THEVIKINGS ARECOMING! 16CaseFileNo:
younger History Detectives Hopeyoulike our newlogoguy s ! dSpoileralert-TheVikings idn'tactuallywearhelmets withhorns!
Information:
Parental There are no gory descriptions included in this Case File. We do cover Viking burial, and there is a 19th century archaeological drawing of a skeleton. We believe that this Case File is suitable for
This painting (not from our collection) is called First Cargo and was painted by an American artist called N.C. Wyeth in around 1910. It was created for a serialised story with the same title, written by Arthur Conan Doyle (who also created Sherlock Holmes who, like you, was a great detective). It was printed in an American magazine called Scribner's Magazine.
People of the British Isles called them Northmen, Danes, Pirates, Heathens, Pagans and Foreigners but not Vikings To the Anglo Saxons ‘Dane’ was often a general term for any Viking They often used the term ‘Northmen’ for the Norwegians
It was the Scandinavians who talked about ‘viking’ to describe a group away from home, possibly trading, but most probably raiding.
What we call the Viking Age in England lasted from approximately 800 to 1150 AD though Scandinavian adventurers, merchants and raiders were of course active before and after this period too.
The Vikings travelled from their homelands in Denmark, Norway and Sweden to raid and colonise the British Isles, Iceland, parts of Greenland, France, and other areas in Europe. Evidence shows that they even reached modern day Canada. Many of the Norse settled in the British Isles and what what we now call France. The Norse who settled over there broke from the others. They remembered their heritage while adapting to French ways and they became known as Normans. France
BritishIsles
The Vikings were great sea faring people from Scandinavian regions that migrated and conquered in Europe from the eighth to the eleventh century.
Some parts of Europe referred to the Vikings as ‘Rus,” which it is thought means ‘ rowers ’ or ‘ crew of oarsmen. ”
THE VIKINGS ARE COMING!
Images like this are what influence how we picture people from the past, when sometimes we have to rely on descriptions by writers like Doyle and paintings created from the imagination of artists like Wyeth as being true They can, however, sometimes give us the wrong idea about what people were like
simplemapof Scandinavian countries
(First Cargo, A C Doyle, November 1910)
Have Doyle and Wyeth really shown us what Vikings were like? Let's find out!
"PresentlyIwasundertheship,which hadagildeddragoninthebows,anda tierofoarsalongeitherside.AsI lookedup,therewasarowof helmetedheadslookingdownatme."
NorwaySweden Denmark Finland
TheVikingswereheretostay.
BRITAIN BEFORETHE VIKINGS
Mostpeoplelivedinsmall,oneroomthatchedhousesand workedinthefieldsformanyhoursaday,alotmorethanyour averageninetillfive,becausethecropsneededtobeharvested andtheanimalsneededtoberearedbeforewinter Eventhe richer landowners such as thegns would have farmed themselves.Largeestatesexistedanditisbelievedthatkings wouldtravelroundallyearfromestatecentretoestatecentre eatingtheproduceonsite!Thegnshadtopayforthingslike horsesandswordsfromtheirownmoney
Thiswasademocraticsociety(asweretheVikings)whereareas would meet and discuss and decide collectively meeting placesarestillaround(therewasaMootHawjustnorthof CarnforthbeforetherailwayandthentheM6ranstraight throughit).
Lifeinpre-VikingEngland
LifeinEnglandbeforetheVikingsarrivedwouldbeconsidered quitedullbytoday’sstandards Almosteveryoneworkedona farm, which sounds alright now with central heating and electricity,butintheeighthcenturytherewasn’tanysortof technology
Asfortheking;surprisingly,beforetheVikings,therewasmore thanoneKingaliveatthesametime!How,youask?England wasn’tawholecountry,andwouldn’tbeuntilKingAlfredthe Great Alfredreignedfrom871Hisfirstmajorvictoryagainstthe Vikingswas878 In954whenthelastVikingrulerofYorkwas deposed,AlfredruledWessexandpartoftheoldkingdomof Mercia.ThecountrywassplitintofourmainKingdoms(withsome minorones);Northumbria,Wessex,EastAnglia,andMercia.
WhentheVikingsinvaded,weimaginethemstormingupthe beachwithaxes,fightingabit,stealingalot,thengoingback homeThiswasn’tthecaseOriginallytheyraided(fromthe790s 860s),thentheychangedfromsmallraidingpartiestolarger armies.ThefirstrecordofthemsettlinginEnglandisin876 aroundYork.
Viking families were all headed by menNope. With the ability to divorce and remarry, own property, and sit at the head of a familial clan, Viking women had more rights than those in Christian Europe
Willprobablybe carryinglotsof different,verysharp weaponslikeaxes, knivesandswords
ps...ifyousee one...run!!
possiblysmells abitoffishbreath Mightbedrinking outoftheir enemies'skulls!
mighthave beautifulgold orsilver jewellery
Let's bust some of these myths about the Vikings!
They all had horns on their helmets and drank from their enemies' skullsNope Sorry to disappoint you, but actually there is no evidence that they wore horns on their helmets, or drank from skulls!
They ponged of fishYep One of the main foods in the Viking’s diet was fish This is because they often lived in communities near the sea When it was warm they would hang the fish up to dry and eat it at a later date, carry it with them on voyages, and eat it over winter when food was more scarce. So, yes they probably smelled of fish!
