Best known as bloodthirsty barbarians, the Vikings weren’t like we think they were.
The Vikings were a Germanic tribe from Scandinavia that actually weren’t barbarians as we think. The term “barbarian” came from the Romans. The Romans thought of anyone who wasn’t Roman, a barbarian. And since that they had a lot of problems with the Viking people, they were best known as barbarians. in old Norse, Viking actually means, “Seamen” and “Expeditions” not, “Crazy persons.”
The most thought of item when someone says “Viking” is, their boats. The Vikings made two types of boats, the Longships and Knarrs. The Longships were for transporting warriors. Even though they are known as warships, they weren’t actually used for sea warfare. They were also used for expeditions and, trade. They were shaped the same front and back, expertly designed and, were propelled by wind power and/or oars. The Knarr ships were merchant ships that were much deeper, wider and shorter. They were primarily powered by wind but, had a few oars just in case.
The Vikings created their own alphabet that is mostly found on runestones. Runestones are a number of things such as, gravestones. They also told what the purpose of what the stone was, who erected it and the relation to the raiser and, the deceased.
The Vikings were a pagan culture who’s gods influenced us today. For example, Wednesday was named after Odin, Thursday after Thor and, Friday after Freya. Also, Thor is a Marvel superhero.
Every member of a Viking tribe was required to have a weapon which, typically revealed their social status… The Vikings typically used Axes which was unusual at the time because, axes were like the old fashioned weapon at the time. They used swords as well but, not as much as axes. They did use bows and arrows but, that was less honorable. The Vikings fought in a very unorganized, chaotic fashion.
The Vikings were usually blue eyed and had either red or blond hair.
They were primarily farmers but, could have also been, metalworkers or jewelers. They depended mostly on livestock and, in the summer, they had vegetables and grains.
All though they did plunder and raid, they were actually very clean and tidy people at home and, took pride in this. Also, Vikings didn’t have helmets with horns on them. That would have been to impractical.
The Vikings greatest legacy is the many colonies and settlements that they started throughout Scandinavia, Russia and, even North America.
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