C.J. Adrien's Blog, page 18

The Clergymen Who Fought Back Against the Vikings

Source: Historical Atlas of the Vikings, by John Haywood

In 799 A.D. the world turned upside down for the clergymen of the Saint Philbert monastery, located on the modern day island of Noirmoutier in France. Following the first attack, the monks retreated to the continent where they waited for a sign from God to decide on what to do next. The Archbishop of Tours, who at the time was the top official for the region, approved the construction of a satellite priory on Grand-Lieu lake, a place distant enough from the coast to avoid being sacked. It took nearly a decade before the monks returned to the island to assess the damage done to their monastery. With renewed approval from the archbishop, the monks rebuilt thinking the attack had been a singular event.

They were wrong.

For the next two decades, the Northmen attacked the island repeatedly. The monks decided to split their time between their two places of worship, spending their winters on the island and their summers on the continent to wait for the raiding season to pass. They carried out this commute until the early 830’s when, spurred by the ineptitude of the Carolinian Empire who were plunged in civil war, the Archbishop of Tours took it upon himself to ensure the safety of the clergy.

In 834 A.D. the church leadership funded the construction of a castrum on the site of the Saint Philbert monastery and hired a garrison of conscripted soldiers to defend it in summer. According to the firsthand account of an anonymous monk under the pen name of Ermentarius, the summer the castrum had been finished, the Northmen made their appearance. What the monks had not anticipated was the calibre of man who they were fated to face.

The warlord Hastein (click to read about Hastein) made his first incursion into the Bay of Biscay that summer with the hopes of finding riches described to him by his kin in Ireland. He landed on the island and found the new fortifications in place. Immediately, he set his men upon the wooden wall and within a day they managed to breach the defenses. With their conscripts dead or fleeing, the monks attempted to save themselves to no avail.

In the aftermath of the battle, the monks abandoned the island definitively. To their chagrin, the castrum they had build served as the perfect base for Hastein who used it to store his loot and launch raids across the region. The Annales D’Angoulême document, which recounts the sack of Nantes in 843 A.D., describes the island as a permanent base for the Northmen and later in 847 A.D. as the base from which the Vikings launched a mainland invasion of Brittany.

In their attempt to fend off the Northmen, the clergymen appear to have only encouraged them.

My Kindred of the Sea series is specifically about the Viking raids and invasions of Brittany, beginning in 799 and, when the series is finished, ending in the mid 10th century.

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Did the Vikings Wear Helmets?

We know for sure that the Vikings did not have horns on their helmets. Yet recently a debate has emerged in regards to whether or not the Vikings wore helmets into battle at all. Two divergent camps continue to argue over the prominence of protective headgear during the Viking Age, and neither appears to be gaining the upper hand. This is because from a scholarly position, we simply do not know. Only one Viking Age helmet has ever been recovered in archeological digs, leading many to suspect they were uncommon. The following are the two sides of the argument on whether or not the Vikings wore helmets.

The argument against helmets:

Archeologists have only recovered one helmet (pictured below), dating back to the 9th century, which likely means they were uncommon. Other items such as swords, axes, various articles of clothing, ships, and even maille hauberks have been more commonly found in Viking Age burials and dig sites. The fact that helmets are such a rare find is a strong indication that, at the very least, iron helmets were not commonly made or utilized. Until more artifacts are found, the presumption should be that Viking Age Scandinavians did not commonly wear headgear.

The argument for helmets:

The lack of archeological specimens of helmets does not necessarily indicate that they were not commonly used. Metal was in high demand in the Viking Age, and even more so later in the medieval period. Quality metals, such as those found in helmets, may have been melted down, refined, and repurposed, which may explain the lack of helmets in the archeological record. There is evidence in the historical record, such as in the representation of a Viking attack on Guérande in the Annales D’Angoulême (pictured below), in which the Norse warriors are all drawn as having protective head gear in one form or another. This is indicative that the Vikings did wear headgear that simply did not survive to today.

Who is right?

There is not enough information to make a definitive assessment on the matter. A lack of helmets in the archeological record poses a particularly perplexing argumentative problem because it neither proves nor disproves the use of helmets by the Vikings. This problem is further compounded by artistic representations by historians from the time whose artwork may or may not be accurate, and there is no way of knowing for sure. Short of a lucky find of a mass grave containing helmet-clad warriors, we may never know for sure. Thus, for now, it is up to the individual’s interpretation of the evidence to decide, and the debate shall continue.

My second novel, The Oath of the Father, is FREE on Kindle this weekend only. Join the Vikings on a global adventure today!

