Who controlled the power and wealth, and who were the hard workers was determined by the social classes. 

If one broke the traditions and laws, your honor could be lost. Courage cleverness and such could gain the individual honor. THIS WAS NOT FORGOTTEN WHEN YOU DIED. 

Jarls:

Jarls were the powerful noblemen of the society. They would live in large long-houses and would be very wealthy. A king relied on support from the jarls in order to rule.

Karls:

The karls were the majority of the society. They were free but loyal to a king or a jarl and would pay taxes to them. Karls were farmers, merchants and craftsmen when they weren’t on raids

Thralls:

The thralls were the porest of the poor. They were slaves, prisoners and criminals. They would do the hardest work and they didn’t have any rights, however, most were treated well.

Magnates : a magnate from the late latin magnas means a great man it was used to describe a noble or just a man in a high position. He was the greatest man in a local society. Due to wealth and possessions. Often risch men able to afford a small army could become magnates.

King : A king was a person who managed to rule a quantity of land with support from magnates. A king constantly had to proof he was better than the magnates though.

The Vikings also respected their laws and didn’t want to break them unnecessary. 

Every Viking had a reputation and that meant a lot to them and that's also a reason why they didn’t want to break laws and get stamped as a criminal.

the Vikings had strict laws, The Vikings did not originally have written laws, they were remembered by the law speaker. their punishments were nothing like those we have today, a Viking that had done a crime, would get sent away for life, or death. 

They had a thing, like a parliament, and only landowners could attend to make or change the laws. 

The viking traded items such as timber, bags, smoked fish, amber and fur. They also traded slaves for items. In return the vikings got items such as wheat, iron, silverware, wine and spices. At first, goods were traded for other goods at an equal value, but later they started paying for items with gold coins. The towns the vikings later colonised became busy centres of trade. This included York (England) and Dublin (Ireland) 

Slaves were some of the most important trade “item”. People could become slaves if they did crimes such as murderer and then the person could become the victims slave. The slaves were people without any personal rights. They were treated as a domestic animal and also lived with the domestic animals. If the slaves didn't behave they would get beaten. The slave bodies were also available for sexual exploitation.    

They result of trading lead to a economic development, urban market, larger estates, international trading pot. This lead to a growth of local power and establishment of the early Scandinavian states. They viking cities needed protection from invaders and pirates, because they had such a good economy.. Therefore more king came to protect them… 

 

Lower class=thralls

Middle class=Karls=farmers, merchants and craftsmen     BIGGEST SOCIAL GROUP

Highest social class=jarls

WOMEN AND CHILDREN:

Viking home life and work: