VIKINGS: Björn Ironside Facial Tattoo Meaning

As you know, I'm no longer here on this blog due to lack of time for some writing; as an archaeologist that profession takes much of my time, but you can still find my work and my posts in a variety of other social media that I shall leave the links in this post.

My good friends, I've made a post on my Patreon about the meaning of Björn's facial tattoo on the TV series VIKINGS. I'll leave the link down below to that post because it's open to the public:

Click here: VIKINGS: Björn Ironside Facial Tattoo Meaning

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Viking Warrior-Women existed?

You can watch the video about this subject in here: [Viking Warrior-Women]


As I’ve told you before, there are historical facts and then historical facts proven by sciences. There was always this idea of Viking women fighting alongside men; fearsome female warriors in poetry and in the sagas. For instance, we have the famous Freydís Eiríksdóttir, the daughter of Erik the Red. She appears in the Sagas of the Greenlanders as a fearsome warrior, with masculine physical features, and a lot of people died due to her schemes, and she even fought the North-American natives. But there were no certainties that she even existed. We have always heard about warrior women in the ancient Scandinavian societies, especially during the Viking Age, but the truth is, there were no palpable evidences that they were real, that the women in these societies were warriors or could be warriors, it’s like when you have an idea, you spread it so much that all of a sudden everyone is talking about it as if it were true and becomes a fact. But fortunately nowadays, and this is a recent discovery, there are physical evidences that viking warrior women really existed, all thanks to archaeology, physical anthropology and genetics. So now we can say with certainty that women in ancient Scandinavian societies could be warriors. 

Women were very active within ancient Scandinavian societies. For instance, unlike Iceland where men were more active in activities related to witchcraft, especially Galdr, in mainland Scandinavia, Seidr – witchcraft, rune-magic, divination and so on – was the province of women.  Women also took care of the household and the farmstead when men were away raiding, they could even get divorced, and if their husband was killed they could take their sit in the Thing (the assembly of the community), having a very active role in politics. But when there were kids to take care of, their mothers were in charge of teaching them the arts of war. Mothers would teach their kids how to use the bow and arrow, the shield, sword, axe and spear - so women knew the Scandinavian medieval martial arts. With this knowledge in fighting and using weapons, why not try their luck like men? I’m sure taking care of the farmstead was a dull business, being at the assembly probably quite boring, so why not explore the world, discover new places, meet new people and kill them and rob them of their properties? 

Archaeological evidences of warrior graves are numerous, especially during the Viking Age period of Northern Europe. And in the Viking town of Birka, in nowadays Sweden, was the key centre of trading between the 8th and 10th centuries. There is a great number of graves distributed over large burial grounds encircling the town area. Of course, graves not only for warriors but other town's folk, but there is a specific area just for the garrison of this town, and in this area were found the deceased warriors. The graves in this area contained all manner of objects linked to the activities of warriors. The grave goods included swords, axes, spears, armour-piercing arrows, battle knifes, shields, well . . . the complete equipment of professional warriors. Some graves even had horses, and horses already indicate high-ranking officers. One of these high-ranking officers was a woman, scientists came to the conclusion after osteological and genetic tests. 

Now the question is, do weapons found in graves necessarily determine a warrior? There is a variety of archaeological findings of viking-women buried with weapons and they weren't 
necessarily warriors. But this one not only had all the equipment a warrior needs, also had horses. Two horses, as I've said. Horses weren't easy to come by, and it was extremely expensive to own one horse, let alone two. Horses were also chosen to be the sacrificed animals when it came to funerary rituals for someone of great importance, extreme importance really. But that depends on the context. In this context, these two horses show us that they were worthy of an individual with responsibilities concerning strategy and battle tactics. Of course there is the Oseberg ship case, where two women were buried with a great number of horses, but on that context we are in the presence of something completely different and unique, which I would love to talk about on another video someday.  

And now you ask, what about signs of trauma in the skeleton which indicate that the individual was a warrior? Well I must say that the skeletal remains of this female warrior did not exhibit signs of trauma. But weapon-related wounds are not that common, actually, during the Viking Age, traces of violent trauma are more common in mass burials, so it's more likely to find graves for a single warrior with little or no traces of trauma, and not every weapon hits the bones and leaves a mark, we have to take in mind that there is a lot of flesh and muscle to slice and people can die from it. 

Well, this goes beyond my professional knowledge, as an archaeologist I know a bit of theoretical physical anthropology and a tiny bit of genetics, but that work is left to the scientists who really know about this stuff, and they say this skeleton belonged to a woman and we can be certain it did. Now, is this the only female warrior of the ancient Scandinavian society? Of course not. Till now the idea was that men were the warriors and no one really went to the trouble of properly study the osteological remains to see the gender. This woman was not only a warrior, but a highranking officer, so if women could have such a high statues in the military field, certainly they could be warriors. In conclusion, female Viking warriors were part of a society that dominated from the 8th to the 10th century of northern Europe and now with certainty we can say that women were full members of this society, being very active in every field. 

The Viking Priests and Priestesses of Sandvika

In the year of 1963, a burial ground with 24 graves inside the bay of Sandvika on the eastern side of the island of Jøa, in Central Norway, were discovered. The bodies were buried in a sitting position, and after a close analyses the dating  of the remains go back to the years 650 to 1000 AD. The unusual burial caracteristics showned that these northmen belonged to a specific group of people within the Viking society.

Unlike other graves from the Viking Age, this graveyard was unknown to the human sight, because the bodies were not placed inside a burial mound that is could be clearly visible in the terrain, or marked in any other way but rune stones or anything of that kind. These Vikings were lowered into funnel-shaped shell sand holes. This burial ground is unique in Scandinavia, and these people are the only ones to have ever been found like this - in a  sitting position. So why were they placed like this?

Lets make a quick analyses of the bodies. The people in question must have been dead for at least twenty-four hours so that rigor mortis has made it possible to shape the body into a sitting position. Also, it must have been very difficult to dig out chairs in the porous shell sand, so to go into all this trouble these people were not common folk amongst their community. There is another aspect which must be taken into consideration. In 14 of the 24 graves there were found skeletons and skeletal remains; the other 10 graves were simply empty. The remains were identify has belonging to 7 women and 4 men. Analysis shows that the women in question reached an average age of 47 years. (It has only been possible to determine the age of one of the men, and he died at the age of 40.)

The women had an average height of 157.2 centimeters (5ft 2in), and the men 162.6 centimeters (5ft 4in), which is much lower than the normal height for this period. The men were as much as 10 centimeters (3.9in) lower than the average for the Viking Age (172.6 cm / 5ft 8in).

The dating of the artifacts found here, shows that these Vikings were buried fully clothed in the period between 650 and 1000 AD, (from the Merovingian period to the end of the Viking Age), and it seems like the burial custom ended when Christianity was forced with swords upon the Norse society.

Today, on the other side of the small river Hovselva (the Hof River) is the Hov (Hof) farm located in the northeast – indicating that there was a pagan temple located close to the burial ground. In all of the 24 graves there were found remnants of bonfires, so it is natural to assume that there must have been some kind of ritual that includes bonfire in connection with the funeral.

Another peculiarity is that about half of the bodies were facing north-northeast (facing the Hof itself) and half to the south-southeast. No one was facing directly east and only one body was facing directly to the west. As many as ten knifes were found in 9 different graves. They vary in length, but none of them has a blade more than 20 centimeters and consequently have not been used as Viking combat weapons. The individuals they belonged to must have used these knives for a very specific purpose. There were no other weapons found inside the graves, which is unusual for the Viking Age. However, there were also found beads, brooches, finger rings and keys, but there is no repeating pattern.

Summarizing: these people were buried in a small area close to a heathen Hof, and the dead were put down in a sitting position. There was no marking of the graves but they may have been marked with ornamental shrubs or flowers; almost all of the graves contain remnants of bonfire, and there are no traces of weapons. However, there were found many “regular” cut knives; the bodies were facing north-northeast and south-southeast. No one was facing directly towards the east.

So who were these Vikings? They might have been “hovgydjer” - pagan priests and priestesses. The knives might have been used for sacrifice, or were the tools of these priests and priestesses. If thise is the case, it is very important for the understandment of the people who practiced the magical arts. It was common in Viking Age society that the only ones to practice sorcery, witchcraft, spell-work, divination and so on, were only women. But in this community it might have been different; it's quite plausable that men also did this kind of work.

We also have to take into consideration that these specific men were very small, and possibly very fragile. So it may have been that the community found a way to give them a purpose, a trade, a way to help the community since they might have been to fragile for other harduous works. Or maybe we are in the presence of an old Shamanic custome, where men who had certain feminine qualities were revered and worked as spiritual guides. Well, this remains a mystery.

Dalecarlian runes

We usually associate runes with the Vikings, although these symbols have been an early form of writing spread all over Europe since the late Bronze Age (possibly even before that). Our ancestors started to produce geometrical symbols; they perfected them, simplify them, until we start to see in archaeological context the early forms of what would be the runes. This form of writing soon came to an end when Romans started to conquer Europe and the latin alphabet replaced the old forms of written language. But far in the north the runes remained till late, due to the fact that romans had little influence, if any, in those regions. However, christianity eventually reached Scandinavia during the middle ages, and it was thought that the Vikings might have been the last people to use the runes in a daily basis, and that the runes continue to be used only for magical purposes. But in the hidden deapths of Scandinavia, people still used the runes as far as 100 years ago.

The runic alphabet was the dominant written language in Northern Europe until the advent of Christianity in the 9th and 10th centuries introduced the Latin alphabet. By the 15th century the Latin alphabet had almost wiped out the use of runes. But here, in Älvdalen, the runes remained very much in use.

In Älvdalen, near Dalarna, in western Sweden, the local population continued to use the runes for centuries after the ancient written language had been abandoned by the rest of Scandinavia. Until the early 20th century the runes were still used there. The inhabitants of this region retained their very special language - Elfdalian - which is an other completely different language apart modern swedish (an unique old Norse tongue).

Here is an example of the runes used till modern days:

Illustration from: [Arakun/Wikimedia Commons]

As you can see, the runes of Älvdalen - dalrunerne - are reminiscent of those used on runes stones in countries such as Denmark, Norway, Sweden, etc., but there are a number of differences. Dalrunerne developed over time, influenced partially by the Latin alphabet. The use of runes in Scandinavia gradually ceased during the 15th century. Although there were some areas of Gotland, in Sweden, and in Iceland, where the rune tradition survived until the 17th century, but in Älvdalen     their use was widespread until the early 20th century.

The runes in Älvdalen were most commonly found on houses and inscribed in furniture, and were also engraved into "message blades" which were sticks of wood that were circulated among the farms in the area. It's really interesting to see that the people who herded the cattle up in the mountains would write messages to each other in runes.

This wonderful linguistic and traditional treasure remained till late due to the isolation of this region. A place deep in the Swedish forests and mountain ranges, hard to get into. While the rest of Scandinavia, and Europe, the Latin alphabet and Germanic dialects spread and gave way to the modern languages of the European linguistic-branch, in Älvdalen a little bit of the past remained frozen in time.

Archaeological Find in Iceland - The First Settlers?

Archaeological excavations in Stöðvarfjörður, the East Fjords, reveled interesting signs of human presence dated 74 years before the official settlement in the area by the first humans who came exploring the country. It seems the country was inhabited as early as the year 800 which means the first Viking explorers were not the ones who came to settle in 874 but there were people before who made the preparations for an official colonization of the area.

However, this is not the first time that signs of human presence from a similar time have been discovered. Excavations in Kvosin, Reykjavík, Hafnir, Reyjanes and in Húshólmi, had already given the hint of older settlements in the country. But now this one in Stöðvarfjörður came to cientifically prove the previous thought that Vikings settlers had been here way before the official historical record.

The Stöðvarfjörður is a strategic location, because the fjord has a good harbor and is the country’s closest location to sail to and fro Norway and the British Isles.

The first structure to be detected was a longhouse-shaped building with thick floor layers. The long-fire structure which was usually at the very center of the house is missing, but a fireplace can be seen by the wall. This structure is typically Nordic. The items are of the same kind as the ones which had been found in the whole Nordic area (including the Scandinavian Peninsula and all the way to the British Isles). This first settlement probably wasn't the type of farm-settlement, but an outpost that served as a predecessor to a real settlement.

The lack of animal bones in the area suggests that these settlers did not keep animals here, but used this place as a seasonal residence in order to exploit the natural resources the area offered.

Several tiny items of great importance to this finding, and a link to the first settlers, have been found. For instance, a sharpener, pearls, washers, a ring and a silver coin. A chalcedony discovered at the site proves that these first norsemen made utensils out of stone. This might give us a clue from where these people came from. In Northern Norway, during the medieval ages, it was still common for people to make tools out of stone. It became a sort of a costum to make stone tools in that area, while in other places these techniques had been put aside for a long time and in most cases had been forgotten. These first settlers were skilled in making stone tools, which suggests they were used to do it and this might indicate that they probably came from the northern regions of Norway.

Worshiping in ancient Scandinavia - Freyfaxi

Every religion is always changing, and no matter how hard we try to follow the footsteps of our ancestors, we will never fully understand the essence of their spiritual beliefs. All religions have their branches also, and that happens on the spirituality of the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples of old as well. Some prefer to worship only the Aesir or the Vanir, others worship the underworld deities and the deities connected with a more primal scenary, and others just choose one deity and prefer to focus on that one archetype. Suffice to say that most neo pagans prefer to worship just Odin, or Thor, or even both; these two deities are very famous amongst neo pagans and everything else in this spiritual tradition seems of no importance. However, to our ancestors it was obviously different. In fact, as I've mentioned before,  Odin was not that famous back then, and people prefered to worship fertility deities rather than Warrior deities. The majority of the populace were farmers, herders and fishers. Only a few would worship warrior deities and death deities. Odin was a deity more related to death and war than magic and wisdom (as we commonly think nowadays). Odin's cult was very restricted and only for a certain elite of the society.

With that being said, I'll move on to the real subject of this post. One of the most worshiped deities of that time was the god Frey, mostly worshipped at Upsala (Sweden). Fricco or Freyr, a name which appears to be identical with the Teutonic word represented in Old English by frea - meaning - lord or king. It is stated by some historians and archaeologists that an image of Frey, which was worshipped at Thrandheim in Norway, had been sent there from Sweden. There are certain stories that mention this very image of Frey in Sweden which was carried about the country, and to which sacrifices were offered. This was common with certain deities and Tacitus mentions a cult with these similarities in his Germania; an image of a female deity carried to a forest and sacred grove, and sacrifices were made to her (including human sacrifices).

There were many sacrifices to the god Freyr, but mostly were animals. There are accounts of the sacrifice of black oxen offered to Frey by the mythical hero Hading. This sacrifice was often called Frodblod or perhaps Frodblót by theSwedes - Frey's sacrifice. There are frequent occurances of Frey - in Swedish (and Danish) - place-names which indicates the prevalence of the cult in both of these countries. 

The worship of Frey might also have been very popular in Norway, and from there it  passed to Iceland. The cult being passed on by the early settlers. As late as tenth century the people of Thrandheim are represented as refusing to break their image of Frey at the command of King Olaf, because people had long served  thisdeity and the god himself had done good to his people. There are accounts from the folk of Thrandheim that state the deity often talked with them  and told them things to come and also gave them peace and plenty. At the great festivals it was customary to drink to Frey, in order to secure peace and prosperity. A talisman on which the image of Frey was marked in silver is mentioned as having been owned by one of the petty kings of Norway about the late nineth century; this was given by King Harald to Ingimund.

In Iceland itself the traces of a popular cult of Frey are very clear, and more than one prominent person mentioned this cult in the sagas. One of these accounts, from Thorgrim, brother-in-law of Gisli Sursson, the saga says that he intended to hold a festival at the beginning of winter, and greet the winter, and sacrifice to Frey and in honor to the deity. When Thorgrim was murdered, and had been laid in a grave-mound, it was noticed that the snow never lay on the south or west sides of the mound, and the ground never froze there; it was supposed that he was so highly esteemed by Frey himself for the offerings he made to him, that the god did not wish Thorgrim's mound to freeze. Great attachment to this deity also appears in the story of Hrafnkel, who loved no other god more than Frey, and gave to him his possessions ; all his most valuable things. Among the offerings was a horse (Hrafnkel's own horse), which on that account bore the name of Freyfaxi. Another Freyfaxi belonged to Brand in Vatnsdal, and most people believed that he had a religious reverence for the horse. Horses owned by Frey are also mentioned as existing in Thrandheim in the days of Olaf Tryggvason by the end of the tenth century. Freyfaxi became the well known name for the cult of Frey and the celebration to him in August, during Lammas day (1st of August).

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The Vikings in America

We now know that the Vikings have been in North America 500 years before Columbus. The first archaeological evidences led scientists to go further on the investigations; each year more clues and informations are put together to confirm this historical event. Now, a new discovery has revealed that the Vikings may have travelled hundreds of miles further into North America and not just arround the coastline. It is clear that explorers (wherever they were from) always have that little thing inside of them called "curiosity", so it is perfectly natural that the Vikings went further inland. However, the full extent of their exploration isn't clear and may forever be a mystery, but in time we are finding more evidences.

In Portmahomack , northern Scotland, recent excavations have shown a wealthy monastery in the area. There were found scriptures, copied on prepared animal skin parchment by monks. Trade was the source of the riches in this monastery; the sea brought wealth to these people, but the tides would turn and wealth would sink in the crushing waves, only to bring to the monks destruction and the end of days. That's right, you guessed it - the Vikings were coming.

Archaeologists have revealed that Portmahomack was suddenly and utterly destroyed. They found smashed fragments of sculptures mingled with the ashes of torched buildings. It is quite possible (and thethe most likely explanation) that it was attacked and looted by Northmen. The attack on Portmahomack is the only Viking raid in Britain for which there are archaeological evidences. Others, such as the famous attack on Lindisfarne, is only the fruit of reports recorded in chronicles. Together, these two violent raids mark the start of an era of attacks from across the Northern Sea. The Norse came out of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, using sophisticated navigational skills and shipbuilding technology never seen before, making them the fastest and deadliest threats of that time.

Vikings were literaly everywhere in Europe. They invaded France and Normandy was given to them as in means to stop them from advancing further and causing more damage. They have been in parts of Italy and the Levant. They also founded Dublin, made deep inroads into England and island-hopped across the North Atlantic. Orkney, Shetland, Fair Isle and Iceland. They raided Spain and Portugal in the early nineth century (Northern Spain has a statue to celebrate the victory of the Spanish Kingdoms against the Vikings). They have created one of the very few Viking colonies in Portuguese territory - Povoa de Varzim - and they even crossed blades with the Muslims of the far south. They even crossed to Greenland, so why would they stop there?

The Vikings and their decendants wrote the famous sagas - the unique works of literature of the northmen, with a mixture of history and fiction and the beautiful touch of poetry. In some of these sagas, it is clearly stated that the explorer Leif Erikson led an expedition to the east coast of North America. It is described as having good harbours and an abundance of natural resources. But can we believe in such things? When history fails, it's up to the detectives of history and science to investigate and bring the truth - Archaeologists.

In the year of 1960, a site on the very northernmost parts of Newfoundland in Canada - L'Anse aux Meadows - was investigated and archaeologists were convinced that it was a Viking settlement. It was an outstanding discovery. The fact that the Vikings had reached North America before any other Europeans was indeed a change in history. Until now, no other sites had been found.

The site was choosen to dig, after several studies of the area. A headland, almost at the very western tip of Newfoundland, 400 miles further south and west than the only known Viking site in North America - Point Rosee. The place overlooks two bays, offering protection for ships from any wind direction. A blackened rock was found, with marks that showed it went through intense temperatures. Possibly a place of man-made structure which used fire for some activity -possibly metalwork. Beneath there were piles of charcoal mixed with cooked bog iron - an iron deposit that needs to be baked to drive off impurities and allow the iron to be extracted for smelting. Surrounding the hearth appeared to be a turf wall of the kind built by Viking settlers across the North Atlantic.

No other groups of settlers roasted bog iron in Newfoundland. Nothing has been proven yet, but it looks like that archaeologists might have found evidence of Viking exploration in North America that goes much further than just that one site  i've mentioned before, discovered in the 60s.

Though, the site may look like a small activity area, maybe connected to a large farm, but this is the beginning of a change in the history books about the Vikings. Only time will tell what things are hidden further down on the earth.

Archaeology : The Viking feasting Hall of Heorot found?

First of all, I would like to tell you in a very very summarized way about the Epic Poem of Beowulf which is relevant for this specific archaeological finding. One of the oldest literary works, translated and written in English, is the epic poem of Beowulf. The poem tells us the story of the hero Beowulf who defeated the monster/troll Grendel - the terrible fiend who terrorised the Great Hall of Heorot, in which the Danish King Hrothgar made his great feasts. In this Anglo-Saxon epic saga, the monster Grendel repeatedly attacks Heorot after becoming enraged by the sound of feasting. The Danes were powerless to defend their people and fight against the Grendel, until the arrival of Beowulf of course. Beowulf came from the land of the Geats (nowadays southern Sweden) killing the monster and then descending into the fiend's den and killing his mother; in other versions, Beowulf descended under the sea to kill the monster's mother.