Leif Erikson Mud Wrestled With Sasquatch?

I enjoy watching Sasquatch shows—not because it’s good history or science, but because I enjoy watching the folks on the Discovery Network, who have aired countless shows investigating the viability of the theory that a large primate stalks the vast untouched forests of the Americas, make fools of themselves. And there’s something enjoyable about the prospect of adventuring into the wilderness for a weekend, although most of us call that camping, not “Squatching.” These shows should have nothing to do with history or the Vikings, yet the macaques who produced one such show had the audacity of claiming that Leif Erikson had encountered Bigfoot, and that the evidence for it lies in the sagas.

Oh dear…

Could this have been true? Did they find something that I missed? In fact, no.

It turns out the show decided to reference a bad translation of the sagas by one Samuel Eliot Morison who, in his title work The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages A.D. 500-1600, translated the Norse’s description of the natives in Newfoundland as, “horribly ugly, hairy, swarthy, with great black eyes.” From this translation, which is unique among the others, Bigfoot “researchers” have deduced that the Norse had witnessed the mighty North American primate in person.

However, the translation lacks authenticity. It ignores cultural expressions. The passage that described the natives of Newfoundland in reality said something closer to, “darker men, ill-looking, with bad hair.”

You read it correctly. The Norse were not describing Sasquatch, they were critiquing the natives’ bad hair. This is not surprising, considering the Norse cultural fixation on personal grooming (see Were the Vikings Dirty?).

It’s usually all fun and games, but what bothers me is that these shows are often interpreted as factual and mislead large portions of the population into believing complete malarky. My concern is that I may some day hear from someone, “hey, I heard on the History Channel that Leif Erikson mud wrestled with Sasquatch. Is that true?”

No, my poor, misinformed friend. It’s not. What you saw was as historically factual as Harry Potter.

Think of the power behind media. What other “facts” have we been force-fed that, in reality, are false? What will be the long term implications of this? In a democracy dependent on an educated electorate, it’s crucial that falsehoods are exposed and expunged.

That is why I believe that all shows about Bigfoot, UFO’s, and any other pseudo-scientific or cryptological subject should be prefaced by a disclaimer that tells viewers that it’s fiction, or at least not proven or accepted fact, and not endorsed by any credible academic body. Until then, I am going to boycott such programing. Sorry, Bobo.

If you’d like to read the sagas about Leif’s voyage to Newfoundland, here are a few links for you to explore:

Greenlander’s Sagas

The Saga of Erik the Red

Three Vikings Who Were More Interesting (and Notorious) Than Ragnar Lothbrok

Ragnar is a character from legend. There is no telling whether he was real or a fable. His recent ascension to fame in popular culture is without a doubt a good thing for Norse studies, but now it is time to take a look at those Vikings who we know for sure were real people and whose lives were in fact more remarkable than the legendary King of the History Channel.

1.Hastein

Supposed son of Ragnar Lothbrok—although he likely claimed this for prestige, similar to how the nobility in France all claimed lineage to Charlemagne—Hastein lived a life envied by his contemporaries. He began his journey as a relatively unknown warrior who appears in a few mentions beginning in the mid-9th century. His claim to fame was his voyage to the Mediterranean with his brother Bjorn Ironside, and together they sacked Cordoba on their way to the Mediterranean basin. Their fortunes were not consistent, however, and the islamic states of North Africa quickly mounted resistance to them. Most notoriously, Hastein helped to sack the city of Luna, which at the time they believed was Rome. They tricked the local clergy into believing that their leader had died of pestilence moments after converting to Christianity. The local clergy took pity on him and allowed the Northmen to enter the city to conduct a Christian burial. During the ceremony, Hastein sprang to life, murdered the bishop, and with his men sacked the city.

Hastein returned to his base on the French coast, an island now known as Noirmoutier, without most of his fleet which had been ambushed by the Moors at Gibraltar. Nevertheless, Hastein made a solid career out of raiding the Frankish Empire and earned the hearty reputation as The Scourge of the Somme and Loire.

Primary Source authors and documents which attest to Hastein’s life and notoriety:

Dudo of Saint Quentin
William of Jumièges
Annals of St-Bertin
Chronicle of Regino de Prüm
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

2. Leif Eriksson

Born to a father exiled from Iceland for being too violent, Leif undoubtedly lived a difficult childhood. The North Atlantic made for arduous subsistence, even for the Vikings. Due to his father’s reputation, he lived as an exile himself for the most part and did not attempt to make any significant return to Norway. Instead, he became an explorer, one of the most remembered to this day. Based on a rumor, he took ships across the seas in hopes of finding new fertile lands for his people. The rest is all very well known history.

Leif’s legacy helped to shape our view of the Vikings. He helped us to think of them as explorers rather than killers, as adventurers rather than rapists. Most importantly, he planted a seed in the consciousness of Europe, one which reignited in the 15th century and led Europe to global hegemony.

Primary source authors and documents which attest to Leif’s life:

Saga of Erik the Red
The Saga of the Greenlanders

3. Oleg of Novgorod

When discussing the Vikings, the Rus are often forgotten. It seems popular culture has had little trouble romanticizing the Norwegians and Danes who sailed West, but has classically held little interest in those who sailed East. But one of the most influential men of the early medieval period lived there, and his legacy lasted well into the modern era. Oleg began as a regent of the throne of Novgorod whose duty it was to oversee the training of the next monarch, Igor, son of Rurik of Novgorod (yet another fascinating character). During his reign, Oleg consolidated power among the the cities situated along the Dnieper river and eventually conquered the city of Kiev, which he then made his capital. Kiev was of strategic value as it was well placed to launch raids on Constantinople. Following several successful missions, the gentry of the city caved and struck a very favorable trade agreement with Kiev. This trade agreement helped to enrich the city under Oleg, and thrust the polities of Kiev and Novgorod into positions of power. Thus began the early history of the country we know today as Russia.

These are but three among a multitude of historical figures from Scandinavia who helped to shape the early political landscape of Europe, and who are, from a historical perspective, far more interesting than Ragnar Lothbrok.

Primary source authors and documents which attest to Oleg’s life:

The Russian Primary Chronicle
The Novgorod First Chronicle
The Kiev Chronicle (which really only deals with his death and burial)

Don’t forget, I wrote a couple of books. Feel free to buy one :)

Three Common Misconceptions About the Vikings

“A Raid Under Olaf”
1. They were more violent.

Yes, they were violent, but no more violent than any other people at the time. It was an age of violence. In fact, the most violent regime to emerge from the the vacuum left behind by the Roman Empire were the Carolingians who conquered most of continental Europe with the intent to forcibly convert all pagan tribes to Christianity and to slaughter all who resisted. So effective were their campaigns that there wasn’t an army in the world who dared face them at the height of their power under Charlemagne, not even the Vikings. Not until the death of Charlemagne and the emergence of constant warring between his sons over inheritance did larger scale Viking raids begin in Carolingian lands (France/Germany/Poland).

Carolingian Empire

2. They were christianized quickly.

The Christianization of Scandinavia did not occur overnight. The first monarch from any Scandinavian territory to convert was Harlad-Klak of Jutland who did so only to rally support from the Carolingians to help him in his claim to the throne of Denmark in around 815 A.D. Not until the mid 11th Century can we say that Christianity was prevalent among the Vikings, and pockets of paganism survived well into the medieval period (1066-1492).

Medieval Scandinavia

3. They were one people.

When we use the word Viking we really do a disservice to the memory of Viking Age Scandinavians. It is a blanket term that is used to apply to anyone who lived and left Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) between the years 790 A.D. and 1066 A.D. They were not, however, as unified a group as we remember them today. The period immediately preceding the Viking Age was a time when settlements in Scandinavia were relatively isolated from one another, except for trade. These settlements had their own traditions, often owed allegiance to differing deities, and developed in parallel with, but separated from, other settlements. By the Viking Age, there were many groups who differed from one another tremendously. For example, a Norwegian from Vestfold may have differed as much from a Swede from Uppsala as he would have from a Saxon from Saxony. Yet today we make a stark distinction between Saxons and Vikings because the differences between them are generally recognized. Much like Scandinavia today, there were linguistic and cultural variations between the people of the region—differences which endure to this day.

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Muslim Travelers to the Viking World

Perhaps some of the most intriguing sources about Viking Age Scandinavians to date are chronicles written by Muslim travelers. In the days of the Great Caliphs and the Umayyads, Muslims were among the most prolific travelers in the known world. These explorers encountered all manner of peoples throughout Europe, including the Vikings. Two among them, Ibn Fadlan and Al-Gazhal, explored two worlds apart only to find the same phenomena, yet came away with opposing observations. Ibn Fadlan explored eastward and found the Rus sailing up rivers in the eastern steppes. Al-Gazhal is thought to have traveled as far as Ireland where the Norse had begun to aggressively build coastal colonies. What each observed differed greatly, which has helped scholars over the years to conclude that Scandinavians themselves at the time varied greatly in customs and culture.

