VIKINGS - Myth and Reality

We know the popular legends about Vikings – but are they true? Did Vikings wear helmets with horns? No, they didn’t. Were they all tall and blond? No, they weren’t. In fact, they weren’t taller than other people and some of them were dark. Were Vikings all violent and dangerous? Well, some of them were, but lots of them were peaceful farmers. And the myths go on. So, let’s look at some more facts about Vikings. Vikings came from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. From 800 AD to 1100 AD, they travelled to many different countries. Their ships were small, but they sailed huge distances - they went west to Iceland, Greenland and North America; east to Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East. They even sailed along rivers into Russia. They didn’t have satellite navigation, of course. They kept near the land or studied the position of the sun and the stars. The men wore trousers and tops, and the women wore long dresses. They weren’t very stylish because they were more interested in keeping warm. Vikings enjoyed sport such as horse riding, swimming and wrestling. In the winter, they went ice skating and skiing. Games were popular, too. Children had toys like whistles and boats, and adults played a game similar to chess and even football! What about their beliefs? Vikings believed the world was flat with the sea around it. The world was on top of a huge tree called Yggdrasil. They told lots of stories about trolls, dragons and sea monsters. When an important Viking died, people put the body in a ship with his clothes, jewellery and sometimes his animals. Then they covered the ship in earth or set it on fire and pushed it out to sea.