viking travel facts ks2

How did the Vikings travel around in the world?

The Viking ships

The ships of the Vikings were the key to their success. Although the construction methods remained the same, several types of ship were produced and developed in the Viking period.

The longship is the most well known of these. We know from the Icelandic and Norse sagas that these warships often had names and were regarded as the ultimate weapon and status symbol. The Oseberg Ship shows that the vessels could also be elaborately carved - such decoration emphasising the ship’s symbolic value. The longships of the later Viking Age were highly specialised vessels, which were constructed in order to reach high speeds and transport troops. Their long, narrow shape made them quick in water, but also meant a very limited capacity for cargo. Typically there was only room on board for a week’s supplies, which placed logistical demands upon the Viking expeditions.   

However, there were also other types of ships, which were equally important to the Vikings. The trading vessel was one of these. Just like the warship, this type of ship was produced in different sizes. These ranged from small vessels, that could transport goods around Danish waters, to large ocean-going ships with a cargo capacity of up to 60 tons.

Knowledge regarding navigation and the ability to find the way has been lost during the c. 1000 years since the end of the Viking Age. We know from the Norwegian medieval written source Hauksbók that bearings were taken using geographical features and that sailors were also guided by the sun and stars. Overcast weather on open sea must certainly have given the Vikings problems, but, on the other hand, they had a much greater knowledge about nature than we have today. For example, wild animals could tell them about their position and distance from land. These included bird species, which always stay within a certain distance of their nests, and migrating whales.

History for Kids

The Vikings: Facts & Information for Kids

Table of Contents

Who Were the Vikings?

The Vikings were a collection of people from Scandinavian regions that migrated and conquered European regions from the eighth to the eleventh century. The Vikings, also called Norse, traveled from their homeland to raid and colonize the British Isles, Iceland, parts of Greenland, the Frankish Empire (France), parts of Italy, as well as other areas in Europe.

The Vikings were referred to by many names. They were sometimes called North Men, Danes, and even heathens. Some parts of Europe referred to the Vikings as ‘Rus,” which means ‘rowers’ or ‘crew of oarsmen.” The tribes in England were the first to refer to the invaders as Vikings.

Historians debate as to why the Norse began leaving Scandinavia and ransacking other regions of Europe. Some historians suggest that Scandinavia could no longer hold a growing population, so the Norse looked for land to settle. Others think that the Vikings wanted wealth, so they decided to take it from others. Perhaps it was a combination of both of these factors.

Origins: Where Were They From?

The Vikings were from regions of Scandinavia, such as Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. Many of the Norse settled in the British Isles and what is now known as northern France. The Norse that settled in northern France broke from their brothers and became known as Normans.

Culture: What Was It Like to Be a Viking?

Most people believe that the Vikings were soldiers, raiders, and pillagers. They think the Vikings just sailed around the world in longships and rowed from town to town to burn houses and steal gold. This is not entirely accurate, and this belief exaggerates only one single part of Norse life.

Vikings were farmers, traders, travelers, hunters, trappers, fishers, and artisans. Viking women were skilled weavers and textile makers. Clothes were primarily made of wool, linen, and animal skins. Women would turn wool into yarn or fabrics and then dye them to give them color. When the Norse gained more wealth and power, they began to embellish their clothes.

The majority of Vikings were farmers. They grew grain crops, like barley, rye, or oats. They would make bread from the grain.

They were professional agriculturalists. They raised cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, and even bred horses. They also were exceptional fishermen and hunted whales as well as fish.

The Norse people lived in simple, rectangular houses. The houses were often made of timber from the area in which they lived. If wood was scarce, then they would use stones to make houses. The Norse did much of their works in these houses, such as weaving cloth, preserving food, or working leather.

The Vikings did have a writing system. Their alphabet had 16 letters, and it did not have the letters E, O, D, G, or P. While they used the sounds while they spoke, their written language simply did not have these letters.

While most of their languages and stories were passed down by mouth, there are few instances of Norse writing. Rather than “writing,” they carved their messages on stone. Most of the runic stones preserve stories of great battles, or the stones marked territorial boundaries.

How Did the Vikings Travel?

The Norse were excellent and talented shipbuilders. The Norse are exceptionally well known for their longboats. These boats could measure up to 37 meters in length. The boats were relatively narrow so that they could sail on the sea or up rivers. This design helped them raid villages by moving up and down waterways.

The Norse have usually depicted rowing boats, and they did rowboats. They built two different kinds of small boats that either had four oars or six oars that men rowed. However, they also could build larger boats that had up to 50 oars that were used to move the ship.

To move on land, the Norse mostly used horses and carts. In the winter, they sometimes used a sled. They also did a lot of walking in the summer

What Was the Norse Religion?

Most of Scandinavia was considered pagan at the time, which means the Vikings came from pagan regions. Slowly, over time, the Vikings adopted the Christian religion. Sometimes they blended their religion with the Christians they encountered while raiding British and French villages.

While historians know very little about how the pagans worshipped, they know that many pagan groups had priests or priestesses. Historians also believe that Vikings may have sacrificed horses to the gods.

Like Christianity, the Vikings religion believed in diving powers and powerful, supernatural beings. Their ideas about the world stem from the mythologies and stories that are passed down. In these stories, the gods raised the land out of the sea and created Midgard, which is where humans live.

We have more information about the Norse gods from stories and mythologies that were passed down ever after the Christian conversion. The most powerful god in Viking mythology is Odin. He had one eye and was the god of warfare, wisdom, justice, death, and poetry.

A famous Nordic god was Thor. This is the same Thor associated with the current superhero films. Thor was the god of thunder and carries a mighty hammer. This hammer was often made into pendants that Vikings wore.

Where Did They Settle?

The Vikings settled in many regions. They first moved from Scandinavia to the British Isles, where they raided British villages. They made settlements in Ireland, Scotland, and England, some parts of Wales, and the Isle of Man.

Some of the Vikings moved to France and started to raid villages in the northern parts of the Frankish Empire. After a peace treaty with the Frankish Empire, the Vikings settled in Normandy.

Moving further south in Europe, the Vikings even found their way to Sicily and Italy. Many of these Vikings originally stopped in Normandy and then moved on to these southern reaches. Several Vikings served as mercenaries in Sicily and Italy. Norse Vikings even raided the northern-most parts of Africa.

The Vikings also raided and settled northern regions too. Another group of Vikings left Norway, Sweden, and Denmark and traveled to long distances to Iceland, Greenland, and Canada. Norwegian Vikings settled in Greenland, and they raided parts of Canada. Swedish Vikings traveled East and settled in parts of Russia.

The Vikings raided and settled across most of the northern hemisphere.

What Happened to the Vikings?

The age of the Vikings ended with the Norman invasion in 1066. However, the power of the Norse dwindled towards the end of the 10 th century for several reasons. As time passed, the Norse were integrated into European societies and cultures.

The Norse lacked a strong central leader or government, but the European societies of the time did have strong central figures and leaders. The Norse were good soldiers, but they were not a good army. Other armies had leaders and worked cohesively as a unit. These stronger armies could fend off Viking raids.

Finally, Christianity swept over Europe, including Norse-held lands. The Norse adapted to Christian beliefs, which was solidified by the Norman Conquest in 1066.

More importantly, the Vikings stopped raiding because as times changed, it was no longer profitable or safe to raid across Europe. Instead, the Vikings settled into the lands they first raided and became citizens in developing nations. The Vikings became Norwegians, Swedes, French, British, or Greenlanders.

Other Interesting Facts & Information About The Vikings

• Norse clothing was held in place by brooches or yarn-ropes.
• Both men and women wore jewelry.
• Viking houses consisted of one big room. They did not have separate rooms.
• The Norse drank mead, water, and beer. The wealthier Norse also drank wine.
• Artisans were able to carve combs from animal bones and antlers.
• Merchants traded furs, beeswax, honey, ivory, and animal skins for items such as silk, spice, wine, and glass.
• The Vikings had meetings similar to town hall meetings where they would discuss problems and make decisions about problems within the community.
• Laws of villages were not written down.
• The Norse believed in blood-feuds. This means that arguments could be settled by fighting.
• The Vikings visited North America before Christopher Columbus.
• When important Vikings died, the deceased Viking would be buried in a large ship with all of his wealth and belonging. Instead of burying the ship, the Vikings also pushed the ship out to sea.

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Meet the Vikings primary resource

Learn all about the legendary warriors and their way of life.

This primary resource introduces children to Viking life and culture. Who exactly were these legendary warriors? When did the Vikings invade British shores? What were they known for?

Pupils will learn about aspects of Viking life, such as social hierarchy, battle techniques and diet, in our National Geographic Kids’ Vikings primary resource sheet.

The teaching resource can be used in study group tasks for exploring Viking clothing and social roles, as a printed handout for each pupil to review and annotate, or for display on the interactive whiteboard using the illustrations and short snippets of information included in the resource for class discussion.

Activity: Ask children to choose one of the Viking characters included in the resource and role play them in a short scene. They could use the Viking primary resource sheet as a guide for drawing and labelling traditional Viking dress, or write a newspaper report about the activities of Viking warriors.

N.B. The following information for mapping the resource documents to the school curriculum is specifically tailored to the English National Curriculum and Scottish Curriculum for Excellence . We are currently working to bring specifically tailored curriculum resource links for our other territories; including South Africa , Australia and New Zealand . If you have any queries about our upcoming curriculum resource links, please email: [email protected]

This History primary resource assists with teaching the following History objectives from the National Curriculum :

• Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
• Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
• Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.

National Curriculum Key Stage 1 History objective:  

• Pupils should be taught significant historical events, people and places in their own locality

National Curriculum Key Stage 2 History objective:

• Pupils should be taught about: the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor

This History primary resource assists with teaching the following Social Studies Second level objective from the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence :

• I can discuss why people and events from a particular time in the past were important, placing them within a historical sequence  
• I can compare and contrast a society in the past with my own and contribute to a discussion of the similarities and differences

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Viking travel

Lesson Plan (KS2)

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Please note:   this lesson was produced as part of the   Nuffield Primary History project   (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. It is part of a full   sequence of lessons available here .

How did the Vikings travel so far?

Using photos to investigate a Viking longboat. (See Gokstad ship for links to photographs.)

Key questions were:

• What state might the remains of this Viking longboat have been in when the archaeologists discovered them?
• Why do you think this Viking longboat was built?
• How do you think it was built?

The work was done during the literacy hour. The focus is on using pictures of Viking ships and a non-fiction text (Viking topic book) as sources of historical information, and on whole class discussion, questioning and evaluation.

(These resources are attached below) 

Attached files:

• Viking Travel: Teachers Notes 192.7 KB PDF document
• Viking Travel: Pupils Work 169 KB PDF document

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Vikings KS2

Vikings ks2 lesson packs and freebees:.

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Vikings Facts for KS2 Children and Teachers

Where did the vikings come from.

The Vikings came from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. These three countries are known collectively as Scandinavia.

Why did the Vikings come to Britain?

The Vikings came to Britain and other countries for many different reasons but one of the main reasons was a lack of farmland in Scandinavia. There was a large population surge in Scandinavia and there was no longer enough land to go around, so they travelled to Britain where there was plenty of good farmland.

When did the Vikings first come to Britain?

The Vikings first came to England from Norway in the 790s, but they didn’t come to farm to begin with. They raided the east coast of England looking for riches, attacking the towns and then returning to Scandinavia with their plunder.

The first recorded Viking raid was of Lindisfarne monastery on Holy Island, off the coast of north-east England, in 793. Lindisfarne was one of the most sacred Christian monasteries in England, and the people were shocked at the brutal attack. The Vikings, however, were not Christians and saw the unguarded monastery as easy prey.

What was a Viking longboat?

Scandinavia has long coastlines so the Vikings used boats as the easiest way to get around. They were good at developing ships that were fast and safe. It is thought that Viking longboats were developed from the narrow boats used in prehistoric times, but they made many improvements to the shape and structure.

Longboats (also known as ‘drakkars’) were the perfect shape for invading coastal towns because they could sail all the way up to the sandy coast without the need for an anchor. This allowed them to sneak up on the towns, ready to attack before the townspeople had a chance to defend themselves.

Who was living in Britain at the time of the Viking invasions?

