THE VIKINGS HOUR

The Vikings

Hour

By Jade Duran

WHEN AND WHERE

DID THE VIKINGS COME FROM

Vikings were traveling by sea, Norse people from southern Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden) who from the late 8th to late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe, and explored towards the west to Iceland, Greenland and Vinland (or as we now call them Iceland, Greenland or in Greenlandic Kalaallit Nunaat and Vinland which is L'Anse aux Meadow).

When did the vikings come? The vikings came in 793 AD and left in 1066. The Viking age was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen were known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing conquest and trading throughout Europe, and reached North America. It Followed the Migration Period and the Germanic Iron Age.

Viking Longships

Longships were a type of specialized Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being the scientific study proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC.

Viking Food

Since Vikings spent so much time on water, fish formed a major part of their diet. Herrings were occurring in large amounts, and prepared in a large amount of ways: dried, salted, smoked, pickled and even preserved in the watery part of milk that remains after the formation of curds.

Viking Clothing

The men preferred trousers and tunics, while the women dressed in strap dresses worn over underclothing. Ordinary Viking clothes were made of local materials, like wool and flax, woven by the women.

Viking Homes

The Vikings built their houses from local material such as wood, stone or blocks of turf. They lived in long rectangular houses made with upright timbers (wood). The walls were made of wattle (woven sticks, covered with mud to keep out the wind and rain). Viking houses were often one room homes with a cooking fire in the middle. The smoke escaped through a hole in the roof. The animals lived in a cowshed at one end of the house and the people lived at the other.

Viking Crafts

The Vikings made beautiful brooches, arm rings and belt buckles from gold, silver and bronze. They also carved spoons and combs from pieces of animal bone and horn.

(Women used brooches to fasten their clothes.)