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Hugin—Munin

Issue 1 Viking Vagabond

February 2013

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Page 3: A Viking life for me

Page 5: Fun facts about Vikings

Page 6: Viking Conquests

Page 7: Tie Dying the Viking way

Page 8: Colouring pictures

Page 11: Runes

Page 12: Viking word search

Page 13: Viking games

Page 14: Norse traditions

Page 15: Make your own Viking

Page 16: Odin's ravens & Mjolnir

Page 17: Viking Apple Juice

Page 18: Crossword Puzzle

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A Vikings Life for me!A Vikings Life for me!A Vikings Life for me!

What is a Viking? Where did they come from?What is a Viking? Where did they come from?What is a Viking? Where did they come from?

Norsemen were known as “Vikings” a race of men and women who originated from

Scandinavia – now days known as Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The word Viking

comes from the Old Norse language which means to travel on an adventure! The Vi-

kings lived around 700AD to 1100 AD. Many Vikings left their home land of Scandina-

via and travelled to other countries which included Britain and Ireland. The Vikings

branched off into two different lifestyles. Some went to fight and steal treasure and

the others settled in new lands as farmers!

Men and Women!Men and Women!Men and Women!

Viking men and women were both equally skilled as both had their own responsibili-

ties to uphold just as we do these days.

The Viking men were the head of the house and had to be handy men. Their skills

ranged from being Boat Builders, Making Leather and trained in being a Blacksmith.

The most important thing that Viking men were required to be skilled in was how to

fight and handle a boat! The men were expected to be able to protect their family and

their leader from intruders.

The Women on the other hand had to be more skilled in home duties. They were the

ones who cooked for the family. They knew how to make bread and cheese, weave

sheep’s wool into cloth and make clothes for the family. They also had to look after

the children and cook two meals a day where all the family had to eat together.

Children!Children!Children!

Viking Babies were given Thor's-hammer charms, to protect them from evil spirits and

sickness. Most children received their names from their parents or grandparents. For

example if you were a young boy you would usually take your fathers name. If your

name was Eric and your father’s name was Peter you would get the name Eric Peters-

son. The Girls often took the same name as their mother or grandmother.

Unlike these days Viking children did not go to school. Instead they helped their par-

ents and learned Viking history, religion and law. They were not taught from books

like you would at school, they would learn from stories and songs!

By the age of 15 or 16 you were considered being an adult! By this age the boys were

expected to be old enough to battle and the girls were married to a man of her fa-

ther’s choice.

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As a kid in the Viking age, there was no such thing as TVs, computers and things that

you would enjoy these days, so the kids had to make their own fun and games up. Kids

would enjoy swimming, wrestling and horse racing. In winter time Vikings would ice

skate on frozen rivers, and used to ski in the snow. A lot of the children’s toys were

home-made and they included whistles which were made from leg bones of geese and

wooden dolls and model boats.

Viking Boats

As mentioned before the Vikings often went off to fight and steal treasure so they need-

ed to build fast ships for raiding and war. These ships were 'dragon-ships' or

'longships'. Viking longships could sail in the shallow water. This is so they could travel

up rivers as well as across the sea. In a raid, a ship could be hauled up on a beach.

The Vikings could jump out and start fighting, and then make a quick getaway if they

were chased.

Viking Houses

Houses were built of wood, stone or blocks of grass. They were long box-shapes with

sloping roofs. The walls were made of woven sticks, covered with mud to keep out the

wind and rain. The floor of a Viking house was often dug below ground-level. The rea-

son for this was it helped keep out the winter wind and air. Unlike houses these days,

Vikings lived in a house which had just one room for a family to share. If you were

lucky enough to be rich you might have had a small entrance, a kitchen, a bedroom

and a store room!

What did Vikings Eat?

If there was one thing Vikings knew how to do- it was definitely how to eat. They would

eat meat from farm animals, any wild animal that they hunted as well as fish & Whale

meat. Along with the meat the women would go out and collect berries and nuts. The

women then would cook the meat in a big stew-pot over the fire or even roast it on an

iron spit. They did not have fridges back then to keep their meat from going off so they

would smoke or dry out the meat to keep it from going bad.

When the women made the bread it was made from rye or barley flour. They used milk

mostly to make cheese and butter, and then drank the left over liquid butter. At feasts

and parties the guests drank mead (which is a strong drink made from honey). They

would drink out of wooden cups or drinking horns (made from cow-horns). There were

certain occasions though when the Vikings would hold such feasts. They were held to

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mark funerals and seasonal festivals, such as midwinter. Some feasts lasted over a

week!