Anglo-Saxons (from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands) had been living in Britain since the beginning of the 5th century. The Anglo-Saxons came to Britain after the Romans left. The Anglo-Saxons and Vikings both lived in Britain until 1066 but they spent most of the best part of 300 years fighting each other.

What did the Vikings believe?

The Vikings were pagans who believed in lots of different gods. They had lots of myths about the gods, as well as dragons and giants, that were passed down orally from generation to generation. The Vikings believed that the main gods lived in a world in the sky called Asgard.

Many Vikings converted to Christianity once they arrived in Britain, although many of them just added the Christian god to their existing belief system.

10 of the main gods of Norse mythology:

• Odin was the wisest god and most powerful god. He was the ruler of Asgard.
• Thor was the god of thunder and was considered to be the strongest of all beings. He was Odin’s son.
• Frigg was the goddess of love and fate. She was Odin’s wife and the queen of Asgard.
• Baldur was the god of light, beauty, love and happiness.
• Vidar was the god of vengeance. He was the son of Odin and a giantess.
• Freya was the goddess of love, but she is also associated with beauty, sorcery and gold.
• Tyr was the god of war. It was Tyr who decided who would win a war.
• Brage was the god of poetry and prose. He was very wise and eloquent.
• Sif is the goddess of grain and fertility. She was married to Thor.
• Idun was the goddess of spring and eternal youth. In the mythical tales, Idun guards the apples of youth.

What were Viking houses like?

The Vikings, like us, had different house designs, but most people lived on farms in small huts made of wood. They often had turf or thatch roofs. Richer families lived in a large house that was a similar shape to a Viking ship. It was supported on the outside by poles.

Another popular design was the pit house. A hole was dug about a meter into the ground. The surrounding dirt was then used as a wall. This had the advantage of keeping in some of the warmth from the ground.

What did Vikings wear?

If you were a Viking, your clothes would depend on what you did and how rich you were. Generally, people dressed for warmth and comfort rather than fashion. Most clothes were made from wool and linen, and were dyed using vegetable dyes to make them colourful. Both men and women wore a lot of jewellery, especially brooches which were used not just as an accessory but to fasten clothes together.

What did Vikings do?

Wealthy Vikings earned their living from the renting out the land they owned to tenants and from the produce that came from the land. Most Vikings were farmers and self-sufficient. They would grow their own crops and keep cattle for dairy products and meat. Lots of Vikings were also merchants and traders who sold their produce and traded their wares, such as jewellery. Some were skilled craftsmen who built boats or crafted weapons. At the very bottom of society were the slaves who worked in the fields and houses doing hard manual labour.

What did Viking women and children do?

It was a woman’s job to look after the home, doing all the cooking, cleaning and household chores. They milked the cows and preserved the meat ready for the winter months. They also spun wool into thread to make cloth. They made all the clothes using a weaving loom and also made wall hangings. It was also the job of the women to weave the sails for Viking ships.

Children did not go to school because there weren’t any schools, but they helped their parents with jobs at home. Some boys, however, were taught to read and write the rune characters of the Viking alphabet.

What was Viking law and order like?

Viking societies had a hierarchy system. Most Viking countries were ruled by a king. There were also chieftains and earls who were very important. Chieftains often had armies of their own and would have large households and own vast areas of land.

The Vikings had laws for free men and women, although these were not written down anywhere. These laws were passed down orally from generation to generation. Honour was a crucial part of Viking life and disobeying any of the laws brought disgrace to the whole family.

10 fascinating Viking facts:

