—> They bought many furs from Sames, they had a large slave trade in Denmark. On the side of Baghdad and Byzantium : Vikings exchanged spices, wine and crockery.

—> You know that the Vikings did a lot of trade but they also plundered in foreign villages.

—> They created trading posts in the invaded regions to open new trade roads with Africans and Indians, before Marco Polo.

—> Vikings specialized in the trade of luxury goods, such as amber, fur and walrus ivory. These goods interested the nobility and wealthy European merchants.

— Comptoirs de négoce = trading counters

— Sailors = marin / matelot

— Traders = commerçant

— Produits de luxe = luxury goods

Yggdrasil, the tree of Life holds nine realms within itself. Asgard and Vanaheim, the realms of the Gods and Goddesses, Midgard, the mortal realm, Jotunheim was considered specific to the Giants or Frost Giants also referred to as Devourers. According to the Vikings, Alfheim was the land of the Higher elves, Svartalfheim of the darwes or the Black elves depending on the beliefs, whereas Nilfeim was the realm of ice and mist and Muspelheim the realm of Chaos. The last of the nine realms is Hel, the place of despair and punishment where those who didn't die in battle go.

The Vikings sought the help of the gods trough prayers and the use of runes which are specific to Odin. They called on the latter for his great wisdom, on Thor for protection during battle and on Freya for guidance. We can also think about Loki, the god of Mischief and Njörd, god of oceans. But gods and godesses weren't the only entities Vikings believed in. Indeed, there were also Giants called Devourers, and Dwarves that were spiritual beings and not little grumpy men. They also believed in Elves and Land spirits called landvaettir. 

We told you a bit about it before, but for the Vikings, there are four phases the World has to go through. The first one is the creation of the very World we live in, the second is the moment when Time started ticking, the third is the end of Worlds, the Ragnarök and the last is the arising of sea creatures.

Here are some interesting facts about how Norse mythology used to impact the Vikings.

We told you earlier about Valhalla and its importance to these people. So, they would, understandably, spend a lot of their time on funerals and related rituals. The Vikings both buried and cremated their bodies. When of their chieftains died, they would also sacrifice an enslaved girl so he would be accompanied in death.

Sacrifices were actually a pretty big part of the Vikings beliefs. Indeed, Odin was associated with hangings and so human sacrifices were performed to honour him.

While travelling on their famous longboats, if the sailors were to see land, they had to take down the dragon prow off of their boats so they would not scare the land spirits away.

Men, women and chlidren lived in settlements throughout Scandinavia, typically these were along the coast of the sea or a fjord, this is where the land was most suitable for farming, along with good opportunities for fishing and transport. Most of the best known settlements were situated in Norway because of the easy access to transport by longboats.

Norse migrants settled in many islands that are now part of Scotland, including Shetland and the Hebrides. As it was closer to Scandinavia, Shetland attracted families rather than just male settlers who were attracted to frontier settlements elsewhere.

Today, there are stille places with Nordic names that can be found all over the UK, but especially in and around Yorkshire which shows the presence of Vikings settlements before. They even are studies who showed that vikings may had established in North America.

It has only got one room. We are lucky as there are many trees nearby so we were able to build the walls from wood.  We covered the roof with turf to keep the heat in winter.

Around the walls are the benches where we sit or sleep. We cover them with skins or fur. We can't afford to have beds. 

The fire in the middle keeps us warm and at night gives us light. There's a hole in the roof to let out the smoke. 

A Viking warrior's head dress was a helmet made either of leather or metal. Both fitted snugly on the head. The last thing a warrior would want was a loose helmet blocking his vision. Metal helmets were conical in shape and were mainly worn by the king's warriors. 

Some leather and metal helmet designs often included a reinforcing strip of metal along the center seam. This piece extended down over the nose for additional protection. Some designs included a goggle-like protection around the eyes too. Whether it was made of metal or leather, Viking helmets did not have horns as often pictured in movies, cartoons or fictional books. Horned helmets would have been extremely cumbersome in battle. 

If the Vikings faced an enemy waiting on shore for their attack, the first battle tactic used was fear. Their dragon-headed ships, blood-red stripped sails and berserker warriors probably frightened even the bravest enemy. This tactic proved so successful, the government of Paris paid the Vikings in silver coins not to attack and gave them part of France, now called Normandy, as their own land. 