Ibn Fadlan:

The Arab chronicler Ibn Fadlan, who encountered the Rus along the Volga River, observed his hosts for several days. One of the most remembered passages from his writings pertains to the Rus’ unusual grooming habits:

“Every day they must wash their faces and heads and this they do in the dirtiest and filthiest fashion possible: to wit, every morning a girl servant brings a great basin of water; she offers this to her master and he washes his hands and face and his hair — he washes it and combs it out with a comb in the water; then he blows his nose and spits into the basin. When he has finished, the servant carries the basin to the next person, who does likewise. She carries the basin thus to all the household in turn, and each blows his nose, spits, and washes his face and hair in it.”

The grooming habits of the Rus were not Ibn-Fadlan’s only observations. Indeed, he observed their funeral rituals as well and has shed light on what may possibly have been a practice among Scandinavians: ship burning. However, his account is to date the only textual evidence for the burning of ships during a Viking funeral.

Ibn-Fadlan characterizes the Rus as a backward, barbaric people, unclean and brutal in their ways. His account has led many scholars of the 19th and 20th centuries to conclude that the Noble Savage view of the Vikings was at least in part correct. This of course is currently being revised.

Al-Gazhal:

In the 9th Century a Moorish ambassador named al-Ghazal set sail for foreign lands to study a people called the Majus. His account tells of his voyage across the ocean to a splendid island described as having lush, flowering plants and abundant streams leading to the ocean. For years historians struggled to gather consensus on who these Majus may have been, but more recently it has become accepted that they were indeed the Vikings. Unfortunately, the consensus ends there. Some scholars believe the embassy of al-Ghazal to have taken place in Denmark, whereas others propose he had visited the court of Turgeis, a powerful warlord who ruled over much of Ireland. His account is compelling and offers a tremendous volume of information about the Majus many scholars believe no chronicler of the time could have fabricated.

The source for al-Ghazal’s embassy to Ireland is a document produced by Abu-l-Kattab-Umar-ibn-al-Hasan-ibn-Dihya, who was born in Valencia in Andalucia, about 1159 A.D. The facts and anecdotes in the story were derived from Tammam-ibn-Alqama, vizier under three consecutive amirs in Andalucia during the ninth century who died in 896. Tammam-ibn-Alqama had allegedly learned the details directly from al-Ghazal and his companions. The only manuscript of ibn-Dihya’s work was acquired by the British Museum in 1866. It is titled Al-mutrib min ashar ahli’l Maghrib, which translates to An amusing book from poetical works of the Maghreb.

Contrary to his contemporary from Bagdad, al-Gazhal characterizes the Majus has highly civilized people with many shared customs. Interestingly enough, one of those shared customs happened to be grooming. During his stay in the warlord’s court, he spent a great deal of time with the warlord’s wife who made it her mission to teach her guest about her people’s customs. Evidently she had a profound effect on him.

Additional Note

We must remember that the Vikings who left Scandinavia were highly adaptable, as noted in several of my previous articles. Within a few short generations, the Vikings who settled foreign lands became very different people than their forebears who first arrived in those lands. It is therefore no stretch of the imagination to think that the peoples al-Gazhal and Ibn Fadlan encountered were in fact very different from one another, and this notion is reinforced in several key places in their accounts. Although today both populations of Norse are labeled under the same name, Vikings, they were not in fact as homogenous a society as previously thought.

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The Vikings: Even Their Poop Is Interesting

The Lloyds Bank Coprolite

Archeology has done wonders to expound many of the mysteries surrounding Scandinavian culture of the Viking Age. Scientists have found pieces of armor, leather, ingots, a helmet, swords, axes, whole ships and…poop. Contrary to what you may think, feces is an incredibly important and informative find. In fact, any archeologist worth their salt will tell you that the most exciting finds for them are cesspits, because societies leave massive amounts of information about themselves behind in their trash.

Luckily for archeologists who study the Vikings, they found one such specimen buried beneath the city of York, England in 1972. While digging during the construction of what was to become a branch of Lloyds Bank, workers found a variety of fossilized artifacts. Among them was a seven inch long coprolite (the scientific word for fossilized poop) deposited there during the 9th century. Scientists aptly named the artifact the Lloyds Bank Coprolite, and its finding has helped to shape our understanding of the Norse invaders of England from 1000 years ago.

