Fighting And Feasting In The Vikings Culture

In 1903 a miraculous discovery was made in western Norway.  Under a large mound on a small farm in the Vestford region, there was unearthed a massive Viking ship.  Its treasures and contents were so large they are still being studied today. The Oseberg ship burial, as it has come to be known, gives us important information on Norwegian Viking culture.   This essay will look at the history of its discovery, the ship itself,  its objects, the intriguing carvings, the intricate fabrics, and of course, the bodies .  By studying the Oseberg burial ship we can learn about burial practices, Norwegian Viking diets, Norwegian dress and decoration, shipbuilding practices, arts, and religion.

fought hand to hand beside his men. He had to be a good public speaker,

"BBC - Primary History - Vikings - Vikings at Sea." BBC - Home, 2014, www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/vikings/vikings_at_sea/. Accessed 16 Oct. 2017.

The Vikings were a group of people from Denmark, Sweden and Norway and lived from 700AD-1100AD. Most people think of Vikings as “blood thirsty raiders who pillaged and killed innocent people from one country to another”, which this is true because they were ruthless in their battles and had no mercy. So Tthis essay will talk about Viking warfare and how thistheir practices prove proves that they were blood thirsty raiders.

Viking long-ships were lean, speedy, lightweight ships that could easily cut through the most vicious waves that the ocean could throw at them. The Norse people were separated from mainland Europe by the North Sea. As their nation advanced they built longships and started exploring the ocean. “The Viking longboat was the key to the Vikings success in traveling.” (Legends and Chronicles, Paragraph 14). This made the long-ship a very valuable and important asset to the Vikings. The longships were so fast and nimble, they were great for transportation of soldiers and merchandise.At the time, no other civilization had been able to achieve such an amazing naval feat. this gave the Vikings a great advantage over medieval combat, political affairs, and even the trading industry.

Longships were also a strong symbol in the Viking culture as many people, especially royalties and nobles, were buried in their ships with their belongings and slaves to accompany them in the afterlife. Many ships have been excavated in the 20th Century like the longship in Oseberg Oslo that hosted the skeleton of a Viking woman, suspected to be a wealthy

In Norse society, the word Viking meant a sea-borne raider. It was used similarly to the way we use the word “pirate”. To go a-viking meant to undertake sea-borne raiding. The word itself was a job description and did not pertain to everyone. The word Viking did not apply to women, children, slaves or others who did not go raiding. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century when the word passed into common English usage, where it has come to be used to describe the people of Scandinavia in the period from the late eighth to eleventh centuries, not just for those who carried out the sea-borne raiding.

Vikings are hailed for their unique swords, skills, tools, and complex methods. Along with their weapons, the Vikings are known for their boats. The Viking long ship was not the only type of vessel the Vikings built. They made merchant ships and cargo ships as well. But all of their designs have several common traits.

The Vikings used a written alphabet and letters called Runes. The Vikings believed that the god Odin gave them runes as a gift. They believed the runes were magical and they can also tell the future.

It is not uncommon that an individual will find themselves influenced and persuaded by what they see in the media and entertainment industry, regardless of whether or not their source has any historical evidence, or is written fictionally for entertainment purposes rather than historical resource purposes. For most, media and entertainment outlets, with the obvious purpose of entertaining the public, are the only source of portrayals of Norse society that they will experience. This can be dangerous to the image of Norsemen, as movies and television shows have the primary purpose of entertainment rather than historical accuracy, which can lead to an utmost inaccurate representation of Norse society.

The houses were made for the cold weather as suggested by the hay roofs and wooden-like walls. The village layout tells that they mainly focused on animal husbandry rather than farming, this is probably due to the cold climate they endure. The layout of the village and houses suggested that the Vikings usually weren’t at their village. It suggested that they usually left their homes and seek out refuge someplace else. It tells that the Vikings usually lived a life where they would raid to get the resources and spoils they get and by the end of their journey they would go back to their homeland to enjoy the spoils that have reaped.

“The Nordic belief system embraced a structure for understanding the world and creation - polytheism, predestination, reverence for ancestors and the afterlife.” (Understanding Faith, 2015) It was Norse religion that aided the Vikings in making sense of the hostile and harsh world around them. Their religion provided a scapegoat for their warlike actions and brutality – their ruthless way of life was justified and deemed acceptable because of the framework provided by Nordic mythology.

In our society, we remember the Vikings as a heritage of ruthless, land-ravaging, horned helmet wearing, blonde haired, white men. However, only one of those stereotypes is historically correct-their ruthless tendencies. Vikings were not known as Vikings until they had long disassembled, they were primarily known as Danes. Their homelands were located in the northern areas of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, three countries of Scandinavia. Like any other powerful leader and person, Harald Sigurdsson ‘Hardrada’, which is an epithet given to him, had strengths, weaknesses, climaxes and downfalls throughout his life, beginning on his nameday in 1015 AD (Mandal). Viking kings are still remembered and their stories are

Viking ships were a huge part of ancient history. Vikings are known for one of the greatest warrior cultures ever. Vikings valued the gift of strength and power and you could definitely see this in their ship building designs. These long ships on the sea gave many people fear of setting foot on the water. Vikings made strong and powerful designs on the head of the ships to scare away anything in their way. Most of the time the ship design would be a dragon head that was the Vikings symbol.

During the Viking Era, expansion to the west, as well as the east, introduced a new wave of technology, industrialization and development, and culture to the European world. The Viking’s expeditions to both were quite similar in that advancements stemmed from their adventures east and west. However, expeditions from the eastern Vikings (Sweden) were heavily dependent on the usage and development of economic centers, specifically the Byzantine Empire, powerful and rich in culture, as well as Russia which housed quality materials as well as slaves. The Russian Primary Chronical is the most important source on the Russian world during that time. In it are descriptions of the Scandinavian relationship with the Russians from the 9th century. Unlike in the west, where the western Vikings (Norway) plundered and settled, the Vikings were always a minority of the population near the Baltic. The authors of the chronical assumed that they were the original inhabitants of the land, but in reality, they arrived relatively recently (SSN pg. 3). They came to trade, not necessarily to settle. The wealth and vast resources in the east are what drew the Vikings. Throughout this paper, I will present both the opportunities as well as the challenges faced by the Vikings during their quests to the East.