By Michael Petty and Simon Farrelly 8B

VIKING LIFEVIKING HOUSES: For the Viking house they used whatever they could find to build it. Usually they used straw, wood and stone. These materials weren’t always easy to obtain. The walls of the houses were thick; made of stone, so they could keep out the Northern winds. The poor Viking’s houses were made of up-right posts and thatched roofs.

Sketch of a typical Viking House.

VIKING CLOTHING: Vikings didn’t really care much about what they looked like. They only cared about comfort. They sometimes wore gold and silver jewellery. The Vikings wore many thick layers of clothing to stay warm. Rich Vikings would wear silk or fur tunics. Below is a sketch and an image of the clothing typically worn by Vikings.

VIKING’S FOOD AND DRINK:

The Vikings were usually good eaters. They had a large supply of food. The Vikings ate a lot of meat. They usually ate animals such as sheep, cows, deer, fish (like above), pigs, horses, birds and the bird’s eggs. The rich and the poor ate the same basic diet. Vikings usually drank beer and wine; these were transported from Italy and France.

HAKON 1: Hakon 1 was one of the most important people in Viking society. He ruled the Vikings between 915 – 960. He was also the first Christian king. Hakon 1 introduced Christianity to Norway. He left Norway and went to England to be educated. He reclaimed the throne in 935. He died in battle in 960.

LONG SHIPSDESCRIPTION: The Viking Long Ship was a shallow boat allowing it to go through shallow water. As the name suggests the ships were very long. The ship could seat at least 32 people at a time. Long Ships were made out of a lot of oak. The ship also contained one big mast. The ships were very stable.

DRAGON SHIP: The Dragon Ship was feared because it was fast and very manoeuvrable. It was also feared because it could get a raiding party to England in less than 2 days!

Dragon Ship

GOKSTAD SHIP: The Gokstad Ship was a sturdy sea-going vessel. It was about 23m long. There were 16 pairs of rowers on board. You could find this boat in the Gokstad Farm in Norway.

Gokstad Ship

RAIDS ON OTHER COUNTRIES.

The Vikings attacked the following countries: Scotland

Ireland

North West England

Mediterranean

Italy

France

They raided other countries to gather treasure and prized possessions. They raided Italy to acquire beer and wine. England was raided to reap gold and silver.

VIKING WEAPONS.

SHIELDS: Viking shields are round and made of wood. Not many shields are fantastic because the wood rots.

DOUBLE EDGED SWORDS: Viking swords were usually double edged. Patterns were welded into the sword to give it extra strength. To do this they had to fuse several strips of iron then twisted and hammered them. This made sharp pieces of metal on the blade.

AXES: Axes with long handles were the most common weapons used by the Vikings.

SPEARS: Thick iron blades were used for thrusting at the enemy. The spears for throwing were lighter and had a thin iron blade at the top.

RUNIC STONESRunic stones were an alphabet consisting of only sixteen characters that were carved onto a rock. They were often important messages.

Runic stones were often used to give important messages via rock.

The stones were important to the Vikings because they were often used as monuments and tombstones.

VOCABULARY• fiords: A long narrow sea inlet with very steep cliffs each side.

• jarl: A Viking person of noble birth. Jarl included chiefs, kings, wealthy people and their descendants of past Vikings.

• byer: Was a barn used to store meat and fuel for winter.

• knorrs: One of two ships was referred to as a knorr. It was large and heavy enough to investigate the Atlantic Ocean.

• mead: An alcoholic drink.

• eld-hus: Icelandic term for kitchen.

• byrnie: Chain mail worn by the Vikings

REFERENCES

• Watts, Franklin. The Vikings.

• Gibson, Michael. The Vikings.

• Virginia, Alexander. Vikings: Raiders from the North.

• Guy, John. Viking Life.

• Google Images.