly?
Conclusion
Based on the points that you have discussed, how well does your artefact represents true Viking culture.
What would you recommend to make the accuracy of your artefact even better?
Bibliography (This is not included in the total word count for the task)
Include at least one hard-copy source (e.g. a book)
Hagar the Horrible cartoon strip by Dik Browne and Chris Browne portrays Vikings as people with insatiable appetites.