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Hygiene practices among Vikings
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Vikings originated from Scandinavia, They were well known as brutal raiders most of the time, but not always. Viking homes were mostly workshops because most of their houses have a certain job to do such as carving, quilting, cooking for trips, and storing food and a lot of other jobs that was held in the Viking houses. Most Vikings were farmers and believe it or not they were very hygienic for what they are made to do.
The Vikings were brutal in many ways such as killing people just to get what they want instead of trading, they would kill the people that would hide from them or if they wouldn’t tell them what they want to hear then the Vikings would kill them and keep on searching like nothing has happened.
Vikings were also brutal because
The above picture is of the Sami people in Norway and the picture taken below is of the Sami people in Lapland. Both in Northern parts of Scandinavia.
When the Vikings first attacked England many of the Anglo-Saxons viewed them as people who don’t claim a religion. The thought of the Vikings not claiming a religion horrified the people of England because of many reasons. The main reason was because the Vikings didn’t worship the same God as the people of England and the Vikings also didn’t have any respect to the symbols that connected the people of England together (Gunnell 351). Another reason is that the Vikings had been trying to teach a different view of the world to the English people; which furiated the church because the church had been trying to throws out these beliefs. This view of the world seemed to anger the English people because these beliefs wasn’t written down in a book, it was always told orally which meant
The vikings first made contact in eighth century Shetland. From there they made their way south to Orkney and Caithness, eventual...
When we hears the term Viking an immediate image of bloodthirsty men with long beards and horned helmets is conjured up in our minds. This is the image the historical sources have given us, and it is partly true. Vikings were merciless when raiding, but they were peaceful when they traded. Their navigational technology was exceptional, and the ones who settled in foreign lands contributed greatly to the lands’ culture.
In his translation of The Saga of the Volsungs: the Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer, Jesse L. Byock compiles many versions of this famous Norse epic and creates a very important scholarly work. Of special importance is the introduction, which provides a central working background to base readings upon. There are several themes echoed throughout the translation that reflect accurately on this portion of history. Byock does a superb job of illustrating these important aspects in his work. While the tale Byock tells is a fairy-tale handed down by generations of families, within the reader can find tell-tale signs of important aspects of Norse culture. For instance, important aspects of family life and the role of men and women surface. Likewise, the importance of wealth and material possessions on the power and prestige of a king is also evident.
The Vikings are had arrived in North America. The Vikings were in North America about 10 years (Weiner 4). They settled and made a life for themselves in North America. They had learned to adjust to the weather to survive for all those years. The Vikings were the first Europeans and Christians to come to North America (Steel 2). The Vikings explored North American waters for partners to trade with (Pringle 4). The Vikings wanted
Leif Erikson’s grandfather, Thorvald Asvaldsson slaughtered a man in Jæren, Norway in 960 CE. This was the age of the Vikings, but Thorvald was still banished from the land (Mandia, n.d.). So he brought his ten year old son Erik, later to be named as Erik the Red because of his scarlet hair, to Drangar in northwestern Iceland on a farm with rather appalling soil (Where is Vinland?, n.d.).
The Vikings were people that raided many towns and monasteries for silver and other precious items. They mostly raided monasteries because they were the places with the most silver and expensive items. The Vikings were at first mysterious worriers and them became well known. So where did these mysterious warriors come from? They came from a place called Scandinavia. Scandinavia was built up of multiple countries like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. The word Viking means sea-raiders in scandinavian and they didn’t actually wear horns on their head, their helmet was round.
usually built their homes on a river or stream valley and were scattered to take
This book is a very important primary source for historians because it contains the only primary source concerning the Vikings before they converted to Islam, and many other accounts of important information including Viking raids. The book shows how the Eastern Vikings lived and how the Muslim world interacted with them. It also gives insight into the state of Islam in the tenth through twelfth century. Almost all of the information is this book is relevant to historians and the eye witness accounts are very useful concerning the people and places in this time period.
