Vikings AKA Norsemen

1. VikingsAKA Norsemen

2. Origins and Locations • Came from the three countries which make up Scandinavia: • Denmark • Norway • Sweden • Mountainous and lost of deep water • Fjords • Ships are needed to regular trade and interaction among Scandinavian peoples SCOTLAND ENGLAND

3. Norse Society • Norsemen have diverse roles in society • Traders • Boat-builders, blacksmiths, potters and leather-workers • Most Norsemen were comfortable in boats and most could fight. • Fight for defense, “raiding” and support of chieftain • Being a Warrior was expected • Norse Women • Daily life was made up of duties at home (often farming) • Baked bread. • Spinning and weaving to turn sheep wool into cloth. • Looked after the children • Made the family's clothes • Cooked • Most Viking families ate two meals a day unless at a celebration • On the farm, women milked the cows and made cheese.

4. Norse Society • Children: • Babies were given little Thor's-hammer charms, to protect them from evil spirits and sickness. • A boy usually took his father's name • Eric, son of Karl, became Eric Karlsson. • Girls often took the same name as their mother or grandmother. • No formal education system • They helped their parents work • Learned Viking history, religion and law from spoken stories and songs • By 15 or 16 they were adults. • Boys took vocation of father or another male family member • It was common for a girl's father to choose her husband. • Slaves • Did the hardest, dirtiest jobs. • People could be born slaves. • The child of a slave mother and father was a slave too, • Child of a slave mother and a free father was free. • Many slaves were people captured in a Viking raid. • Viking traders sold slaves in markets.

5. Viking Longhouses • Most Viking families lived in a one-roomed longhouse, with the whole family sleeping, eating and working in one room. • Multiple families (relatives) often lived in these Longhouses • Longhouses were usually made of wood with stone footings as a base. • The roof was usually made from turf, which could be replaced periodically. • The roof of the longhouse had a hole, through which smoke from the central fire, which was used for cooking and as a source of heat, could escape • The main living area of the longhouse was around the fire. • Around the outside of the room were benches, covered in animal fur or skin, to provide extra warmth and comfort. • The only light came from the door, roof opening and the fire.  • The poorest families shared their living quarters with the family’s animals.

6. Viking Religion • Polytheistic • Europeans would call it a Pagan religion • Odin • the father of the gods • god of knowledge and war • Ravens were believed to be his animal and good luck • Thor  • god of thunder, fertility, the sky and the law • To keep the law in order Thor would wield his mighty hammer • Protector against Ice Giants • Believed the battle between him and a giant serpent with bring Ragnarok • The end of the world

7. Viking Religion • Loki • Mischievous fire god and also a shape shifter born to two giant parents • Heimdall • Mighty guardian of the bi-frost rainbow bridge, that was the path that linked Asgard, the realm of the gods and Midgard, the realm of man. • Owner of the legendary horn the Gjallarhorn • If blown would be heard throughout the Norse universe alerting the Gods to come to arms. • Freya • goddess of love and beauty • Known for her immense beauty and poise, she was simply irresistible to men, and had many affairs even though she was married. • Considered to be a warrior goddess and was leader of the Valkyries. • Claim the souls of warriors, those brave Vikings that died on the battlefield

8. Viking Religion • Death Rituals and Belief: • buried or cremated (burned) with some of their belongings, to take into the next world. • Some Viking chiefs were given ship-burials, with treasure, weapons, and favorite dogs and horses buried with them. • Warrior killed in battle went to Valhalla • Great hall where dead heroes feasted at long tables. • Odin sent his warrior-maidens, the Valkyries, riding through the skies to bring dead warriors to Valhalla • Vikings and Christianity • The Viking’s old pagan customs died out as they converted to Christians. • People in Britain had been Christians long before Vikings settled there in the 900s. • Partly because of this interaction Norsemen too became Christians. • Viking leaders founded churches and put up painted stone crosses. • Some Vikings continued to follow their old religion at the same time

9. Norse Runes • Writing was considered a special skill among the Vikings. • runes were carved into stone and wood. • Warriors who knew how to read and write runes could blunt enemies' weapons, break chains, cure illnesses, guard against witches and be protected in battle and on threatening seas. • Runes origin: • Odin hung upside down on the tree of knowledge for nine days, saw the runes, he used his sword to carve them into the tree: Vikings considered the runes to be sacred. • Runes weren't used to write stories. • They gave information about families, deaths, and name giving. • They were used for everyday writing such as labelling household items and personal belongings. • They were also used by merchants to keep records of items bought and sold. • Vikings made rune stones (large and small). • The stones were often decorated with black, red, blue and white paint extracted from berries, garden plants and clay-like earth. • Inscribed on thumb sized stones. The stones were placed in bags • Removed one by one by Viking fortune-tellers and magicians. • predict the future, heal the sick, banish evil, or • bless people, places, and things. • The stones often depicted snakes, horses and ships along with the inscriptions. • Decorated swords and spears with runic symbols • They believed the runes were magical, and made the weapon stronger in battle.

10. Viking Longships • Viking settlers sailed long distances in their longships • Strong, lightweight and shaped to skim quickly through the water. • Clinker built hull allowed for great speed and strength in stormy seas. • Also allowed the ship to be rowed up narrow channels and rivers. • Warships/raiding ships were designed to come right up on the beach • Men could jump out and start fighting straight away.

11. Viking Longships • Built of wood and made waterproof with tar from pine trees. • The square sails were made of woven wool and were often brightly colored. • Made by wives, daughters and servant girls. • Usually made from sheep wool covered with animal fat and tar to strengthen it. • The Prow: front of the ship carved with a dragon like figure • Dragon head prow to scare enemies • Shields were brightly colored and were hung over the sides of the ship as it entered port • Keel: • One of the first ever ships to have a keel. • provides the ship with support in rough weather. • Enabled the ships to travel smoothly and quickly across the sea. • When the wind was wrong for sailing, they were rowed by teams of oarsmen. • A large oar at the stern steered the ship.

12. Viking Raids • First Raid was in 787 CE near the English border in a monastery • Three ships from Hordaland (in modern Norway) landed in the Isle of Portland on the southern coast of Wessex (Northern Great Britain). • Approached by the royal reeve from Dorchester, whose job it was to identify all foreign merchants entering the kingdom, and they proceeded to kill him. • In 792 King Offa of Mercia began to make arrangements for the defense of Kent from raids perpetrated by "pagan peoples" • In the last decade of the 8th century, Norse raiders sacked a series of Christian monasteries located in what is now the United Kingdom • Monks recorded all of the Viking attacks • What they stole • Jewels, Silks, Furs, Silver, Slaves, Spices, Food and drink, Gold