Paleoscatologists—those who study fossilized poop (yes, you can do this for a living if you want to)—scoured over the coprolite and found that the man who had left behind this magnificent piece of history had a diet consisting mostly of meats and breads. They also found parasitic eggs, indicating that this poor warrior from Scandinavia had to put up with worms as well as the rain.

Paleoscatologist Andrew Jones, who appraised the coprolite for insurance purposes, made headlines in the Wall Street Journal when he said, “This is the most exciting piece of excrement I’ve ever seen…it’s as valuable as the Crown Jewels.” His assessment of the value of the Lloyds Band coprolite was certainly blown out of proportion, but then again we can clearly see from his choice of profession that he was unashamedly biased.

On a more serious note, such finds are often not widely covered due to the vulgar nature we associate with such things in our society. Yet, there is much to learn from our ancestors’ waste, and in fact it may be the key to solving many more mysteries in years to come.

The Line of His People, my debut novel, has recently been rereleased as a second edition on Kindle and is FREE to download until Monday, May 25th worldwide. Download your copy today!
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The Reindeer Antler Comb That Is Rewriting History

Viking Age comb made from Reindeer Antler

Vikings have made the headlines this week across the globe after a surprising announcement from scholars at the University of York, in the U.K. Researchers claim they have found evidence that the Viking Age may have begun long before the academically accepted date of 793—the sack of Lindisfarne. According to researchers, they have found deer antlers fashioned into various tools, most notably a comb, which date to as early as 725 A.D. These artifacts were uncovered in the port town of Ribe, in Denmark, and indicate strong trade ties between the Danes and the Norwegians far earlier than previously thought.

Will this discovery rewrite history? It will certainly alter previous notions of the development of the seafaring culture in Scandinavia. But the demarkation of the start of the Viking Age is not likely to change. While trade was an important factor in the launch of the Viking Age, scholars have used the attack on Lindisfarne as the official start of the period because of its proximity to several concurring events, as well as its importance to the Christian world at the time. Setting a date for the start if the Viking Age is difficult precisely because if one only looks at a singular cause, such as violence, trade, climate change, politics, among others, the dates will vary tremendously. The first attack on Christendom was not in fact Lindisfarne. Another raid, mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, tells of an unfortunate encounter a few years prior to Lindisfarne in which a local official in Britain was murdered for insisting on imposing a tax on Scandinavian traders. Raids in Frisia (modern day Netherlands) began as early as the 770’s, as noted by one of Charlemagne’s scholars, Alcuin. Now we have evidence that the Vikings had begun traveling for trade as early as the 720’s. What makes Lindisfarne the best candidate for the start of the Viking Age is that it was the singular most powerful event that brought the Scandinavian raids into the public consciousness of the world at the time. Monarchs, and the people they ruled, became cognizant of the threat posed by the raids most keenly after 793 A.D.

With technicalities aside, the news of the finds in Ribe are of course tremendously exciting for scholars in the field of Scandinavian studies. The finds raise more questions than they answer, but at least we have now confirmed what scholars have theorized for several decades: the Vikings were traveling the world as merchants long before they began to raid. This reinforces several leading theories on why the Viking Age began. Traditionally, scholars blamed a rising population and a changing climate for the exodus of the young male population from the North. However, competing theories have suggested that the massacre on the Elbe (read about it HERE) and the closing of ports to non-Christians by Charlemagne may have contributed to the increasing violence carried out by the Vikings. If they had been trading with the South as early as 725, it now stands to reason that the Danes and Norwegians had grown dependent on foreign trade for much of their livelihood, and closing off trade would have brought about immediate economic woes and later…very well known history.

Ribe, the location where the Reindeer Antler was found, is one of the oldest towns in Europe, thought to have been founded in the early 9th Century. The finds are much more a rewriting of their history than anything else, as they indicate the town had its beginnings much earlier than previously thought. Today it is the sight of an extraordinary Viking museum. You can visit their official page HERE.

In my Kindred of the Sea series, my protagonist Abriel visits Ribe in the first two installments. He participates in the civil war of Jutland in the 810’s on behalf of Horik I, and later he returns to Ribe to collect on an old debt and fights a rogue band of Vikings who attempt to pillage the town. Ribe was an important and wealthy trade center in the Viking Age, and as such was occasionally the victim of the same raids which had enriched it.

The second edition of my first novel is out and FREE right now on Kindle. Download it today!