• The Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets! Popular culture often portrays Vikings wearing helmets with horns but there is no evidence to show that this was true.
• The Vikings had a written language using a system of letters called runic alphabet. Each rune had a special meaning because it was thought that the runic alphabet came from the gods.
• The Vikings kept slaves and would often bring slaves back to Scandinavia from Britain and other countries. The punishment for crimes like murder and theft was slavery too. Slaves were an important commodity and were often traded for other products.
• Vikings were often laid to rest in boats. When important Vikings died, they were placed in a burial ship along with goods, such as weapons, tools, clothing and furniture. Sometimes slaves were even sacrificed and laid in the burial ship too!
• There was a special group of Viking warriors called beserkers who went into battle without armour and fought in a trance-like fury, howling like wolves and dogs. We get the phrase ‘going beserk’ from these beserkers.
• Vikings were much cleaner and more hygienic than many other people at the time. They bathed at least once a week and many items, such as razors, tweezers and combs, have been found in VIking burial ships.
• Viking men preferred to be blonde. Dark-haired Vikings would often use a soap that contained lye on their hair and beards to lighten them.
• Vikings travelled much further than Britain. In fact, a Viking called Leif Erikson sailed all the way to North America. He is the first known European to set foot in America, 500 years before Christopher Columber got there!
• Some of our days of the week are named after Viking gods. Thursday is named for the god Thor, for example, while Friday is named for the goddess Frigg.
• The Vikings ate only twice a day. They would have a meal soon after getting up called ‘dagmal’ (or ‘day meal’) and a meal in the evening after the working day was finished called ‘nattmal’ (or ‘night meal’).

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The History Hit Miscellany of Facts, Figures and Fascinating Finds

20 Facts About the Vikings

Laura Mackenzie

30 jul 2021.

The Viking Age may have ended around a millennium ago but the Vikings continue to capture our imagination today, inspiring everything from cartoons to fancy dress outfits. Along the way, the seafaring warriors have been hugely mythologised and it is often difficult to separate fact from fiction when it comes to these northern Europeans.

With that in mind, here are 20 facts about the Vikings.

1. They came from Scandinavia

But they travelled as far as Baghdad and North America. Their descendants could be found across Europe – for instance, the Normans in northern France were Viking descendants.

2. Viking means “pirate raid”

The word comes from the Old Norse language that was spoken in Scandinavia during the Viking Age.

3. But they weren’t all pirates

The Vikings are infamous for their plundering ways. But many of them actually travelled to other countries to settle peacefully and farm or craft, or to trade goods to take back home.

4. They didn’t wear helmets with horns on

The iconic horned helmet that we know from popular culture was actually a fantastical creation dreamt up by costume designer Carl Emil Doepler for an 1876 production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.

5. In fact, most may not have worn helmets at all

Only one complete Viking helmet has ever been found suggesting that many either fought without helmets or wore headwear made of leather rather than metal (which would have been less likely to survive the centuries).

6. A Viking landed on American shores long before Columbus

Although we commonly credit Christopher Columbus with being the European who discovered the land that would become known as the “New World”, Viking explorer Leif Erikson beat him to it by a whopping 500 years.

7. Leif’s father was the first Viking to set foot in Greenland

According to Icelandic sagas, Erik the Red journeyed to Greenland after being banished from Iceland for murdering several men. He went on to found the first Viking settlement in Greenland.

8. They had their own gods…

Although Viking mythology came long after Roman and Greek mythology, the Norse gods are far less familiar to us than the likes of Zeus, Aphrodite and Juno. But their legacy on the modern-day world can be found in all kinds of places, including superhero films.

9. … and the days of the week are named after some of them

Thursday is named after the Norse god Thor, pictured here with his famous hammer.

Image Credit: Emil Doepler, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The only day of the week not named after a Norse god in the English language is Saturday, which is named after the Roman god Saturn.

10. They ate twice a day

Their first meal, served approximately an hour after rising, was effectively breakfast but known as dagmal to the Vikings . Their second meal, nattmal was served in the evening at the end of the working day.

11. Honey was the only sweetener known to the Vikings

They used it to make – among other things – a strong alcoholic drink called mead.

12. They were proficient shipbuilders

So much so that the design of their most famous vessel – the longship – was adopted by many other cultures and influenced shipbuilding for centuries.

13. Some Vikings were known as “berserkers”

A fresco in the 11th c. Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv that appears to depict a beserker ritual performed by Scandinavians

Image Credit: Unknown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The berserkers were champion warriors who are reported to have fought in a trance-like fury – a state that was likely to have been at least partly induced by alcohol or drugs. These warriors gave their name to the English word “berserk”.

14. The Vikings wrote down stories known as sagas

Based on oral traditions, these tales – which were mostly written in Iceland – were usually realistic and based on true events and figures. They were, however, sometimes romanticised or fantastical and the accuracy of the stories is often hotly disputed.

