Vikings at Home

What did the Vikings farm?

• Grains:

– spelt wheat

– barley

– rye

• Cabbages

• Peas (could be dried)

Raising livestock• Wealth was often measured in animals

– Norwegian merchant Othere had 20 cattle, 20 sheep, 20 pigs, & 600 caribou (Orosius, Seven Books of History Against the Pagans)

• The Vikings raised a range of livestock animals– Longhorn cattle– Black sheep, Manx sheep – Pigs– Caribou– Small horses– Goats

• Livestock provided– Fleece– Milk– Meat– Leather– Horn & bone– Labour power– Transportation

What other foods did Vikings eat?

• Fruit• Fish – many fish bones found at excavations of Viking

villages• Wild game – duck, hare, deer• Wild berries – raspberries, blackberries• Flavourings - Cumin, horseradish, garlic• Pine bark• Meat and fish was preserved so it would last through

winter by – Smoking– Salting– Drying

Viking Life - Shelters

• Vikings built longhouses– In early period, animals in same buildings as people– Later, animals moved to outhouses

• Rectangular buildings with wooden poles to support the roof• Variety of methods of construction depending on local

resources and conditions– Log walls, stone walls, wattle & daub – thatch, matted reeds, shingles or, turf for roof

• Central fireplace • Benches around the walls• Chests to store valuable items• Privy inside or attached to side of structure

Stöng House, Iceland (pre-13th Century)

Trondheim House, Norway (1003 CE)

Turf Houses, Iceland

How could this be used as evidence of Viking home life?

“Winter he would spend at home, where he entertained some 80 men at his own expense. In the spring he had a great deal of seed to sow. Then when his job was done he would go off plundering in Ireland. Then back home until the corn fields had been reaped and the grain safely in. After that he would go off raiding again…”

The Orkneyinga saga written in the 1100s