Viking Beliefs

The Vikings had their own pagan religion. They worshipped many gods. Some of the

old stories they told were of gods, giants and monsters. Odin was the ruler of the

gods. He was the god of magic, poetry and war. His wife was the motherly Frigg, and

their son was Balder, who was kind and gentle. Freya was goddess of love and fertili-

ty, and wept golden tears when she was unhappy. She had a twin brother Freyr, and

their pet was a boar. Thor ruled the skies, storms and thunder. He had iron gloves, a

magic belt and a hammer. People loved Thor but did not trust his brother Loki. Loki

was the mischievous 'trickster god'. One story told of Loki playing a trick which lead

to Baldur’s death.

When a Viking died, they were buried or cremated with some of their belongings, to

take into the next world. Some Viking leaders were given ship-burials, with treasure,

weapons, and favourite dogs and horses placed with them.

Vikings believed that a warrior killed in battle went to Valhalla, a great hall where

dead heroes ate at long tables.

Odin would send his warrior-maidens, the Valkyries, riding through the skies to bring

dead warriors to Valhalla.

Fun Facts about Vikings

Although Vikings are often depicted as wearing horned helmets, it is doubtful that they

actually wore them into battle.

Some Vikings used huge 2-handed axes in battle. They could easily cut through a

metal helmet or shield.

Dublin, Ireland was founded by Viking raiders.

Some Byzantine Emperors used Vikings for their personal guards.

The world's oldest parliament was established by the Vikings in Iceland.

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•The first Viking raids were hit- and -run affairs. There was no coordination and long term

plan behind them. The Vikings would later have more powerful forays and would have base

camps where they would spend the winter.

• Vikings raided the British Isles and the Western portions of the Carolingian Empire in

France. They conquered much of Northern England in the 9th century, and they established a

kingdom in Ireland.

•In return for cash Vikings negotiated peaceful coexistence and conversion to whomever they

attacked. Some leaders paid ransom to Viking armies.

•In 911 AD Charles III of France gave Normandy (“French for territory of Norsemen”) to the

Viking leader Rollos who became a Christian. Vikings helped adopt the French language and

organized a strong state in Normandy.

During the same century a Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard created the Norman kingdom

of Sicily.

•The Vikings reached Iceland and it had become a settlement for Norwegians and Danes.

•982 Erik the Red founded Greenland. •Leif Erikson later landed on North America.

•The Vikings who went to the British Isles and continental Europe, were mostly from Denmark

and Norway.

•The Swedes went beyond the Baltic away from Christian europe into Russia, Constantinople,

an Baghdad.The Swedish Vikings influenced the growth of the early Russian state around Ki-

ev. The Slavic people called them “Rus”. They were ruled by Vikings for a long time that the

land was named Russia.

•In Constantinople they helped form and were recruited as Varangian guards of the Byzantine

emperors. Swedes were similar to all the other Vikings as they were soldiers, settlers, trad-

ers, and voyagers.

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Vikings used berries and vegetables to dye material beautiful colours. Their dyeing tech-

nique still works 1000 years later!

You Will Need:

1kg Raw Beetroot

Knife

Chopping Board

Rubber Gloves

Saucepan

I metre White cotton tape

White Cotton t-shirt

Wooden Spoon

Sieve

Acrylic paint and brushes

Double-sided Sticky Tape

1: Chop the beetroot and put it in a saucepan half-filled with cold water. Remember to wear

rubber gloves.

2: Put in the tape and T-shirt. Ask an

adult to bring it to the boil. Simmer for 1

hour, stirring occasionally.

3: When cool, strain through a sieve.

Then remove the tape and T-shirt from

the beetroot pulp.

4: Rinse well and hang up to drip dry.

Once the tape’s dry, paint a Viking

pattern along it.

5: When the T-shirt and tape are dry,

stick or sew the tape to the T-shirt.

Feel like a proud Viking, in your bright,

patterned top. (Don’t forget that your

top is not colour-fast and should always

be washed separately?

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http://www.coloring.ws/norse-mythology.htm

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http://www.coloring.ws/norse-mythology.htm

10 http://www.coloring.ws/norse-mythology.htm

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RUNES

The runes were a set of Germanic alphabets that were

used by the North German tribes, from the 2nd century

BC to the 13th century AD. The runic alphabets were

called "Futhark", which is derived from the first six ru-

nic letters of the runic alphabets (F-U-TH-A-R-K).

Practice writing your name in runes.

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t s l e l p n i r e d n

e m j o l n i r v m l i

r d v j n o r t h m e n

a l r f n g u g r s i u

v g u o u n b e u g h m

e i r o i t k o u o s o

n s k c s r h h a r d r

e g t i e g r a o t o h

p i h s n o g a r d u n

n n r o u g t p w k i o

t e l a r n r s u m n n

b o i e g r m l r o n s

Viking Warrior Shield Longboat

Raven Hugin Munin Sleipnir

Mjolnir Odin Runes Norse

Dragonship Northmen Longhouse Tunic

Futhark Berserker

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Hnef-tafl (say Neff-tah-fell) means ‘king’s table’. One player must protect the king from

his opponent’s much larger army!

Board games were

fun but also helped

Viking Warriors learn

how to plan battles

and raids.

You will need:

Corrugated card * Pencil * Rubber * Ruler *

Green and black felt-tip pens * air-drying clay *

Modelling tool * 24 chunky green beads * 12

chunky red beads.

Draw a 27.5 x 27.5 cm square on to the

card. Mark off eleven 2.5 cm intervals

along the sides.

How to Play

The white army’s aim is to get the king safely

to any of the four corners. The blue army’s

aim is to capture the king. The game is over

when one army achieves its aim. You can

move each piece horizontally or vertically as

many squares as you wish but you must land

on an empty square. Only the king can stop

on the red squares. To capture an enemy

counter, sandwich it between two of your

pieces or between your piece and a corner

square. You can take more than one piece in

a go. The blue army starts!

Join up your marks to make a

grid. Colour in the four corner

squares and the square in the

centre.

Design some Viking-style pat-

terns on spare paper. Draw

your best design onto each of

the green squares.

To make the king, shape a 2cm

high cylinder from clay. Use a

modelling tool to draw on his

face and beard.

Picture from http://www.stormthecastle.com

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Odin/Santa

"In Germanic traditions, the Norse Pagan God

Odin has been said to have contributed to parts

of the appearance of Santa Claus / Father Christ-

mas. During the Germanic holiday Yule, Odin

would lead a hunt through the sky on his eight

legged horse Sleipnir-today's eight reindeer.

Their ability to fly is said to have been derived

from this tale. Many traditions attached to Yule

we would associate with Christmas today, in-

cluding carolling and the decoration of ever-

green trees. A Yule custom in which children

would place their boots filled with straw, carrots

or sugar for Sleipnir, and their kindness and

good deeds would be rewarded by Odin with

gifts of candy and toys seems to have led to the

tradition of Christmas stockings today.."

Ostara/Easter

Easter gets its name from the Teutonic

goddess of spring and the dawn, whose

name is spelled Ostara or Eastre. Her

companion was a rabbit name Lepus who

had the ability to lay eggs in every colour

of the rainbow, but only on one day of

every year.

To honour Ostara children would deco-

rate eggs and offer them as gifts and to

bring blessings of prosperity and abun-

dance in the coming year; this was com-

mon in Old Europe.

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Cut out shapes and glue to figure

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The god Odin has two Ravens, their names

are Hugin meaning Thought, and Munin

meaning Memory. They fly around Midgard

(Earth) in search of news and information to

return to the mighty god. At the end of their

journey they would sit on his shoulders and

whisper into his ears all that they had seen

and heard.

Mjolnir is the hammer of Thor, the god of

Thunder. Mjolnir means crusher and is a

fearsome weapon capable of levelling

mountains. Thor would be able to strike

as firmly as he wanted, whatever his aim,

and the hammer would never fail, and if

he threw it at something, it would never

miss and never fly so far from his hand

that it would not find its way back, and

when he wanted, it would be so small that

it could be carried inside his tunic.

As a sign of honouring the God Thor and

as a symbol of Thors protection, Vikings

would wear a small Mjolnir around their

necks.

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Apple juice made the Viking way

You Will Need:

2 Apples

knife

500ml water

2 tsp clear honey

saucepan

sieve

wooden spoon

heatproof jug

mug.

1: Wash the apples. Ask an adult to remove the pips and cores, and chop the rest into

thin slices.

2: Put the apple slices, cold water and 2 teaspoons of clear honey into a saucepan.

3: Ask an adult to heat the mixture, stirring well until it starts to boil. Then remove from

the heat.

4: Ask an adult to strain the mixture into a jug. Once it’s cooled a little, pour some into

a mug & drink!

5: Before you drink, wish your friends “Good Health!” just like a Viking would have

done.

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Across

1. Odin’s warrior maidens

4. The pagan name for Christmas

5. What Norsemen were called

6. Name of a Viking boat

8. Goddess of Love

9. Odin’s raven whose name means thought

11. The name of Thor’s hammer

12. Viking Alphabet

13. Ruler of the gods

Down

2. Where Vikings came from

3. A Viking drink

7. The name of Odin’s eight legged horse

10. The god of Thunder

11. Odin’s raven whose name means memory