 

 | The ships had one large square sail. In bad weather it was lowered over the ship and fastened down like a tent to protect the men inside. | Viking ships were called Longships. | A big longship would be about 30m long and could travel at up to 32km per hour. It would have about 32 oars.
| The Vikings carved the prow of their ships into elaborate shapes such as the head of a dragon or another animal.  |  | The gaps between the planks of the ships were made waterproof by filling them with sheep's wool dipped in tar.
| The ships had names which reflected the shape of their prows, like "Long Serpent", "Snake of the Sea" and "Horse of the Home of Ice". | When there was no wind oars were used to row the ship. | The Viking ships were among the first to have a keel. This helped them to cut through the water very fast and made them very stable in rough weather.

·       They made fire with a mushroom , the « amadouvier » , growing on threes.

They boiled it in urine during one week before hammering it to make  « fire paste ». They used this to set fire to enemy villages

 

·       They used combs for their hair, made with bones and they liked to customize them with engravings

 

·       Hygiène ,

They were using tweezers , razor blades and they took a bath per week and  they changed their clothes quite often, finally they were cleaner than we thought

 

·       The keel , at the bow of the boat, this part allowed to stabilize and keep upright the boat , they were decorated with wooden sculptures 

 

·       The sunstone 

It is a Calcite stone , used to polarize sunlight and was helpful in overcast weather to direct boats on the sea

 

·       The longships 

A forward thinking invention, most efficient boats for their time because they were swift, flexiblesand could navigate on The sea and rivers , they were made with wood , really resistant 

The word viking seems to have two uses. The word vikingr, taken from rune stones, meaning a man who has gone with other men on a military journey. Viking is a word for the journey itself. The word did not seem to include those who went on peaceful trading journeys.

Both English and Scandinavians lived in the area of the Danelaw and through extensive interaction and intermarriage the culture of the area became heavily Scandinavian influenced 

Women are said to have had a stronger position in Viking society than in most other parts of Europe. They usually had the right to divorce, and if their spouse passed away, they would inherit his estate and retain ownership of his belongings. They had partial legal protection against sexual harassment. A woman was respected as the head of the farm when her husband was away, which he could be for a long time. Today’s fascination with Viking culture is not only based on their image as relentless seafaring warriors, but also a result of their way of life and role in developing a new and more modern society.

Valhalla was a vast banquet hall. It had at least 540 doors and a roof made of shields. The powerful Norse god Odin ruled over Valhalla. He allowed only warriors who had died bravely to go there.

Female spirits called Valkyries watched over battlefields. They brought dead heroes to Valhalla. The warriors of Valhalla ate the flesh of a boar (pig) that was butchered every day and then magically came back to life.

It was said that the dead warriors would enjoy Valhalla until the end of the world. Then they would rise again to fight against evil giants and demons in a final battle called Ragnarök.

Though the oldest known skis, dating to between 8000 and 7000 B.C., were discovered in Russia, and the first written reference to skiing comes from China’s Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), we have the Vikings to thank for inaugurating the Western tradition of skiing. Even the word “ski” comes from the Old Norse “skío.” Ancient Norsemen skied across their snowy homelands for both recreation and transportation purposes, and the Norse goddess Skaoi and god Ullr were often depicted on skis or snowshoes.

COMBS
Though their enemies considered them unkempt barbarians, Vikings actually bathed more frequently than other Europeans of the day, taking a dip at least once a week—preferably in a hot spring. Bristled combs, often made from the antlers of red deer or other animals they killed, are one of the objects most commonly found in Viking graves. In fact, though comb-like devices existed in other cultures around the world, Vikings are often given credit for inventing the comb as the Western world knows it today. Tweezers, razors and ear spoons (for scooping out wax) are among the other grooming objects turned up in excavations of Viking burial sites, proving that even longhaired, bearded Viking warriors took their personal grooming very seriously.

Organized trade covered everything from ordinary items in bulk to exotic luxury products. The Viking ship designs, like that of the knarr, were an important factor in their success as merchants.^[242] Imported goods from other cultures included:^[243]

To counter these valuable imports, the Vikings exported a large variety of goods. These goods included:^[243]

Mjölnir, hammer of Thor, made of amber (Found in Sweden)