By: Maia FB. The term Viking (from Old Norse víkingr) is customarily used to refer to the Norse (Scandinavian) explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates.

By: Maia FB

The term Viking (from Old Norse víkingr) is customarily used to refer to the Norse (Scandinavian) explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.[

These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far west as Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland, and as far south as Al Andalus. This period of Viking expansion – known as the Viking Age – forms a major part of the medieval history of Scandinavia, Britain, Ireland and the rest of Europe in general.

Popular conceptions of the Vikings often differ from the complex picture that emerges from archaeology and written sources. A romanticized picture of Vikings as Germanic noble savages began to take root in the 18th century, and this developed and became widely propagated during the 19th-century Viking revival.The received views of the Vikings as violent brutes or intrepid adventurers owe much to the modern Viking myth which had taken shape by the early 20th century. Current popular representations are typically highly clichéd, presenting the Vikings as familiar caricatures.

Viking food was very dull compared with the food we eat today. The most common foods were fish, porridge made from oats and barley mixed with milk or water, and barley bread. Bread was made from wholemeal flour, which was often dangerously contaminated. Weeds such as cornockle, which was poisonous, were often present, as well as stones from the quem used to grind the flour: the stones in the bread wore down Viking teeth.

Longships

Longships were naval vessels made and used by the Vikings from Scandinavia and Iceland for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age. The longship’s design evolved over many years, beginning in the Stone Age with the invention of the umiak and continuing up to the 9th century with the Nydam and Kvalsund ships.

Longships

The longship appeared in its complete form between the 9th and 13th centuries. The character and appearance of these ships have been reflected in Scandinavian boat-building traditions until today. The average speed of Viking ships varied from ship to ship but lay in the range of 5–10 knots and the maximal speed of a longship under favorable conditions was around 15 knots.

Clothes and shoesThe Vikings came from lands that were cold for many months of

the year, so they wore thick clothes to keep them warm. The men wore leather ankle boots/shoes or, more rarely, knee

boots, thick woolen trousers held up with a linen tie, usually threaded through the waistband and cross gartered with strips of leather or cloth. This gathered-in the trousers and protected them. Occasionally, as an alternative to cross-gartering they may have worn ‘winingas’ or puttees, more often associated with the Saxons. These afforded even more protection and sometimes would be worn without trousers by poorer men, the same protection being afforded to the lower legs.

Clothes

Shoes

The Viking women stayed home and took care of the household while the men were out conquering. The children, the elderly and the slaves helped keeping house during the long winters.

The wife had all the keys to the house, they hanged around her waist as a status symbol.

House

Weapons

Weapons

The Vikings were greatly feared for their strength and skill in battle. They used a vast array of weapons and armor: swords, axes, and spears were their main weapons, but some also used bows and daggers. Armor consisted of helmets, shields, and chain mail or leather tunics. They fought mostly on foot and used their ships mainly as a transport to the scene of battle.

Weapons

The greatest of Viking weapons was his sword. It was highly prized for its fighting strength and was a status symbol; the higher the rank of the warrior, the greater the sword. It usually had a wide, double-edged blade, was between 70 and 80 centimeters long, and had a richly decorated hilt. The blades were pattern welded and had a fuller ground out the length of the blade. The fuller lightened the blade without reducing it’s strength and increased it’s flexibility. Swords were thought so highly of that many Vikings named them.