Now, speaking of such feasts, excavations in the area have revealed that this great hall particularly in the time of Hrothgar, did indeed host feasts on legendary measures.

In Lejre - eastern Denmark (on the island of Zeeland, 23 miles west of Copenhagen) - archaeologists are currently working on the site to reveal the truth about the epic saga of Beowulf. Lejre was the centre of one of the most powerful Viking Kingdoms, and in fact, it was a huge trading area receiving goods from all over the places the Viking traders had been; from the mediterranean to India.

The extent to which the events of the poem are based on historical fact is controversial, but it seems to have been inspired by the wealthy Danish court at Lejre. However, the current excavations held in the area have confirmed that giant feasting halls were an integral part of life at Lejre. Archaeologists have found a total of seven halls dating from various points between the VI (6th) century and the XI (11th) century, implying that the structures were periodically torn down and rebuilt. The earliest of all the halls, which dates back somewhere in the year 500 BCE, is the one most likely to have been the inspiration for Heorot.

On the site of the excavation of this great hall, the remains of hundreds of animals have been found, apparently killed and eaten at massive feasts, as recounted in the poem. The animals - cattle, sheep, suckling pigs, goats, chickens, geese, ducks, deer and fish - imply that the Scandinavian elite enjoyed a varied and lavish diet. Pottery has also been found on the excavation, as well as up to 40 pieces of jewellery made from precious metals.

The area is/was thought to have been largely isolated from the rest of Europe, but in truth, as mentioned before, Lejre was a centre of northern trading with the rest of Europe and parts of Asia; not having those people from those parts of the world right there to trade, but the goods being brought by adventurous Norsemen. To support this, there are many objects which have been found at Lejre, although, there is one particular and interesting item - an animal jawbone which is believed to have belonged to a brown bear given to the Danish ruler by another European king.

The Viking age in Bretagne

During the late years of the VIII (8th) century, the Scandinavian raiders were already sailing throughout the seas of the known world. They have settled in many places, and raided even more. The first recorded attack in Brittany was when the Vikings pillaged the monastery of Saint Philbert on the island of Noirmoutier. After such an event, few were the incursions until the 830's. Charlemagne at the time built defences along the coast, which provided ample protection for the rising western Frankish Empire. However, the defences briskly faded due to the poor leadership of Louis the Pious.

That region had a strong sense of Breton identity and frequently revolted against the Frankish Empire. By the early 9th Century, the Bretons had won their independence under the leadership of Nominoé. Unfortunately for the Bretons the timing could not have been worse for the Vikings were about to come into their recently independent lands. 

According to the Annales d’Angoulême, in the year of 843, Brittany experienced what might be interpreted as the end of days. The events of the 24th of June of 843 caught the Bretons by surprise during the celebrations of the festival of Saint John. The city of Nantes wasn't fortified, for the denizens of Brittany had not imagined that such a thing, which was about to happen, would disturb their festivities. When the people of Nantes realized what was happening, it was already too late for them to organize any kind of defences, let alone any resistance. The Viking raiders had entered the city posing as merchants, but under their clothes they bore their weapons. The bishop of Nantes (Gerhardus), continued his sermon on the steps of the cathedral until he was violently killed before the townsfolk. The Norsemen killed everyone they could get their hands on (or rather their axes). The city was brought to ruin.

The scandinavians attacking the city of Nantes were raiders of Westfold (a region on the continental coast of the Fjord of Oslo). Their movements had been traced and recorded as far as the Hebrides, and they ostensibly travelled through the Bay of Saint George to arrive in the Bay of Biscay where they led a raid on the Saint John festival. They continued along the Loire River and terrorized the Pays de Retz further inland. Once they had filled their ships they returned to the coast, but not without incident. Two of the fleet’s ships wrecked along the river, too heavy from their booty to keep afloat. Finally, the Northmen established a base on the nearby island of Noirmoutier where they stored and split their spoils. Some returned north, while others continued their voyage south. They avoided returning to the Loire thereafter, for the new count of Nantes, Lambert, fortified the Loire River’s banks to prevent a repeat of the monumental catastrophe in Nantes.

It is well known that some of the Norse people sailed as far as the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), which unfortunately little is known about the Viking raids there, safe a few sea battles and raids to the northern christians and the southern muslims. The Viking terror reverberated across the Carolingian Empire, and nearly all the Annales, or chronicles, of the time make reference to the carnage of the sack of Nantes, so everyone across Europe already knew what these Norse men were capable of.

By 847 C.E. it became clear that the Viking invaders of Western Europe had developed political ambitions beyond the sporadic raiding of the previous three decades. Their sights moved beyond Britain and Normandy to other, less defended lands such as Ireland and Brittany. The Vikings used Noirmoutier, an island in the Bay of Biscay, as their base to launch a massive invasion attempt and to supply the warriors involved. The resources of the island (salt) was a necessary resource for any army of the time, and the Vikings were no exception. The Vikings exploited the rift along the Breton March between the Franks and the Bretons. A struggling Breton army even solicited the help of the Vikings to help defeat the Frankish army on two separate occasions. With Nantes under Scandinavian control, the great citadels of Brittany suffered the same fate. Cornouaille, Broweroch, Poutrocoët, Domnoée, and finally Saint-Brieuc were brutally raided. The Vikings expertly divided the lands and conquered them. By 854 C.E. a state of full military occupation was in place. So it would seem what Brittany would remain under Viking dominion.

In Normandy, the heavy influence and frequent raids of Vikings changed the political landscape. The Vikings themselves became divided and often tried to raid each other. Charles the Bald (the king of France of the time), began a campaign to use the variable alliances of the Vikings against themselves. On the Seine, Charles hired Vikings to defend certain areas of the river. Once secured, Charles turned his attention to Brittany where a powerful warlord (Salomon) ruled over a large area of the region. At first, Salomon appeared keen on an alliance with Charles; the Vikings in the Loire themselves had recently been troubled by raids from other groups of Vikings. Charles offered Salomon land rights and the status of vassal. Unfortunately for Salomon, a simultaneous Danish raid on Chartres and Tours following the new alliance sent the counts of Neustria (Western France) into revolt. Charles was forced to cancel his promises to Salomon. Free of the protectorship of Charles the Bald, the Vikings on the Loire suffered a heavy defeat by Robert the Strong, the leading Neustrian Count who had had enough of the Scandinavians invading his lands. The conflict ended in a stalemate. For the next 20 years, more or less, a similar political and military climate dominated the region. Along the Seine the Vikings continued to sack and pillage, and the Franks continued to rebuild and attempt to mount a resistance.

