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The Norse
NorskDe norrøne
The Norse society was a largely agrarian one where most people subsisted on farming, fishing, hunting, and trade, while a minority sailed on raids and conquests. Family was the most important building block of this society and included not just blood relatives but also close friends. Evidence of this has been found at archeological sites; contemporaneous written sources most often come from outsiders, as the Norse relied primarily on oral traditions.
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Did you know?
- Although the Norse expansion westward is best documented and today most famous, Vikings raided both to the South and to the East of their homeland too. The Eastern routes were, in fact, best developed and most used.
- The Vikings were very clean compared to the rest of the European population. Historical sources say that they bathed and changed their clothes regularly, cleaned their teeth, and combed their hair and beards daily. Taking a sauna was both a hygienic and social affair. Combs for hair and beards have been found in many Viking graves.
- Scandinavian women had great power compared to Central European women. They had inheritance rights, property rights, and made most decisions regarding daily household matters. They also had the right to divorce if their husbands did not treat them with due respect.
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- Although a feast was both a social and political gathering, it was not the case that beer and mead were consumed in enormous quantities. On the contrary, poems such as Hávamál show the importance of moderation in both food and drink.
- One of the oldest written sources using the names Denmark and Norway, as well as one of the earliest descriptions of Northern Norway and mentions of Sápmi, comes from the Norse chieftain Ohthere of Hålogaland, who visited King Alfred of Wessex around the year 890 and recounted his travels around Scandinavia. In it, he claims to own the northernmost farm in Norway and that north of him, only Sámi people live. He is believed to have lived in modern-day Troms county, somewhere south of Tromsø, possibly around Malangen.
The Norse
3 min
In the summer of 793, a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne on the northeastern coast of England is brutally raided. The church is plundered of valuable relics, and monks are killed or enslaved by the dozens. This is how the Vikings announce their arrival as a major new player in the world theater.
But these fierce warriors sailing across the world are a minority. The vast majority of the Norse still live in Scandinavia, farming and fishing and trading and raising families. The household is the central social, political, and economic institution for the average person. Most households live in longhouses, narrow but long wooden structures with several rooms, where one part is reserved for the family and servants and another for animals and slaves. They live off the farm, hunting, fishing, and occasionally trading. Typically, they are many relatives living together: a couple with children, sometimes parents, siblings, and even cousins. The better-off families have servants; many also have slaves.
Though people in Scandinavia generally live peaceful lives, they are no strangers to occasional conflicts over land, trade disputes, or plain insults. As honor is highly valued in Norse society, any injury to it is considered a particularly grave violation. So when their honor is questioned, people (in particular men) are expected to defend it: with weapons and violence if need be.
But disputes can also be handled in more constructive ways: at the local ting. Tings are early judicial institutions in Norse society. This is where chieftains are named, laws are told, trade deals are signed, and weddings are conducted. It is also where conflicts are presented to local councils for resolution through fines, banishment, or enslavement.
Religion plays a big role in the lives of everyone, from the common slave to the most powerful chieftain. Gods, supernatural beings, and mysterious forces are believed to control much of the world. So prayer, sacrifice, and feast in the name of gods are commonplace; many households even have altars in their longhouses for the specific purpose of communing with gods.
Though the Norse do have a writing system, futhark runes, they mostly use it for memorial inscriptions and ritual purposes. They don’t leave much behind in terms of histories or records. Others write about the Norse, but primarily focus on the Vikings they encounter in battle and paint a less-than-favorable picture, sometimes with intent.
It isn’t until after the Viking Age ends that attempts are made to preserve the Norse folklore, poetry, and stories by writing them down. Saxo Grammaticus (1150-1220), a Danish historian and theologian, writes a total of 16 books named Gesta Danorum detailing all of Danish history, including the Viking Age and myths surrounding it. Shortly after, the Icelandic historian and poet Snorre Sturlason (1179-1241) writes a book about Norse culture that becomes known as Prose Edda. It is named after the Poetic Edda, which presents a collection of Norse scaldicpoetry about gods and heroes. Together, the Eddas become the most complete account of Norse beliefs and the seminal written sources on Norse mythology.