THE VIKINGS

THE VIKINGS More links on School Website Viking Timeline Who were the Vikings? The Vikings Viking Houses & Homes More links on School Website Throughout the Norse world, houses were built on a similar floor plan - the longhouse. The basic structure was a long thin rectangle, divided into rough thirds by two long lines of roof posts. The central floor area would be the location for a large fire, usually set on a raised hearth several inches high. The fire was the source of heat and most of the interior light, as well as serving as the kitchen. The area along each wall was typically made into a wide bench formed of wooden planks. These were the major furniture, used for seating during the day and sleeping pallets at night. The interior of the house might be broken by a few partition walls, but normally everyone lived together in the single main room or hall. The roof could be pierced by rectangular smoke vents, sometimes only gaps in the gable walls served to clear the smoke. The actual construction materials varied by what was locally available. In southern areas, walls of woven saplings plastered with mud, called 'wattle and daub' were common. In heavily forested areas, the side walls might be made of planks or even squared timbers. In either case, the roofing material was likely to be thick straw thatch. In the close packed towns, narrow lots left almost no space between houses. The combination of open fires and thatch roofs resulted in wide ranging fires as a common hazard. To the North, and later to the West, the walls were composed of thick piles of turf blocks, both sturdy and an excellent insulator. Poles set over the roof timbers supported more turf covered with living grass sod to stabilize it. Looking more like a low hill with short earthen walls, such turf longhouses would be the standard in Iceland and Greenland - and were the type built by Leif in Vinland. Useful Links Viking Homes Viking Village A day in the life of a Viking Explore a Viking Village (quicktime movies) Everyday Life (lots of links) Vikings (BBC) Viking Homes Viking Farm (Virtual Tour) Viking Farm (BBC activity) More links on School Website Turf Longhouse Turf Longhouse Viking Townhouses VIKING PEOPLE, CLOTHING, FOOD & CHILDHOOD Personal Grooming in Viking Era What was day to day life like in the Viking Age? In a word - hard! Inside the house, it would always be smoky and dark. Although a turf house is 'relatively' snug from the outside elements, it would still be cold and drafty by our standards. And most of all, it would be crowded. The number of people living in a hall would be determined by how many bodies could be fit on the sleeping benches. Privacy was virtually nonexistent. Perhaps you could string a couple of cloaks between the roof timbers, but only the chieftain of the household was likely to have a private room at one end of the hall. Only the very wealthy would have a separate bed. For most people, all that they owned could fit in a small sea chest - or on their own body. Activities indoors would gravitate towards the central fire, it was only here that there would be heat - and light. In the winter, there would be a constant fight to keep warm. When it rained, you got wet. There were no waterproof materials in the Viking Age. Disease could spread rapidly through a crowded hall, even the slightest injury could lead to infection and death. Viking Clothes Viking Clothing (Coxhoe Primary) Viking Clothing & Jewellery Viking Clothes (nice images) Viking Dress Viking Clothing (b/w images very wordy) Who were the Vikings? More links on School Website Travel, Trade, Exploration Viking Ships & their Hoards More links on School Website The Viking Expansion Viking Trade Viking Treasure (Hoards) Viking voyages Conor’s page on Vikings in North America Viking Traders and Invaders Toward the end of the 8th century CE, Viking seafarers from what we now call Norway (A), Denmark (B), and Sweden (C) embarked on a series of daring voyages for trade, colonization, and sometimes even plunder. Over the next 250 years, they planted settlements in Europe — from the British Isles (D) and France (E) to Italy (F) and Russia (G). Vikings from Norway, in particular, became the first Europeans, ever, to establish a passage across the Atlantic to North America. They did it in stages, setting up bases, as they went, in the Shetland Islands (H), Faroe Islands (I), Iceland (J), Greenland (K), and — for just a few years — in the place they called Vinland (L). The Viking Diaspora Viking Exploration & Settlement TT&E (BBC) Viking Leaders & Warriors More links on School Website Attacks on England Viking pirates first raided Portland in Dorset, in 787 AD. Another pirate raid sacked the monastery in Lindisfarne in 793 AD. Raids continued for the next century, with Danish and Norwegian Vikings seizing land all over Northern England, as well raiding and settling in Scotland, the Isle of Man, part of Wales and Ireland. The Berserker Eric Bloodaxe Leif Eriksson – Leif the Lucky Beginning of the Viking Age Invasions (BBC) Viking weapons & Warfare Vikings in Britain The Warriors Viking Warriors Warrior Challenge (Vikings) Viking Warriors Why the Vikings came to Britain Viking Conquest Viking Law & Order Warrior Challenge (Vikings) Aargh it’s the Vikings (kids site) The case of the missing helmets Defences & fortifications Reasons for Invasion Viking Gods and Religion Odin God of War Viking Gods Real or Myth (primary site) Viking Gods (Norwegian site) Creation Myth Thor God of Thunder Loki God of Mischief Pre-Ragnarok Viking Religion Viking Religion Viking Beliefs (BBC) Viking Religion (BBC) Viking Poems & Sagas Norse Mythology The Valkyries Viking Gods - Loki Thor’s Hammer Nordic Gods Gods and Things The Norse notion of the Gods was very much involved with tribalism. The Aesir are the