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The Story of The Vikings
Imagine yourself standing on a shore far away from your home.
Behind you lies the boat that took you from home to lands.
Surround with your fellow Vikings looking almost all the same
with their fair-colored hair and tall strong bodies.
In front of you a Village unlike others you have seen before.
Swords and axes at the ready.
Will we be made welcome here to trade or
will it be another bloody battle?
Rape and pillage is what the Vikings were known for best, but they
were great at trading their wears.
They had many crafts from jewellery to swords
Every Day Life
The positions of men and women in the Viking society were regarded equal, even though they had differences.
The main difference was that the women did not work outside their homes, while the generally stronger men did the physically harder work.
The most important tasks of the women were to take care of the family and household, by cooking, cleaning and such things.
They were also expected to know about herbs, of which they made medicine,
and to take care of the wounded and sick.
While women did the domestic work the men were out making sure he could provide the family with the food they needed.
They logged and tilled the fields, went hunting and trading.
They were feared warriors, sailing around and colonizing wide areas of Europe,
and people around the world considered them to be respect less barbarians.
When the men were out fighting, it was the women's job to look after the farm and take care of the children.
This meant that the men had to depend on the women while they were away.
The men and women had different duties but even if they were strictly
sex-divided, they were valued almost the same.
This gave the women a very strong position in the Viking society
The women were accordingly very self assured and very independent.
However, since she was not a warrior, her status could not be completely
equal with the status of a warrior man.
Both women and men were buried with items to use in the afterlife.
While the men took with them weapons and Armour,
The women had in their possession jewellery and different kinds of kitchen-,
textile-, hunting- and farming tools.
Prior to the burial mouth, eyes and nose were closed, the body washed
and new clothes put on.
The size of the grave and wealth of the belongings
that the departed was buried with signaled his or hers importance or fortune.
Those who owned ships were buried on them others
were buried in tombs with stones
In the Viking society, brave warriors were praised and worshipped.
The Viking ideal was to be courageous and strong.
The men had a higher status since they fought battles.
The only right way for a Viking to die was the warrior's way, in a fight.
If they died this way they would be rewarded in Valhalla
The only women in Valhalla were valkyrior.
The valkyrior went to the battlefields and brought the men to Oden's hall in Valhalla
where they served food and drinks.
Valhalla was not a place for women since women were not allowed to fight and had other duties
The warriors brought all their most valuable and important possessions to Valhalla.
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