Salomon was finally murdered by his rival in 874. The ensuing power vacuum caused a civil war between the Vikings in which a Breton-Frankish alliance emerged to weaken the invadors. The raids intensified after Salomon's death. An internal struggle again erupted between the Bretons and the Franks, causing the resistance to dissolve. One leader remained with a guerrilla force to fight the Vikings - a man named Alain of Broweroch. Alain mounted an effective resistance and fought the invaders constantly. His greatest opportunity came when the Carolingians successfully pushed out the Seine Vikings who fled into Brittany and disrupted the power structure there. With a renewed civil war between the Vikings, Alain fielded two Breton armies and led them to repeated victories. By the year of 892, Alain had completely expelled the Vikings from Brittany. Along the Seine things for the Vikings weren't good either. The Great Danish Army left mainland Europe and sailed for England to focus on the kingdom of Wessex.

Alain the Great ruled over Brittany after the expulsion of the Vikings as a sovereign king not loyal to Charles the Bald. The Bretons saw the Franks as incapable of defending them, and thus loyalty to the empire served them no benefit. A period of peace ensued. Through military endeavor, judicious alliances, and payment of Tribute, Alain kept the peace in his lands. Upon his death in 907 C.E., his successor - Gurmhailon - would have no trouble keeping this peace. The system put in place by Gurmhailon’s predecessor quickly fell to pieces. Scandinavian invaders again sacked the Breton coast and began deep incursions into Breton lands. The Bretons began a long period of restoration to repair damage done by the Vikings. Still, the overlords from the north seemed a new permanent feature to the Breton landscape. Raids intensified in the continuing decades after Alain the Great  died without a suitable or qualified heir. The situation grew more difficult when a Viking force comprised primarily of Danes sacked and occupied Nantes a second time. Defeated, the Bretons retreated to their countryside where they squabbled in civil war over who should lead them to victory against the invaders.

In 913 C.E. the grandson of Alain the Great was born. The child received an invitation from his godfather, King Athelstan of Wessex, to live under the protection of his kingdom. The child was named Alain Barbetorte (Barbe-Torte). Upon Alain's return he laid claim to the throne of Brittany. The little resistance he encountered was squashed. It took little more than a fortnight for Alain to gain support from the entire kingdom. Thus began one of the more aggressive and seldom known military campaigns held during the Viking Age. Alain led an army beginning in Normandy where many Vikings entered into Brittany having been forced out of the Seine river valley by Charles the Bald. After cleansing the northern territories of Brittany of the Vikings, Alain marched south straight for Nantes. As they passed through Viking held villages Alain’s troops left a wake of devastation behind them. Further and further they marched into the Loire river territory. A fresh fleet of Vikings had sailed up the river to sack the city of Nantes. Alain recruited these Vikings to help him sack the city. His agreement with them included something unusual: a settlement charter. The agreement was that if these Northmen joined him in battle, Alain would grant them rights to fertile lands in the Loire River Valley; so long, of course, they also convert to Christianity. With a deal brokered, the two armies converged on a heavily fortified Nantes. Within two days the city was taken.

Thus the end of the Viking Age in Brittany was near. The Bretons had reclaimed their independence. Breton Sovereignty lasted until the 15th Century when the dukes of Brittany finally accepted to join the kingdom of France.

Archaeology: Viking site discovery

Another major Viking site discovered in a tiny village in Annagassan - Ireland - said to be one of the most important Viking sites in the world. It seems a small rural community once housed a Viking winter base there.

We know that Ireland already has a known major Viking Settlement - Dublin - but it appears a second one was found in Annagassan site, 50 miles north of the capital. This place appears in tales, it was thought to be a myth till now; archaeologists started working on these "virgin" grounds and unearthed the truth.

 It was already confirmed that the Linn Duchaill site, beside the river Glyde and south of Dundalk Bay, was where the Vikings brought their long ships or longphorts to be repaired. It was also the base for inland raids as far as Longford and into the north all the way to Armagh. However, it was eventually abandoned as a port due to poor tides and a shallow bay;  Linn Duachaill was also a large trading town as the Vikings exported Irish slaves and looted goods. 

The site is untouched, it has not been trashed by a road and it still is a greenfield site, there is no motorway going through it and it is basically a "virgin" territory. It has been husbanded and farmed for the last few hundred years and is unspoilt. It seems to be one of the most important sites of its kind in the world, not just in Europe.

Radio-carbon dating has conclusively shown it is a site of early Viking Age. It is an enormously important discovery because it is of the very earliest period of Viking settlement in Ireland. It was founded in 841 and the Annals of Ulster tell it was used over the next 50 years continuously.

The Reindeer Antler Comb

The academically accepted date for the beginning of the Viking Age is around 793 A.D. with the sack of Lindisfarne, however, new researches suggest that the Viking age may have begun earlier. Archaeologists found deer antlers fashioned into various items, including a comb which dates to an earlier age (725 A.D.) The artefacts were uncovered in the town of Ribe in Denmark, which indicates trading connections between the Danes and the Norwegians in a period earlier than what was previously thought.

These amazing findings have certainly altered previous notions of the development of a seafaring culture in Scandinavia. Trade was an important factor to set the beginning of the Viking Age, and the attack on Lindisfarne marks the official start of that period, mainly because of the proximity to several concurring events. If we take other factors into account, the dates for the beginning of the Viking Age will differ a lot of course. However, the first attack on the christians by the Vikings was not Lindisfarne. Another raid tells us of an unfortunate encounter a few years prior to Lindisfarne in which a local official in Britain was murdered for insisting on imposing a tax on Scandinavian traders. Another example are the Raids in Frisia (modern day Netherlands) which had began as early as the 770’s.Now we have evidence that the Vikings had begun traveling for trade as early as the 720’s. What makes Lindisfarne the best candidate for the start of the Viking Age is that it was the singular most powerful event that brought the Scandinavian raids into the public consciousness of the world at that time.

The findings on Ribe raise a lot of questions, but at least we have now confirmed what scholars have theorized for several decades - the Vikings were traveling  merchants around Europe (and possibly other places of the known world at that time) long before they began raiding. There are several theories on why the Norse peoples started leaving their homeland to became merchants and raiders, such as climate changing and a great flow of populations and so on. However, the closing of ports to non-Christians by Charlemagne may have contributed to the increasing violence carried out by the Vikings, because they became so much dependent on foreign trade, and barring their way of making a living certainly brought an economic failure in the north and things got bad and the Vikings were forced to raid.

Ribe, the location where the comb made of reindeer antler was found, is one of the oldest towns in Europe, thought to have been founded in the early 9th Century. The finds indicate the town had its beginnings much earlier than previously thought. Thus, in truth, the Viking Age started with the trading of handcrafted items made out of reindeer antlers. The mercantile town of Ribe may have given the Vikings an economic incentive to sail south to Denmark. Coincidentally, these types of travels likely helped the Vikings refine and master boating and navigation skills that helped them explore the world. Merchants and other travelers from the north were visiting Ribe long before the start of the Viking Age.

Studying the items found in excavations, showed that reindeer (which isn't an animal native to Denmark), made up a number of the crafts. Reindeer did live in Norway during that time, and it's likely the Vikings brought the antlers to Denmark to trade with their neighbors. In fact, combs fashioned out of deer antlers were a sizable industry during the Viking Age, which lasted until the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Other studies (not directly connected with the excavations and the findings in Ribe) have found that these type of items are commonly found in graves, which suggests that a considerable proportion of the Scandinavian population had reindeer antler combs, which served as a hygienic and aesthetic amenity.