15. They left their stamp on English place names

16. A sword was the most prized Viking possession

The craftsmanship involved in making them meant that swords were extremely expensive and therefore likely to be the most valuable item that a Viking owned – if, that is, they could afford one at all (most couldn’t).

17. The Vikings kept slaves

Known as thralls , they carried out household chores and provided the labour for large-scale construction projects. New thralls  were captured abroad by the Vikings during their raids and either taken back to Scandinavia or to Viking settlements, or traded for silver.

18. They were very into physical activity

Sports that involved weapons training and training for combat were particularly popular, as was swimming.

19. The last great Viking king was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge

The Battle of Stamford Bridge, from The Life of King Edward the Confessor by Matthew Paris. 13th century

Image Credit: Matthew Paris, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Harald Hardrada had come to England to challenge the then king, Harold Godwinson, for the English throne. He was defeated and killed by Harold’s men at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

20. Harald’s death marked the end of the Viking Age

1066, the year in which Harald was killed, is often given as the year in which the Viking Age came to an end. By that point, the spread of Christianity had dramatically changed Scandinavian society and the military ambitions of the Norse people were no longer the same.

With the taking of Christian slaves banned, the Vikings lost much of the economic incentive for their raids and began to focus instead on religion-inspired military campaigns.

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Viking Runes (KS2) Explained

What Was The Viking Alphabet Used For?

Image from Pixabay.

Vikings are part of the KS2 history curriculum and a fascinating people who raided and invaded most of Europe between the 8th and 11th centuries.

Coming over to the British Isles from South Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden), the Vikings brought with them their way of life, culture and customs. Part of the Viking’s life was their written alphabet, called runes.

Viking runes are a great way to get kids interested in the Vikings and trying to write their names in runes is sure to be a fun activity.

Image © Elder Futhark by MuiDark under creative commons.

What Are Viking Runes?

Runes make up the Viking alphabet and have been around since the 1st century AD! The Elder Futhark consists of 24 sounds.

The Kylver Stone in Gotland, Sweden, is famous for recording the oldest full Elder Futhark. By the Viking age, the writing system is called the Younger Futhark and has no E or O, D, G or P, which means it only had 16 signs.

The Viking alphabet did not have a set direction of writing. It meant the sounds could be read from left to right, right to left or even from top to bottom!

There is a reason runes are made up of straight lines: they are easier to carve with a knife or chisel on hard materials like stone or metal.

The Vikings believed that the prominent god, Odin, received the alphabet when he hung himself upside down from the world tree, Yggdrasil. He hung there for nine nights, hoping to get occult knowledge, and this is when the runes came to him.

In exchange for the gift, Odin gave up his left eye. The sacrifice means that the Viking people considered the runic alphabet sacred.

Whilst the Odin story is great, the reality is a bit less mysterious. It is widely accepted that the Germanic people who occupied Northern Europe around AD 100-200 created the letters by looking at the Etruscan or Latin alphabet.

The Vikings then used these signs for their own purpose and adapted them. The name Futhark comes from the first six sounds of the runic alphabet (f, u, th, a, r, k).

In Old Norse, “rune” means “secret knowledge and wisdom.” The Viking alphabet was not wasted on telling stories, instead, history and stories were told orally, in songs and sagas about heroes, gods and goddesses, great battles and warriors. The written sagas that we still have today were recorded and written after the Viking era.

Runes were carved on stones and sticks, wood, horn, seal tucks, jewellery and weapons.

They were used for a range of things: to commemorate a person or events, to claim ownership of objects (the same way you might write your name on your books or clothes so as not to lose them), to keep track of sales and purchases by merchants.

The runic alphabet can be found on everyday items, tombstones, monuments and runestones, which were huge stones decorated with pictures and writing. Runestones were used to give information about the bravery of someone who had died. They were meant to be admired.

Image © pxfuel.

Viking letters were also used to tell fortunes by being carved on small stones. The stones would be placed into a bag, which was shaken. The stones were then cast on the floor, with the ones face up used to predict the future.

The alphabet was not just letters and sounds but sacred, and the Vikings believed each rune had magical powers. Warriors would carve a curve version of the runic alphabet on their weapons to give them strength and protection.

