What was life like in Viking Britain? - BBC Bitesize (2024)

FAQs

What was life like for Vikings living in Britain? ›

The Vikings and their families mostly lived in small villages that were near the coast. Despite their reputation as brave warriors and terrifying raiders, the Vikings spent most of their time farming and fishing. The Vikings grew wheat to make bread and beer, and raised animals such as sheep, pigs and cattle.

Viking families came to settle on these lands. There wasn't much good farmland in the Vikings' own countries, and they were looking for a better life.

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.

Viking society was organized into three classes: karls, who were freemen and landowners; jarls, who were wealthy nobles tasked with maintaining the well being of their subjects; and thralls, who were either slaves or bondsmen, the latter having to work for other men until they could pay their debts.

In the AD 860s and 870s, Vikings invaded in larger numbers. They used their ships to support their armies along England's rivers. They requisitioned horses for raiding. The Vikings built winter camps to protect their families, such as at Torksey in Lincolnshire.

Given the average life expectancy of 40-45 in the Viking Age, it was important that early on children could help and carry out the work of an adult. In Iceland males were legally adults at the age of 16. Girls married at a very young age. They were regarded as adults once they were married.

In the last decade of the eighth century, Viking raiders sacked several Christian monasteries in northern Britain, and over the next three centuries they launched increasingly large scale invasions and settled in many areas, especially in eastern Britain and Ireland, the islands north and west of Scotland and the Isle ...

They were expected to keep their fingers busy all day long: sewing and weaving, but most of all spinning wool. VIKING BOYS had to work on the farm, or help to make goods in wood or metal. Boys didn't get told off for fighting.

Play is not a recent development in history in fact from grave goods and the sagas, we learn that Vikings played board games avidly, they carved dolls and toys for their children, played dice and gambled as well as partaking in boisterous sports at their feasts and gatherings.

Viking villages were small and coastal, as easy access to the ocean was essential. The Vikings, although known for their raiding, were fishers and farmers, and that's how they spent most of their time. Their rectangular homes were made of wood and coated with mud, with turf or thatch roofs.

What were Vikings' homes like? ›

Vikings lived in elongated, rectangular structures called longhouses. Across the Viking world, most houses had timber frames but, where wood was scarce, stone and turf were also used as construction materials. The walls were often made of wattle and daub or timber planking, with a grass roof.

Most women in Viking society, however, lived and worked in the domestic realm of the household. They cared for the family, prepared food, milked animals, preserved food for winter and, the most time-consuming task of all, made the family's clothes. Spinning, carding and weaving took a long time.

Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, an Arab lawyer and diplomat from Baghdad who encountered the men of Scandinavia in his travels, wrote that Vikings treated their female chattel as sex slaves. If a slave died, he added, “they leave him there as food for the dogs and the birds.”

In the 8th century most Vikings lived by farming, grazing animals, hunting and fishing, whether in villages, isolated farms or on large estates. The whole family tended the farm and the entire household ate and slept together. Large estates included outbuildings for cooking, brewing, and craftwork.

Women that fought were in the Norse literature called vakyries or shield-maidens (skjoldsmøyer). There were several kinds of female warriors. – Some were divine beings, like the valkyries sent by Odin to pick up the warriors that were slain on the battlefield.

Vikings were very clean people (at least by comparison to other people at the time!). A Viking's most treasured weapon was his sword. They were handed down generations via inheritance, were often named and could be inscribed with runes by talented smiths to magically increase their power.

See Viking trade and Viking travel. What we call the Viking Age, and their relationship with England, lasted from approximately 800 to 1150 AD – though Scandinavian adventurers, merchants and mercenaries were of course active before and after this period.

Harold Harefoot became king of England after cnu*t's death, and Viking rule of England ceased. The Viking presence declined until 1066, when they lost their final battle with the English at Stamford Bridge.

How did the Vikings change the lives of the people of England? ›

Another area of life in which Scandinavian settlers had a lasting impact was in the development of urban economies. Towns that had seen only modest trade, manufacture and settlement prior to the Viking arrival boomed in the century that followed.

Cultural and Economic Contributions of Vikings

Hints of Norse influence can still be seen in English language; words such as 'window' (vindauga) and 'egg' are of Old Norse origin. Vikings also established new trade routes, connecting England more closely with Scandinavia, the Baltic, and beyond.

Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.