Human Sacrifice - Northern Europe

When we talk about human sacrifices, people usually link that to an image of deep jungles somewhere in the southern areas of South America, and those semi-naked indigenous (or perhaps the Incas and Aztecs) opening someone's chest and taking out the heart, while the victim succumbs to death. But sacrificing humans to the gods or to achieve something good to the community, has always been a common practice among the cultures of Europe, far back from the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age to the medieval Ages, and in some places later than that.

It may be common knowledge that in the northern european societies, (before and during the Viking Age) human sacrifices were common, and even great chieftains and kings would sacrifice themselves for their army to achieve victory.

There is an interesting place that I would like to mention here (and that is actually the main subject of this post) that was the background for human sacrifices in northern Europe. Trelleborg – in modern Sweden – it was found there, by the archaeologists, the remains of sacrificed animals and humans. Interestingly, the site contains the remains of children as well, between the ages of four and eight. The remains have been found buried within deep wells. The remains of these children indicate the importance of human sacrifice in Scandinavian culture. If the Vikings sacrificed their own progeny, then human sacrifice must have been of the utmost importance in their rituals. 

 Northern mythology tells us of Odin sacrificing his eye in the well of Mimir in order to attain knowledge and be able to see into the past, present and future; this mythic well may represent the vessel in which offerings and sacrifices are thrown to the gods. 

The sacrificial hanging was fairly frequent at a great festival which took place every nine years at Upsala. The bodies of victims, both human and animal, were hung in the grove close to the temple. Usually the human victims were war prisoners and were sacrificed to Odin. There is even an account from Ynglinga, that Idrundr and Eirikr captured Gulaugr - king of the Háleygir, and hunged him.

There are other rather disturbing sacrifices such as King Aun who sacrificed his own sons to Odin in order that he may have his life prolonged. A man might save his own life if he gives the life of another in exchange, similarly, the state must offer human sacrifices in order to ensure its own preservation and success.

Despite the findings at Trelleborg and such other places like Upsala or Leire, the practice of human sacrificing seemes to remain a contested concept among historians. Human sacrifices were in practice in the early Viking Age, and before that, by the Norse, not only in official ceremonies but also in private context.

Scandinavian Religious Leadership during the Viking Age

Unlike our European societies after christianisation, whose religious leadership is held by the church, in the scandinavian societies things were different and religion was no less important to them as it was for the early christians. Religious ceremonies and its administration was performed by the local leaders of the communities.  For instance, a Jarl* of a farmstead took on the duties of administration, not only in the Thing*, but also conducting ceremonies related religion, the seasons and harvest times, new births, accessions, deaths, and so on.

The Jarls were of course very powerful and had a very active contribution in their communities. But not only Jarls had the power to conduct ceremonies and such. There were the Hersar (sing. Hersir). The "landed men"; local chieftains with family lands and many tenants and dependants, who preside over their district Thing. Of course the Hersar were more busy in increasing their wealth, and often led raids.

Women also had a very important and active role when it came to religious administration and other related actions. Many performed acts such as telling the future, healing the sick, and worked as the shaman/seeress of the local community. Women were seen as the keepers of the magic arts and able to communicate with divinities and otherworld spirits. Of course not all women were wielders of magic, but magic was their domain. Obviously there were men practicing the magic arts, but they were too few and were seen as effeminate for their unmanly behavior.

*Jarl - Powerful regional magnates. The highest men in the land under the king. Some Jarls were as powerful and wealthier as their kings, and had bands of warriors which rivaled the size of the kings' own armies. Many led raids to increase their status and wealth.

*Thing - and assembly where laws were discussed.

The Viking method of execution - the blood eagle - may be a mistranslation

The blood eagle as a Viking method of executing a person, may be the result of mistranslations and not historically accurate.

The execution method of the blood eagle in which victims were sliced open along the spine, had their ribs snapped open so it would look like wings, the lungs pulled out and salt poured in, may be a mistranslation of the Icelandic poet Sigvat Thordarson’s famous poem - Knútsdrápa. The poem is about Ragnar Hair-Breeches’s sons slaying King Ella of Northumbria in revenge. The stanza in question has been translated as both “Ivar caused the eagle to cut the back of Ella” and “Ivar cut the eagle on the back of Ella.” However, only the first translation makes literary and historical sense, as it fits in with the unique structure of the Icelandic poetry as well as the tradition of describing a slaughter as providing carrion for birds. The second translation led to a 14th-century interpretation that still exists today of the Vikings enacting a particularly horrid form of retribution.

This dreadful description of one of the methods used by the Vikings to kill a person, lasted to our days as the correct form of translation in an attempt to mark the Vikings as the barbarian bloodthirsty hordes the priests and monks believed them to be. The victims of the Vikings gave them a terrible reputation and later on the historical documentations writen about them which have survived to our days, were made centuries later when the Vikings were no more and the truth about such events had been altered from writer to writer.

Vikings and the European economic crisis

As you well know, history has been written by the victorious, but in the particular case of the Vikings, history was written by their victims. As such, the Vikings have been portrayed as brutal, bloodthirsty barbarians, and so their terrible reputation went on even to our days. Fortunately, with the help of Archaeology and the profound study of the historical records, we now know that the Vikings weren't as brutal mindless barbarians as they have been portrayed.

The image we have today of the Vikings is both wildly off the mark, and ignores the major contributions they made in shaping Europe during the Middle Ages - or what we know nowadays as the European continent. Not only the Vikings are completely misunderstood, but they may have also saved Europe.

The Vikings were not so selective about the places they wanted to raid, but the treasures and ransom achieved by attacking monasteries resulted in the Vikings being relegated to the “vicious barbarian” category of history. The monks in those monasteries were the only historians around at that time, for the christian church had the monopoly on writing in that time, and so all the records concerning the vikings, were made by the terrified priests and monks. Since the Vikings attacked those with a monopoly on writing, all of their deeds concerning their victims have gone down in history, and so they became known as the infamous, irrational, and bloodthirsty murderers.

One of the reasons the Vikings are viewed so negatively is that their violence could seem wanton or irrational. Part of that lies in the lack of documentation of what the Vikings actually did during their raids. To many at the time, clerics in particular, attacking a monastery or church would have seemed irrational and an act of such evilness that only "Devil worshipers" could perform such a thing. Those who documented the raids, which were usually monks, had something to be gained by playing up the Vikings’ violence against religious figures, and they often resorted to broad, generic rhetoric about the “devastation” and “destruction” without specific detail. Also, some of the documentations we are left with were written centuries after the events, often without the true knowledge of the events, only by listening the accounts from generation to generation; we know that people always add something to the tales to enhance its importance.

It is important to take note that the Vikings were acting completely rationally with their raids. These men were not addicted to violence, the treasure gained from the raids was used by chieftains in the complex and even poetic gift-giving system of the Viking halls; it was no different than what Charlemagne did.

The contemporary ruler Charlemagne is today generally extolled as the founding father of Europe. France and Germany compete about who has the greatest right to claim him as their national founder; Charlemagne was the cultured hero of that age.