The Norsemen were feared for hundreds of years. They came from Scandinavia and raided both the known and unknown world. They were great warriors, raiders, shipbuilders and leaders. The Norsemen were pagan, their obedience to the gods and their leader Odin. Religion was an important part of their life and death. In life, the Vikings strived for is Valhalla (the great mead hall of the gods and fallen warriors) in Asgard. Only the most honorable warriors, who dies in battle or if executed by the way of blood eagle (the victims will be on his knees and held up by two hooks and they take an ax to his back to break away the ribs, then take his lungs and place them on his shoulders) without making a sound, will go to Valhalla. Their social behavior was based on an unwritten system of honor or code of ethics. Their moral code was determined by the gods but rather honor. Honor went a long way in Viking culture, it was the most defining attribute a man could have. A man of honor was a principled man, he gave moderation, was generous and hospitable, he would offer a helping hand to a friend in need. This included allying himself with his friends against his friend’s enemies. A man of honor also never forgot to be a foe to his enemy. A Viking never wanted to be a man of disgrace. This is the opposite of a man of honor, and because every man lived his life as a member of an extended family-circle, he could easily bring disgrace to his entire family - including his forefathers. Therefore, it was intolerable for a free man to live in such a fallen state. If he was disgraced, he could only restore balance in his social system by confronting the source of his fall from an honorable status. Thus, revenge was a key component of this social system, ...
All throughout Scandinavian history and mythology, the prominence of weapons has not gone unnoticed by historians and scholars. The vikings, who were sea raiders, valued weaponry because of their positions as raiders. To the vikings, weapons were a part of everyday life, and every person had to have knowledge on how to use them. One could tell how much the Vikings valued their weapons by looking to the gods they worshipped and the stories they told. Tyr, Odin, and Thor were all gods of war; Beowulf, Sigurd, and Helgi were all great warriors. In fact, much of Scandinavian mythology and literature includes weapons all throughout its stories.
Typically, the image of a Viking is a barbaric, bearded man plundering and destroying a neighboring village. This is actually the stereotypical viewpoint. In actuality, Vikings, have a very different image. For example, Vikings did not wear furry boots or furry armor, they did not have horned helmets, they invaded Britain, and they also were the first to discover America! They were also experts in nautical technology, crafts, trading, warfare and many other skills (Jonsson 1). With all of these traits, the Vikings seem like an unstoppable force in the European continent. But, who were the Vikings? The Vikings were actually venturesome seafarers. This means that they were travelers who were constantly exploring and looking for new areas of land. There roots can be traced all the way back to 6000 B.C. were nomadic men traveled in primitive crafts up the Denmark coast. Fast forward two millennia and these nomadic people have established permanent homes, but still using the boat for food and travel. As stated before, they were not just raiders, although they did do this frequently, but they were actually expert traders, trading all around the world. It wasn’t until around 793 A.D. that a Viking explosion took place in northern Europe (Jonsson 2). Raids began to take place on neighboring villages and their places of worship. To some this is the only type of knowledge they have about Vikings. However, their culture was something to be admired. Trading, religion, and everyday life are all important parts of a Viking culture.
In the earliest years of the Vikings, there was little history recorded due to the polytheistic views that they followed. After the Vikings converted to Christianity, there were eventually written documents created pertaining to their existence. In Viking Warfare, I.P. Stephenson states that the Vikings “first described attack took place in AD 789”(11). The Vikings were also known as Norsemen. They were great storytellers, and that is perhaps how society knows so much about them today. The stories that the Norsemen told were called Sagas. Today, Vikings are often depicted as murderous savages, but while they were not pillaging villages they were actually quite a peaceful civilization. There were three countries that Vikings evolved from; Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Although it may seem that all Vikings were on the same side, they quarreled with each other as well. Despite the fact that Viking battles were bloody and gruesome they were also known to be the most hygienic out of many of the earlier civilizations. There was not a huge percentage of Vikings that went out and raided but when they did they made a huge impact on what Vikings are now known for. The success of Viking warfare and raids relied primarily on the uses of armor, weapons, long ships, and battle tactics.
One of the main reasons Vikings crossed the sea from Scandinavia and traveled to Iceland was to get away from the feudal system being established between the