When you think about ancient badass warriors who carved up the known would and shaped it in their image, the Vikings have to be at the top of that list. They were fearless warriors, accomplished explorers and primitive inventors. These guys were legit.
There’s a hell of a lot of things that I never really learned about Vikings when I was in school, such as the truth behind their helmets and how they were so good at making it across the entire ocean, in a little boat. Well, here’s some Norse knowledge for your helmet holder for you to impress at your next family get together.
Check it out.
Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets
Forget picture of a Viking that you’ve had in your mind all your life; it’s not true. They never wore horns on their helmets. Do you know how dangerous that is? It’s a workplace safety violation. Seriously though, all the depictions of Vikings from the Viking era have simple, unadorned helmets and the only authentic Viking helmet ever unearthed, was a simple metal helmet.
No one is entirely sure where the horns came from, whether it was painters in the 19th century, who were inspired by the descriptions of northern Europeans by ancient Greek and Roman scholars. Long before the Viking era, Norse and Germanic pagan tribes did have priests that wore horns for ceremonial reasons.
Vikings were extremely active in the slave trade
One of the key reasons that Viking tribes had riches, was through the acquisition and trade of slaves. They would go out and capture and enslave women and young men while pillaging Ango-Saxon, Celtic and Slavic settlements, in order to barter them for other resources. The Vikings called these slaves “thralls” and would traffic them all over the world, in giant slave markets, including all the way down in the Middle East.
That also explains why Scandinavian women are so gorgeous; the Vikings kept the best they captured for themselves.
Vikings used special stones to navigate the seas
The stories of the Vikings always position them as the greatest seafarers in history, and the stories are not wrong. Viking settlements have been found all over the world, in places you wouldn’t even expect. One of the reasons they were able to do this, was through the use of Sunstones.
By understanding the different ways that the sun reacts a certain stone called the Icelandic Spar, they were able to navigate by the sun, even on the cloudiest days. The stone essentially polarizes the light that comes through the stone and by moving it back and forth, the daylight would turn into a yellow line that would point to the sun. Then you knew which was was East or West.
Vikings used boats to bury their dead
Vikings were incredibly proud of their boats. They were powerful, handcrafted sailing vessels that were primary means of transportation for the Viking tribes. Therefore, it was a great honour to be interred in a boat. According to the Norse religion, valiant warriors entered festive and glorious realms after death, and it was believed that the vessels that served them in life, would come in handy in the afterlife.
The concept of a burning Viking ship, sailing off into the sea, wasn’t as common as you think however. Usually vikings were either buried in their boats, or cremated on a pyre, but to be burnt on a boat and set afloat, was reserved for only special Vikings.
Viking gentlemen preferred blondes
When you think of Norse and Scandinavian culture, you think blonde hair and fair skin, right? This was also true thousands of years ago with the Vikings. To conform to traditional beauty standards, brunette Vikings (predominantly men) would use a strong soap with a high lye content to bleach their hair. In some regions, they’d do their beards too. This accomplished two things: one- it got everything as close to blonde as it could get and; two – it also helped deal with vermin and lice in their beards and hair.
Wonder if they called the concoction Thoreal?
The Vikings were never one unified group
The term Viking is sort of a blanket term. Not all of them considered themselves Vikings; hell, they didn’t even call themselves that. Most referred to themselves as Scandinavians or Norse. During the Viking Age, the land that is now known as Denmark, Norway and Sweden was a mess of tribes, each with their own chieftain in charge. These tribes then would fight against each other, when they weren’t too busy sailing and causing shit on other shores.
Surprisingly enough, there’s no such thing as a dirty Viking
Based on archeological evidence, the Vikings were known for excellent hygiene. Sure, they were rowing boats, decapitating their enemies and building settlements and populating them, so you figure they smelled medieval, right? When they excavated Viking sites, however, they found tweeters, razors, combs and ear cleaners made from animal bones and antlers. As well, Vikings were known to bathe once a week, which was far more than most Europeans at that time. Plus they had access to natural hot springs, so they could have an exfoliating spa day or two.
Vikings may have been the ones to invent skiing
Archeologists have found that Scandinavians may have invented primitive skis at least 6,000 years ago, though there’s some dispute that ancient Russians may have made them first. In the Viking age, however, Norsemen considered skiing as an efficient way to get around in the winter, and a popular form of recreation. They even had a god of skiing, called Ullr.
Go Vikes!
