A history long unrecorded The Vikings were, of course, big talkers and long favoured oral traditions over the written word. Their culture, histories, tales and legends have been passed down through the centuries in skaldic poems. Skalds were official poets working in the service of a king, clan chief or jarl.
There is a clear privileging of speech over combat that renders orality as not only an essential part of Viking culture, but that renders it probably the most significant aspect of the culture.
The Vikings did not write books themselves. We nevertheless know about their movements in the world, because foreign chroniclers and writers described their encounters with the Vikings. We can read about diplomatic and political exchanges, as well as the plundering of towns, monasteries and royal estates.
Given their bloodthirsty reputation, it can come as somewhat of a surprise that the Vikings were masters of the arts of storytelling and poetry. The sagas and eddas represent one of the most significant collections of writings produced during the medieval period.
Vikings used sagas to record and preserve their culture and the things they thought were important for future generations. Because most Vikings could not read or write, the sagas took the form of long spoken stories and poems. It was the job of poets – called skalds – to remember and re-tell these stories.
this is historical fiction, people. That means some plotlines and characters have been altered to make for a great show, but much of it is based in fact, including the minute details of costumes, sets and weapons. The Vikings didn't have a written language, so much of their world is up for interpretation.
The background to the series is largely true to the historical record – the St Brice's Day Massacre was a very real event and many of the battles that take place are also based on fact, while it's also true that there were clear tensions between Christian and Pagan Vikings at this time.
The Vikings used letters called runes. They are imitations of the Latin letters used in most of Europe during the Viking era. The Latin letters are the ones we use today.
The Norse of the Viking Age could read and write and used a non-standardised alphabet, called runor, built upon sound values. While there are few remains of runic writing on paper from the Viking era, thousands of stones with runic inscriptions have been found where Vikings lived.
Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the Viking Age, the Christianization of Scandinavia and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 7th to the 15th centuries.
Runes were made up of simple lines and shapes, with one rune to represent each sound in a word. The Vikings didn't use paper to write things down, so the shapes of the runes were designed so they could easily be carved into wood or stone. Writing in Viking Code!
In Scandinavia the Viking Age is regarded as part of prehistory because there are practically no contemporary written sources. Even in western Europe, the Viking Age is often seen as part of the 'Dark Ages', from which comparatively few historical records have survived.
"The examination of skeletons from different localities in Scandinavia reveals that the average height of the Vikings was a little less than that of today: men were about 5 ft 7-3/4 in. tall and women 5 ft 2-1/2 in.
The bras were often made of metal and until now scientists had thought they were used as collar-bone protection. But it is now clear these pads were worn much further down by female Vikings, according to the work in Birka, Sweden's oldest Viking centre.
Viking teeth were often subject to a great deal of wear, which is largely attributed to their diet. Study of the skeletal remains of Vikings has also shown evidence that they suffered from periodontal disease and tartar buildup.
Viking warriors filed deep grooves in their teeth, and they probably had to smile broadly to show them off, according to new finds in four major Viking Age cemeteries in Sweden. Caroline Arcini of Sweden's National Heritage Board and colleagues analysed 557 skeletons of men, women and children from 800 to 1050 AD.
Níð, argr, ragr and ergi
Ergi and argr or ragr can be regarded as specifying swearwords. Ergi, argr and ragr were the severe insults made by calling someone a coward, and due to its severity old Scandinavian laws demanded retribution for this accusation if it had turned out unjustified.
Old Norse language, classical North Germanic language used from roughly 1150 to 1350. It is the literary language of the Icelandic sagas, skaldic poems, and Eddas.
The only legitimate source for information on Ragnar Lothbrok is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of documents detailing Anglo-Saxon history originally published around the time Ragnar was said to exist. His name does appear, but there is a debate within the historical community if that's the same man.
Another common Viking battle cry was simply yelling out “Tyr!” — the name of the god of war.
Ragnar Lothbrok spoke Old Norse. Old Norse is a North Germanic language. It is the ancestor of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese.
In Norse mythology Valhalla (/vælˈhælə, vɑːlˈhɑːlə/;) is the anglicised name for Old Norse: Valhǫll ("hall of the slain"). It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin.
The Kattegat (Danish: [ˈkʰætəkæt]; Swedish: Kattegatt [ˈkâtːɛˌɡat]) is a 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden in the east.
A number of broader factors contributed to the Vikings' decline: more and more communities previously attacked by Vikings became better able to defend themselves, with armies and fortifications; Christianity's spread in Europe; and less egalitarianism in Viking society.