Charlemagne treated Saxony like his own personal punching bag. One day in the year of 782, Charlemagne ordered no fewer than 4,500 Saxons to be decapitated because they were oath-breakers. Meanwhile, because they attacked those who would control the written record, the Viking execution of 111 prisoners in the year of 845 lives on in infamy. Germany is so quick to extol Charlemagne, when their Saxon ancestors were among the longest-suffering of Charlemagne’s victims.

Charlemagne’s wars on his neighbors were not dissimilar from Viking raids in that their primary purpose, particularly the raids of Avar and Pavia, was booty for his currency-starved empire.

 Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, all of Europe faltered as trade and commerce dried up. While things had picked up by the height of the Viking era in the 9th and 10th centuries, two things were holding the region back. One was a negative balance of trade in Charlemagne’s kingdom and the region as a whole. This was largely due to currency being made of silver and gold, but the precious metals came from the East. The second factor was that in regions where currency was not used, the system in place was the barter system, which limits economic growth. However, the Vikings solved these problems in two ways:

The first, and less significant one, is that by attacking the monasteries and churches, the Vikings tapped into the sole major untouched source of precious metals in Europe. Those riches did not disappear, as the Vikings were well integrated in the European trade network. They used it to buy anything from Frankish swords or turn them into coins for the chieftains of the Scandinavian kingdoms set up in England and Ireland. More important than that, the early medieval resurgence of commerce in western Europe was the central Asian silver that Scandinavian merchants brought to Europe. The trade network of the Vikings stretched from Greenland and Iceland in the west all the way to the caliphate and Bolghar in the east. The Vikings prodigious exports, mainly fur and slave. The economic recovery in Europe was during the Viking Age.

Norse Paganism and the shaping of a society

Before the widespread christianization of Europe, the different cultures all over the ancient continent has their own religions, polytheistic and very complex. The northern parts of Europe were the last places where christianity came, while all others were already christian, the Norse were still attached to their old beliefs and traditions. As late as the 11th century, the recently converted peoples of Scandinavia still continued to practice their old tradition and worshiping their old gods, pagan practices not likely to be in the good graces of the well structured hierarchies of the christian powers to the south. Christianity and the church, had many problems in Scandinavia, while trying to convert people and made them forget their old ways. It was practically impossible to turn the northern peoples into worshiping the christian god only.

The pagan beliefs in Norse societies differed from one area to the next. While there isn't  much evidence which may tell us in detail the different types of group beliefs and individual beliefs, a few aspects to the religion may be inferred based upon other knowledge we have of other polytheistic religions. In the classic world in the regions of Roman and Greek original influence, as well as Mesopotamia and Egypt, polytheism gave rise to numerous religious sects within the belief system of their pantheons.  Individual settlements chose patron gods based on their needs, and in this way, it may be inferred that the Norse chose patron gods to suit their needs as well. A village dependent on hunting, for example, would have likely chosen to worship the god of the hunt Freyr and probably the goddess Skadi, and perhaps even Ullr, while the cult of Odin was for the elite warrior groups of the Norse society. Based on the patron god a settlement would chose, religious practice would have looked slightly different. Norse Paganism would have been diverse in its beliefs and practices, contrary to the desperate need for consistency exercised in the Christian church.

With each community in Scandinavia differing in cult from area to area, the Norse pagans did not establish a separate class of society whose role it would have been to officiate a specific religious practice. The chieftains of separate communities took under charge various roles to officialise festivals and rituals. For example, the ritual of giving a name to the newly born child, was of the competence of the Jarl (pronounced "Yarl" - a noble of Norse society), whose blessings held great importance to the parents of the baby. Jarls also officiated weddings and funerals, participated regularly in festivals, family gatherings and solstice celebrations. But in the spiritual field, the Jarls had no power. Magic, divination, rune reading, prophesying, was seldom the competence of men, rather was the field of expertise of women, the Völvur, the women practitioners of Norse magic and Shamanism.

There were other members of the Norse society who had experience and whose work was the arts of divination and magic. Magic, was the act which involved the ability to communicate with the gods, tell the future, and heal people of various ailments, it existed peripherally in Norse paganism and shamanism. Both genders could ostensibly practice the art of magic, but men risked emasculation in pursuit of the magical arts. Women were typically those who practiced magic as I have mentioned before. The role of magic in Norse paganism varied mostly in conjunction with the variations of worship in Norse paganism across the pantheon.  The Magic role in society was consistent insofar as the mythological basis for it emerged from the same set of stories. For example, Odin accepted magic for self-gain knowledge of all things, so he sacrificed an eye at Mimir’s Well. But he also gained the ability to do magic which linked him to shamanism, when the Goddess Freyja taught him how to do it, and in this case we can see again that the female figure was linked to such shamanic acts. Other deities in the Norse pantheon were intrinsically magical as well, both genders, but especially the goddesses. Magic therefore served as a rapprochement to the gods or patron god of choice. Accepting magic did not guarantee acceptance of practicing magic. Many of the practitioners of magic, if not all, lived as outcasts, away from the community, usually in the wild places or just a couple of meters outside villages and towns. They lived like hermits, a very solitary life. These were typically women who either never married, or had some form of birth defect. Birth defects were interpreted as either a curse, or as a sign. The exact interpretation of birth defects is a contested part of the historical study of the Vikings, and therefore not a conclusive aspect of this particular analysis. The art of these solitary magic practitioners was exploited by the rich and powerful, including Jarls who took into consideration the wishes of the gods in preparing religious observances.

A few of the common features of Norse Paganism, which permeated across all the sects of beliefs within their society, are the beliefs we probably think of when portraying the Vikings. They all believed in Valhalla, even if it was a place only for those who died in battle. There was also a belief they commonly shared which actually differs the Norse deities from other deities of other religions; all of their gods were mortal. There was also the constant fear and belief that Ragnarok would happen eventually, and the world and gods would come to an end, the end of all life and the beginning of something new. All of these beliefs affected how the Norse pagans and their society in general interacted with the outside world. Warriors appeared to have no fear of death, for they believed death and battle would be their "salvation", this way of thinking made the Vikings fearsome foes. Odin had the passion for learning; the Norse pagans displayed a similar desire to learn about the world, to explore, and to adopt learned technologies.

Unlike Christianity, Norse paganism was not absolute. Changes to the dogma of worship were common and made to suit whatever adversity a community faced. Also unlike Christianity, Norse paganism was not necessarily prejudicial. In practice, the Norse pagans were accepting of other sects of beliefs because it was recognized that multiple gods existed. Religion, was a personal matter not to be shared too liberally with others. Culturally, this meant the Norse Pagans were less likely to persecute others who didn't share the same beliefs. While Christianity eventually gained a solid foothold in the North, it struggled to change this aspect of Norse society who were reluctant to judge others for their beliefs. It would take the absolute monarchs of the 13th Century to finally eliminate the cultural vestiges of Norse paganism.

Women of the Viking Age

Women during the Viking Age on Scandinavian soil, played very important roles in their society. We already know that there were some women who were warriors, they took up arms and went to battle, although, there is little evidence to support that fact as being something they would usually do. Its impossible to generalize that but of course some women would go to war. However, women in the scandinavian society during the Viking Age had important roles in the household and land ownership, that was their frequent power.

