Viking Life

The first words that come to mind when one thinks of Vikings are "raid", "barbarian" "bombardment", or something similar. Literally, the word Viking means raider. One theory why the Vikings started to attack and gain their notoriety was food. Scandinavia clearly could not provide enough food for the Vikings. The focus of this page is not to show how evil the Vikings were, but rather to explain what their food was like.

The Vikings enjoyed many different foods and drinks, despite the harsh climate in their home in northern Europe. They were also very frugal with their food, since there was not much available. For example, any fish that was not eaten was immediately preserved.

Fish was an important part of the diet. For the Vikings who lived on the coast, freshwater fish was the main source of protein. Cod, herring, and haddock bones have been found to prove this. Fish could be preserved by drying it in the wind or smoking it. They also pickled the fish in salt water, thus preserving it. This job, however important, was boring and was given to slaves.

Much of a Viking woman's time was spent cooking. A stove was placed in the middle of the one-room house. Although they had a hole in the roof, Viking houses were always smoky. The actual stove was constructed of metal. Dishes were made of wood, mainly beech wood. Storage jars were made of ceramics. Viking children were kept occupied with a multitude of chores around the farmyard. Such work included feeding the livestock, weeding the garden, and chasing pesky birds away from the crops. After a meal, Viking women would sew.

The typical meal for a Viking contained any number of foods. Living off the sea, of course fish were an essential part of the Viking diet. But they also consumed many other products from the sea: seaweed, shellfish, seals, and whales. Vikings also ate something like a sandwich: thick slices of bread toppinged with butter, meat of the Wild Boar, red deer, elk, or possibly bear. Honey was often used to sweeten many of these foods; they loved sweet things. In soups, they might add garlic for extra flavor.

With the meal, the Vikings drank skim milk, buttermilk, whey, beer, or mead (a strong drink made from honey). They drank not out of cups but out of a drinking horn. The drinking horns were made of many different natural materials. Some horns were made up of real horns, which were hollowed out and polished, others were made from wood or different kinds of metal.Some fancy ones were crafted out of precious metals. Special stands were made for these horns. The poor could not afford horns and had to drink from wood mugs. Eyewitness accounts of that time period reported that the Vikings loved to drink. It was not uncommon to see drunk Vikings on the streets. Sometimes a Viking even died from being too drunk.

The Vikings loved celebrations and parties. Tri-annually, the Vikings had big feasts or holidays. The first feast was called theSigrblot. This feast took place in early summer and signified the beginning of the warm season. The second feast was called the Vetrarblot, which took place after the harvest. At that time lots of food was available. The third feast was named Jolablot. This feast took place in midwinter. Each major feast was filled with two weeks of eating, drinking, singing, dancing, and storytelling. During a feast, Vikings wore their best clothes. These clothes were bright and cheerful. The rich drank from a silver horn. During a feast, Vikings visited each other's houses and sat by a fire at a long table.

The Vikings were excellent hunters and fishermen. They hunted during the summer and winter months. The Vikings learned to use animal tracks to find the prey, and sometimes they used skis to keep up with the animals. Animals that were hunted for meat included boar, seabirds, moose, polar bear, or hare. Vikings ate a lot of meat. Not all meats were hunted though. The Vikings used domesticated animals in most of daily cooking. Meat from their hunting excursions served only as an alternative food source.

Farming proved to be difficult in Scandinavia. There was a shortage of fertile land, and this might have been a problem that forced the Vikings to attack neighboring tribes. Viking farms were small. Soil was poor, and needed a great deal of care. The Vikings' main crops were onions, leeks, peas, and cabbages. Their work started in early spring, as soon as the snow was gone. The Vikings, or possibly slaves, had to break up the hard soil. They used oxen and plows to help with this difficult job. Then they sowed seeds into the soil by hand. To make hayfields more productive they spread manure on them. To cut the grass Vikings would use a scythe, which looked a lot like a small curved sword.

During summer, Vikings herded cattle and sheep up a mountain to graze. This became the animals' new home until harvest time. The other animals stayed on the farmstead. Weak animals were killed and eaten because there never was enough food to go around. Compared to animals today, the animals of the Vikings were smaller and skinnier. The pigs looked more like boars. They were dark dkinned and had a lot of hair. Sheep (Manx Loghtan sheep) had two to six horns. They shed naturally and never needed to be sheared. These sheep could live on scarce vegetation, which made them a popular livestock in the freezing areas of Scandinavia.