The Most Ignored Viking Destination in History

When thinking of the Vikings, most will think firstly of their exploits in England. To my chagrin, this also happens to be the focus of nearly every plot line of films, miniseries, and documentaries with a historical theme revolving around the Vikings. Authors of historical fiction such as Bernard Cornwell, Giles Kristian, and Robert Low all center on England as the hot zone for Viking activity. This is no surprise considering all of these authors are British, and the largest reading audience in the world is anglophone. The trend is not necessarily bad—Viking Age England was an interesting place. But the Vikings did not stay in England. In fact, England was a tiny chapter in an otherwise massive historical volume covering interactions in lands from Byzantium to Ireland. The most ignored area affected by the Vikings, in my opinion, is likely one you’ve never heard of—the region of Vendée in France.

Nominoë swearing vengeance on the Emperor for the death of his emissary.

During the Viking Age, the region of Vendée did not exist by that name. It was instead referred to as the Breton March. The Frankish Empire struggled repeatedly to keep the impetuous and fiercely independent Bretons (of Brittany) under their rule, and found themselves frequently embroiled in violent revolts. Charlemagne managed to keep the Bretons happy for a time, but his son Louis had little luck with them. Thus they set up what we might consider today to have been a neutral zone—a march that neither side crossed unless to initiate war. In the 820’s, the Breton leader Wihomarc led a successful revolt for several years against the Franks until he was eventually killed. His successor, Nominoë, continued the revolt and eventually broke away from the empire successfully. His timing could not have been worse.

Just as Brittany gained its independence, the Vikings began more aggressive incursions into the region, leading to a series of military and political catastrophes that plunged the entire region into chaos. In 847, the Vikings initiated a mainland invasion, claiming massive swaths of Breton lands for themselves, and brokering a deal with the Breton leader Salomon to keep them. There the Vikings stayed for nearly seven decades, during which time they conquered the city of Nantes, helped the Normans to seize more lands from the Franks, helped the Franks fend off the Normans, and bankrupted an entire province of the Frankish Empire. Not until the Breton reconquest of the early 10th century under a leader by the name of Alain Barbe-Torte was the city of Nantes liberated from occupation, and the region of Brittany restored to its former independence.

The tale of the Vikings in Brittany is one rife with all the elements that would make a good Game of Thrones episode, with assassinations, botched marriages, coups, and betrayals. It was even the first stop of the Moorish emissary Al-Ghazal on his way to visit the Northmen in Ireland. Hastein, supposed son of Rangnar Lodbrok, earned his reputation as the scourge of the Loire and Somme and made a home for himself in the Vendée for a time. Unfortunately, this century-long history is seldom acknowledged in the anglophone world mostly because all of the scholarly work pertaining to the subject is in French.

My Kindred of the Sea series delves into the history of the Viking invasions of Brittany. The first volume, The Line of His People, introduces the Vikings to the region, and the planned future of the series (totaling 9 books in all) will follow them until the reconquest of Alain Barbe-Torte. I hope that through my efforts, I am able to shed some light on, and increase interest in the region and its history.

This month, the first novel in the series will be re-released as a second revised edition. The first week it is available on kindle, it will be free to download! If you’d like to be notified of the release SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER.

3 Viking Inventions We Use Today

The Vikings invented a great many things during their heyday, but not many have survived the test of time. A few inventions, however, have continued well into the modern era, and indeed contributed significantly to our way of life. While the Vikings may not have been the first to invent some of the following, the modern versions of these inventions made it into our daily life because of them.

The Bristled Comb

Archeological digs have turned up bristled combs with varying tooth width. While similar inventions exist in other cultures across the globe, the Viking model is the inspiration for the Western incarnation of the comb. These would have been used to quickly groom facial hair, and brushes were used to groom head hair in both men and women.

Skis

Again, various forms of skis have surfaced elsewhere in the world, but the modern Western tradition of skiing comes to us directly from the Vikings. The word “ski” is a derivative of the Old Norse word of the same meaning, “skíð”.

Fines

Contrary to their Frankish and Saxon neighbors, the Vikings imposed fines on those who broke the law. This was because they wanted to prevent blood feuds, a cultural vestige of their Germanic neighbors in which blood was answered in blood. Instead, Scandinavians set up trials at communal assemblies called Things, and decided on appropriate compensation to be paid to the victims. This tradition was imported to England and France by the Normans (Danes) who imposed fines on those who broke the law rather than outright slay them. Of course there were exceptions, and capital punishment was always an option. While the Middle Ages certainly saw a reprieve in the policy of imposing fines, it became commonplace once again in the later period. Fines had existed elsewhere in the world prior to the Viking Age, but its modern use comes to us from the Vikings.