According to archaeological findings, women had defined roles in cooking, knitting, taking care of the house and the children, managing the slaves they owned and taking care of the farm as well as the land within their properties. During times of war and the absence of their husbands, they would take up arms to defend their land, their properties.

During times of war, women were frequently left alone with their children and became widows. All the possessions of a warrior, including is land and belongings, went to his wife. Viking Age women in the scandinavian society need not to be married to another man upon their previous husband's death, it wasn't an obligation, they were absolutely free to choose to be without a husband or to find a new one. As such, women would take the role of their deceased husbands as being the head of the household and also as being warriors, so in these cases it was frequent to see a woman fighting with, taking up shield and weapons. If a male warrior and his wife died, their land and property would be passed on to their eldest child, regardless of gender, if they had children of course.

The reason the Viking warriors gave their land to their wives ,upon their deaths, was because a marriage in Scandinavia was a contract in which both parties entered as equals. All material possessions were recognized as given to the newlywed wife for protection. Thus, we may rightly infer that Viking Age women had more rights than their christianized descendants, for that newly monotheistic religion brought much suffering to women because of the negative view around the female gender. We might even assume that during those times and in the scandinavian society, women had more rights than most women of our era. It seems that the Vikings were not the mindless, bloodthirsty barbarians the christians depicted.

The Viking Berserkers – Brave warriors or drug-addicted?

Nowadays we often use the word "Berserk" or "to go berserk" to label any person in a irrational state of mind, or a person who isn't able to control his/her actions because the rage is such, that the person enters a frenzy, lunatic state, a destructively person or frenetically violent. The word Berserker or Berserk, comes from the old Norse word "Berserkr", which means "a wild warrior or champion". These warriors wore hides of bears, which might explain the origin of the berserkr as a compound of "Bera" - Bear, and "Serkr" - shirt or coat. These were the fierce viking warriors who were known for battling in an incontrolable trance-like rage, and were alleged to be able to perform seemingly impossible super-human feats of strength, akin only to a wild beast.

In the medieval history and folklore, of both Norse and Germanic, the berserkers were described as members of an unruly warrior band/gang, whose main devine cult was the cult of Odin, the king of the Aesir tribe of gods. The berserkers were also commissioned to royal and noble courts as bodyguards and special elite troops, who would strike fear into all who encountered them.

It wasn't hard to struck fear into the hearts of the enemies, as the berserkers behaved like an animal, roaring, grunting and howling, entering in a state of uncontrollable rage. Most of them would leap towards the enemy, biting shields and gnawing upon the skin of their enemies. 

Dating back as far as the ninth century, the berserker Norse Warriors were said to be able to do things that normal humans could not. According to ancient legend, the berserkers were indestructible, and no weapon could break them from their trance.  They were described as being immune to fire and to the strike of a sword, continuing on their rampage despite injury.

Most anthropological and psychological studies indicate that the Berserkers simply worked themselves up into a self-induced hysteria before fighting, that was part of the cult to Odin, very violent. They would act like animals, abandoning their clothes and dress with animal pelts, an initiation process to leave behind the human condition and become an animal. Other researches indicate that the consumption of drugs or alcohol, or even mental illness, could be the key to understand their behaviour. Some botanists have claimed that berserker behaviour could have been caused by the ingestion of the plant known as bog myrtle, one of the main spices in Scandinavian alcoholic beverages.

Other more esoteric theories surround supernatural beliefs. For instance, some scholars have claimed that the Vikings believed in spirit possession and that berserkers were possessed by the animal spirits of wolves or bears. According to some theorists, berserkers learned to cultivate the ability to allow animal spirits to take over their body during a fight (an example of animal totemism) that also involved drinking the blood of the animal that they wished to be possessed by.
Speaking in a more esoteric term, there are some theories surrounded by supernatural beliefs.For instance, some scholars have claimed that the Vikings believed in spirit possession and that berserkers were possessed by the animal spirits of wolves or bears. According to some theorists, berserkers learned to cultivate the ability to allow animal spirits to take over their body during a fight, an ancient cult of animal totemism linked to shamanism, that also involved drinking the blood of the animal that they wished to be possessed by.

In 1015, Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson of Norway outlawed berserkers. The Grágás, the medieval Icelandic law code, sentenced berserker warriors to outlawry. By the 12th century, organised berserker war-gangs had been completely disbanded.

Viking Medieval Compass

For hundreds of years historians have seen the Vikings through the eyes of the medieval Irish christians priests who met these people and suffered the terror they brought to their lands. But the first 10 years of the XXI century brought new interesting discoveries from the Viking period, and what was once myth, is now reality. The Vikings have been often regarded as ruthless pillagers, but they are also known as outstanding mariners.
New discoveries and interpretations of a medieval compass, suggest that the Vikings may have skillfully used the sun to operate this object even when the sun had set, and even before rising again.

The remains of the supposed compass known as the Uunartoq disc, found in Greenland in 1948 in an 11th century convent, led some researchers to argued it was simply a decorative object. Other researchers have suggested the disc was an important navigational tool that the Vikings would have used in their roughly 1,600-mile-long (2,500 kilometers) trek from Norway to Greenland. Though only half of the wooden disc remains, it is estimated to have been roughly 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) in diameter with a now-lost central pin that would have cast a shadow from the sun indicative of a cardinal direction.

Researchers from a University in Hungary have studied the fragment in detail. It was concluded that although the disc could have functioned as a single entity, it was more likely used in conjunction with other tools, including a pair of crystals and a flat, wooden slab to help navigate when the sun was low in the sky or even below the horizon.
When the sun is low above the horizon, the shadow of a small item can fall off the board, and such situations are frequent in the northern seas, as Balázs Bernáth says.
To help solve this shadow problem, the Vikings may have used an object in the middle of the compass to create a wider, shorter shadow. A wide hole within the center of the disk, which was previously thought to be the place to grip the compass, could have served as a holding sport for the object that would solve the problem.

The researchers think that, to locate the sun after sunset, the Vikings could have used a pair of crystals known as sunstones, which are calcite stones that produce patterns when they're exposed to the polarization of UV rays within sunlight. When the crystals are held up to the sky, the orientation of these patterns cast within the stone can help pinpoint the position of the sun below the horizon.
Once the Vikings had determined the position of the hidden sun, they could have used a specially designed wooden slab called a shadow stick to simulate the shadow of the gnomon based on the angle at which the hidden sun would hit it. The location of the outer edge of that imaginary shadow could then have been used to determine their cardinal direction.

Field tests were held by the researchers, to estimate the plausible accuracy of this twilight compass. They have found that this would have worked with only 4 degrees of error, which is way better than other forms of celestial navigation. It is estimated that this compass would have functioned for as long as 50 minutes after the sun was down the horizontal line, around the spring equinox, when the Vikings are thought to have used this compass based on etchings in the wood.

No shadow sticks or sunstones have been found in conjunction with the disc, but evidence of both exist in medieval written records, suggesting they would have been available to the Vikings.