Gods of the tribe or clan. The Vanir are those Gods who are allied with the clan, but who are not part of it. The Jotnar or Giants are the "outlanders" or more simply everyone else. The Norse Gods were not held to be all powerful or immortal. Their youth was maintained very precariously by the magical apples of the Goddess Idunna. More importantly at the end of the world a good number of the Gods will die in battle. The Northern view of the world was a practical one with little assurance for the future and little perfection and the Gods were no exception. It is very important to understand that the Gods are real and living beings. They aren't magical symbols to be manipulated, nor is viking religion some type of giant cosmic vending machine where sacrifices are inserted and blessings come out. The Gods are living beings and offer the people benefits because they are their friends and companions. They should always be treated with respect. More links on School Website More links on School Website Viking Writing The runic alphabet, used by early Norse peoples including the Vikings, has no clear origins; in fact, the word "rune" derives from the Gothic word runa, meaning "mystery." The runic alphabet is called a "futhark", and gains its name, like the word "alpha-bet," from the first few symbols in the series. Runes had no lowercase, and could be written in any direction, from left to right or right to left. An alphabet of runes was common to all Germanic peoples of the north long before the Viking Age began. It is called the futhark, after the first six signs in the alphabet. Although its origins are obscure, the Vikings themselves believed that the god Odin had invented it (or rather, stole it). The runes were never the basis of a spoken language, but in addition to their written use they were believed to be sacred and very powerful magical symbols, each linked to a god and a specific meaning. They were a means of divination. Rune casters, whom were often women, used runes to cast lots and tell fortunes. Viking Runes Runes (nice images) Runic Writing Runes & Rune Stones Write your name in Runes Viking language & writing Vikings in Art Hunterian Museum Viking Art & Architecture Viking Art More links on School Website What happened to the Vikings? By the end of the Viking age, most lands had strong central authorities, including trained, standing armies capable of mounting effective defenses against Viking attacks. Generally, the Vikings were not trained, organized troops. While skilled at arms, their shock tactics were ineffective against trained, professional soldiers supported by the king. Another change that occurred as a result of the Viking attacks was to fortify or modify some of the more desirable targets, making them less susceptible to Viking raids. Monasteries built easily defendable towers, where valuables and people could be moved quickly in the event of a raid. Some monasteries were moved inland, away from the reach of ship-based Vikings. The island monastery at Iona was raided three times by Vikings, in the years 795, 802, and 806. Beginning in the year 807, the monastery was moved about 20 miles (35km) inland for safety. The Christian church arrived in the Viking lands at the end of the Viking age. The Viking raids were not in keeping with some of the tenets of the Christian church, so it is not a surprise that the arrival of the church and the decline of raiding are closely tied. During the tenure of Bishop Gizurr Ísleifsson (at the end of the 11th century), the practice of bearing arms in Iceland was largely abandoned, a significant change from both the century before and the one after. The Viking age ended when the raids stopped. The year 1066 is frequently used as a convenient marker for the end of the Viking age. At the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the Norwegian king Haraldr Harðráði was repulsed and killed as he attempted to reclaim a portion of England. It was the last major Viking incursion into Europe. The raids slowed and stopped because the times changed. It was no longer profitable or desirable to raid. The Vikings weren't conquered. Because there were fewer and fewer raids, to the rest of Europe they became, not Vikings, but Danes and Swedes and Norwegians and Icelanders and Greenlanders and Faroese and Shetlanders. TEACHER RESOURCES Teacher Lead Activities & Resources Primary History (Vikings Lesson downloads) Mythology (5 activities & resource links) Voyage with the Vikings (Snaith Primary) Virtual Tour of Viking Exhibition at Smithsonian Institute Jorvik Viking Centre (online tour) Viking Settlers in Europe (downloadable printout worksheets) Viking Image Bank Vikings Online (Loads of teacher links and activities) Beginning of the Viking Age (great activities in this pdf file) Viking Cyberhunt with links What did the Vikings do when they reached land? Vikings would use cow’s urine to clean their clothes! Lesson Plans & activities Miscellaneous The Hanefatafl Viking Board Game (printout and play) Viking clipart Tolstar Primary Viking pages Viking Images (battles etc.) Vikings (wordy) The Vikings (1066 site wordy by nice images) All about Vikings 10 Facts you didn’t know! Vikings Quizes (lots of ) More links on School Website Classroom Activities Teacher Resource Exchange (Vikings) What’s Changed (print & do scene) My Museum (Viking page) How to emboss in foil A School Viking Mural Making Thor’s Hammer Making Butter & Finger Weaving Viking Quest (can you build a ship?) Viking Time Tunnel Game (BBC) Families & Feuds (Drama play – make you own ending!) Cut out Viking Ship Miscellaneous What did the Vikings do when they reached land? Vikings would use cow’s urine to clean their clothes! The Vikings Norwegian Folktales Viking Stories Vikings (thinkquest) Viking Webquest Created by Angie 5th July 2007