Vikings - the people behind the myth
Hello everyone and welcome to my blog about Swedish culture and language. Many students at my online language school are passionate about history and we often incorporate Swedish and Scandinavian historical perspectives into our one-on-one private language lessons. In this week’s blog, I will go further back in time than I usually do and talk about Vikings, the people that inhabited Scandinavia until the 11th century. So forget about the Marvel movie depictions of Norse gods, and the stereotypical depiction of barbaric raiders, and let’s discover the seafaring people behind the myths.
The last part of the Iron age in Scandinavia is commonly referred to as the Viking age, spanning from the mid-8th century to about the year 1100. This was a time of major population growth in the area, as well as a time that saw major advances in ship technology. Both of these things likely contributed to the Viking campaigns throughout Europe which earned them their less than stellar reputation across the world. While many of the Vikings were peaceful businessmen that established settlements and trading posts, some violently attacked towns and villages in England and other places to enrich themselves. But as with any civilization, there is much more to learn about the Vikings than their warfare and aggression; they were a people with rich traditions, culture, and religious beliefs.
The Vikings did not have a written language beyond the runes carved into stones that can be found across Scandinavia; however, the rune stones are typically from the late Viking age and contain little information about the everyday life of the period. Instead, most of what we know today about the Vikings are from accounts written down by visitors from other parts of the world as well as archaeological evidence. It is somewhat unclear where the word “Viking” comes from, but “vik” is the Swedish word for “bay” and the Vikings lived and launched their ships from bays around Scandinavia, which might explain the origin of the name. The Vikings lived in villages around the coastlines of Scandinavia in a society of three main social classes: the ruling class of kings and local chiefs; a middle class of landowners, warriors, and tradesmen; and the lowest class of people that were essentially treated as slaves. Decisions were made at the “Ting”, which was a gathering place where members of the ruling- and middle class met to make political decisions, create laws, and hold trials.
An interesting aspect of Viking life is the role that women played in their society. Women were independent and in many respects treated as equals to men. While men and women typically had different responsibilities and duties in the Viking society, foreign visitors were surprised by the high status that the women held and how they enjoyed most of the same rights that the men did. They could be landowners and hold the same professions as the men, were free to seek a divorce, and could even have children outside of marriage without being shamed for it. They were also described as being active in sports, with historical descriptions of Nordic women exercising by running, wrestling, and cross-country skiing.
The Viking campaigns took the Norsemen to what is now the British islands, Germany, France, Russia, and other parts of the European continents. It was also long speculated that the Icelandic Viking Leif Erikson had actually reached North America in the 10th country. In 1963 an archaeological excavation identified the remains of a village with the characteristic architecture of a Viking settlement. Nowadays Leif Erikson’s travels to North America are considered to be scientifically established, and October 9 is recognized as Leif Erikson Day in the United States.
There is much more to cover on the Vikings and their history, but I’ll come back to this subject in a future blog. In the meanwhile, if you want to learn more about the Swedish language and culture I highly recommend one of my free trial lessons or consultations. Click the button below and schedule yours today!