People believed that the warriors who knew how to read and write had magical powers, would be protected during battles and could ward off evil witches.

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Sarah Kante Bachelor of Arts specializing in Communication, Curation, and Criticism

Based in London, Sarah enjoys traveling the world to experience diverse cultures and the great outdoors. She has a Bachelor's degree in Communication, Curation, and Criticism from the Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, and a Master's degree in Publishing from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. She's determined to earn the title of "coolest aunt," and enjoys visiting museums, shopping, and chatting with her friends' kids whenever possible.

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• Oct 1, 2020

What did Vikings Eat? - A Brief Guide for KS2

Updated: Feb 10, 2023

Ever wondered what Vikings ate? Us too! This is why we delved deep into our research books to uncover the surprisingly varied diet that Vikings enjoyed. Let's see what was first on the menu:

On the whole, Vikings ate much better than the Anglo-Saxons. This is due to the fact that they ate meat pretty much every day. Vikings weren't overly picky eaters and would scoff down pigs, cows, sheep and goats with gusto.

Vikings spent a huge time out at sea, so fish were frequently gobbled up too; herrings being a particular favourite. Vikings would eat herring dried, salted, smoked, and pickled. All these techniques were handy for preserving fish so it would last for a long time. They even preserved fish by coating it in whey - that's the gloopy yellow gunk left over after milk is curdled.

Vikings were expert hunters, this meant reindeer, elk and even bears could be tracked, killed and dished up for dinner time.

Another meat favoured by the Vikings? Horse.

That's right, HORSE.

Horses were even raised for food, just like chickens, cows or sheep are today. This is another reason why the Vikings really didn't get on with the Anglo-Saxons: eating horse meat was forbidden by the Christian Church.

BOILED IS BEST

When we think of a Viking Longhouse, we imagine a spit at one end of an abode, nestled over a roaring open fire. Impaled on the spit is a sheep, cow or - gulp - horse carcass, slowly being rotated, spitting fat onto the flames below, until, finally, it is roasted.

However, that's not the reality that recent archaeological evidence suggests. Instead of roasting or frying, boiling was the Viking's favourite method of cooking. Meat and veg would be bunged into a big cauldron and then brought to the boil. At the end of a long day of boiling, in the pot would be left a meal called 'Skause'. When boiled meat and veg was taken out of the pot, new meat and veg was lobbed in to replace it. This meant that the same pot of Skause could be boiled for days and days and days until it became a big bowl of sludge!

DON'T FORGET THE VEGETABLES

Vikings didn't have access to the wide variety of fruit and veg we can buy from our local supermarket today.

They were limited to the food they could grow on their own farms. So that's stuff like cabbages, beans and peas. They also ate carrots, but not orange ones, these carrots were white. Fun fact: orange, white, yellow and purple carrots can all be grown.

Vikings loved their herbs too, dousing their pot of Skause in spices like coriander and cumin.

Finally, wild apples and berries would be picked from the land to ensure they hit their 5 a day.

WASH IT ALL DOWN WITH BEER. LOTS OF BEER.

Vikings loved drinking beer, and who can blame them? Whilst water could be filled with all sorts of nasty diseases, beer - which was brewed - could be drunk risk free. It also had loads of calories in it - brilliant for providing energy if you're running low on food.

Viking beer was brewed from barley and mead (the mead being fermented honey and water) and would last for a long time before going off - making it the ideal drink for long voyages.

If you are a Primary School teacher then you'll definitely want Imagining History to bring their 'How to Launch a Viking Raid' Interactive workshop to your school.

Have your students got what it takes to launch a successful Viking raid?

In this award-winning workshop, our practitioners will use interactive activities with a drama and performance twist to teach your students everything they need to know to raid the Anglo-Saxon monastery on Lindisfarne. Your students will:

Create a timeline stretching from the first Viking raid to the end of the Viking era.

Construct a Viking Longship using just their bodies.

Interact with replica Viking Weapons, Armour and tools, including a sword, shield, spear, and sunstone.

Use their teamworking skills to test out Viking navigation techniques

Launch a raid on Lindisfarne & outsmart the Monks to steal their treasure.

Find out more by clicking here!

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