Tag: viking
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Visuals and References for Viking Age Crafts
Anonymous asked: I am more visual and I cannot find or I find but I cannot tell if they are realistic or not for the actual viking crafting styles, I don’t mind modern replicas for examples, but can you find and show more visual photos of crafts, or link a site/blog which has relatively really good…
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Viking Age Weaponry
I originally had included this together with “Viking Warfare,” but, upon writing up that lesson, I realized that they should be split. So, next week we will begin out prelude into the raids. For now, we will bridge our way from art to war with the art of their weapons. Although we will not be covering…
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Viking Age Crafts
I have mentioned craft and production quite a bit now, as we have talked about Viking towns and commerce. The Vikings did not only trade things they stole, nor did they only have raw materials to offer. If not already convinced by their ships, the Vikings were tremendously skilled when it came to their art…
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Viking Age Economics
We are about to wrap up the first half of this Crash Course (that is, the cultural and society portion), as we dwindle down to these tedious elements of trade and economics. After this, we shall only have Crafts, Art, and Weaponry to discuss before we enter the popular realm of raids abroad (starting with…
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Viking Age Art
We have already seen that “Vikings” were incredibly crafty, but now we shall focus on their actual art form. Their art was not like our standard for art today (though, that standard, in all honesty, can be rather low). By that, I mean to say that they did not simply “waste” their creation by sticking it on…
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Viking Age Settlements: Early Towns
Today we shall discuss the earliest major towns to develop in Scandinavia: Birka (Swedish – Sweden), Ribe (Danish – Denmark), Kaupang (Danish – Norway), and Hedeby (Danish – Germany). Of course, we will also begin by understanding how and why these towns finally came to be. In all, these towns each have very fascinating stories to tell. Some tells stories of early laws…
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Viking Age Settlements: Longhouses and Villages
For today’s lesson, we will be discussing the nature of settlements in Scandinavia during the Viking Age. This period actually represents one of change, as Scandinavia goes from a very rural, spread out place, to developing sophisticated trading towns. However, before the Viking Age really began to take off, settlement was rarely organized. Towns did…
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Viking Age Ships
We did all the of legwork last week, so let us enjoy the fruits of that labor and look at pretty pictures of beautiful ships. Contents: Oseburg By far one of the most stunning ships that the Viking Age has to offer. Better yet, it was used in a burial specifically for two women, making…
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Viking Age Seafaring
This lesson begins a two-part lesson on the impressive ships that allowed the Vikings to expand their presence in the medieval world. This portion of the lesson will be discussing the reasons for such advanced maritime development in Scandinavia, as well as their methods for construction and navigation. The second portion will provide many examples…
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Women in the Viking Age, Part 3 (War)
The modern world longs for a place in our history in which women were not bound by the struggles they have faced for so long. The Viking realm has been no exception to this desire. The women in the Viking Age have presented us with an interesting situation. There is a significant amount of strong,…
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Women in the Viking Age, Part 2 (Law)
In general, women still lacked an independent legal status, similar to the condition for “Thralls.” Legal affairs were generally conducted through a guardian, such as her husband, father, or nearest male kin. Yet, despite facing such restrictions, women in Iceland held more rights than in any other Scandinavian or continental law codes. Women managed their households in…
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Birch and Oak in Norse Mythology
Anonymous asked: Hello! I was wondering if birch or oak had any special meanings/symbolism in Norse Mythology; Specific aspects regarding Norse mythology and Norse paganism still remain elusive to me, but I have done my best to find some helpful information. I have read in many places that Freyja and Frigg are associated with birch, but…
