Viking Life

Vikings were traders and family people, but also warriors and conquerors. The more historians dig into the Scandinavian past the more demystification takes place. One important thing is clear: they did not wear horn-clad helmets! Viking life was about progress, how to cope with a harsh natural surrounding, how to take advantage of the waters surrounding their realms, how to travel distances, how to quickly reach far away posts to change goods. Viking life was about the great transformation from fierce fighter to smart trader. And it was about the great spirit of adventure and curiosity, about learning new ways, assimilating into new different cultures, from Russia to Bagdad, from France to the Ottoman Empire. Above all it was about how a society changed over time and how it took the good things life and experience can offer, to become the self-reliant and modern present-day Scandinavian community.

Family and clan gathering.

Rustic and basic.

Weapons...

...status symbols...

...and fierceness had to be overcome...

...for change and insight.

Solace and a long learning process transformed wildness into common sense.

Something other parts of Europe and the World are still struggling with.

An older post about the Viking Village.

Denmark Gallery