All Vikings were buried at sea in flaming boatsNope. Burial at sea was reserved only for prominent members of society, who would be surrounded by weapons, valuables, and sometimes, sacrificed slaves.
HowtospotaViking (...ornot)
Hi, My name is Buster Myth and from now on I will be helping you to discover what fibs have been told through history. I will appear in your Case Files to put things straight.
lookoutforfancy facialhairandlong plaits..possiblyblonde orred
They kept slavesYep Vikings were active slave traders who would capture men, women and children and sell them in markets across Europe and the Middle East. Viking slaves primarily came from raids on Slavic, Germanic, and Anglo Saxon tribes and were called Thralls (that's where the word 'enthralled' comes from!).
They were great sailorsYep. The Vikings were brilliant at making boats and ships. Their longboats could fit 60 people in at a time which was very impressive in those times Eric the Red and Leif Erikson, Norse explorers, discovered North America 500 years before Christopher Columbus
They were just barbaric war machinesNope The Vikings were fearsome and mighty warriors, yes, but they were also highly skilled at crafts and made beautiful gold and silver jewellery They were wonderful storytellers and made weapons carved with intricate and complicated patterns. Norse people were also peaceful fishermen and farmers.
probablyarrived withlotsof matesonaship withcarvedheads atbothendsand spripedsails.They willalllook fierce!
Theymightbe wearingahatmadeof leatherandmetal withgigantichorns onit
Not everything you hear or read about in history is true. As History Detectives, you have to think about who wrote about or painted history and why.
They were all blondeNope But, they really did like blonde hair and found a way to dye it. There were no hairdressers back then and so they used soap with something called lye in it which would lighten their hair.
What do these images make you think about? Who do you think the person buried beneath the stone was?
When the Romans left the original British population remained. Several British kingdoms still existed in 800, particularly those in Wales but also in Cornwall and at Dumbarton in the mouth of the River Clyde in what is now Scotland. It is likely that the Isle of Man was also a British kingdom.
Celtic kingdoms also still existed in Ireland and south west Scotland around what is now Argyll, but they spoke Gaelic, which was a different form of Celtic to the British.
WikimediaCommons.EarlyMedieval9thcenturysaxonsilverandcopperalloymountfoundintheCarnfortharea.
Read more about the Hogback on the next page.
Do you agree with Collingwood's interpretation of the images carved into the stone?
Depending on which side is being displayed you will see one of these images (right).
Although we talk about ‘Danes’, Norwegian weden did not exist until well after the Viking raids s of little kingdoms instead. The first large kingd 0 and 985.
Whether it was Ivar ‘the Boneless’ or a different Ivar, the family of Ivar ruled in Dublin, York, the Isle of Man, the Galloway area and the Hebrides for some or all of the late 800s, 900s and much of the 1000s
BRITAINAT THETIMEOF THEVIKINGS
Questions:
Ragnarök(motiffromtheHeyshamhogback) byW.G.Collingwood,1908.
From the late 850s the Irish Sea region was y y g en Ivar ‘the Boneless’, a ruthless Viking who helped lead the Great Heathen Army against the Anglo Saxons in the 860s. Ivar ‘the Boneless’ might well have had what we might term a disability. If he did, then his skills, leadership, aggressiveness and sheer brutality out weighed any physical disadvantage he might have had.
Whoelsewashere?
And there were also the Anglo Saxons or ‘English’ who were divided into several kingdoms. The kingdom of Northumbria was based in York but also ruled the area that was to become the north west of England
Visit the Lancaster Maritime Museum. Look out for the replica of the Heysham Hogback.
Evidence from our collection
Following the expulsion of many Vikings from Dublin in 902 they settled all around the Irish Sea coast. This was particularly around Cumbria and south west Scotland but there is evidence that they also settled around here Some of that evidence comes from place names but there are also important pieces of sculpture from the 900s. In this area there is Viking Age sculpture at Heysham, Lancaster, Halton, Melling and Bolton le Sands
Heysham was a very important Anglo Saxon religious site and dates from the 700s, possibly earlier. After the Vikings arrived it continued to be important and some of the stone sculpture dates from the 900s and 1000s
At Lancaster Priory you can still see an important piece of a stone cross from the 900s. It has on it a picture of a hound attacking a deer or ‘hart’ which is devouring a snake or ‘serpent’. This ‘hart and hound’ image symbolises Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and was popular in Ireland. The hart devouring the serpent is more unusual but gives the message of Christ triumphing over evil.
In the north of England there are a lot of examples, which is very useful for us. Usually the sculpture is religious in some way either a cross or a grave cover or a memorial
TheHeyshamHogback
Lancaster is the only place where the two have been put together to symbolise both Christ’s sacrifice and triumph. The decoration as a whole is close to other examples on the Cumbrian coast and the Isle of Man.
Hogbacks are most often found in the area of the Viking Kingdom of York and across the middle of Scotland The furthest north is on the Orkneys and the furthest south in Cornwall.
The other piece of Viking Age stonework at Heysham is a grave cover dating from the 1000s. This can still be seen in the churchyard and has on it a ‘hammerhead’ cross which is most often seen around northern Cumbria and south west Scotland
One of the old crosses built into it dates from around the mid late 900s. It tells part of the story of Sigurd which was very popular at the time....
left:thelancasterpriory cross
TREASUREVIKINGUNEARTHING
The treasures that Vikings left behind was not just gold and silver, but they left beautiful and intricately carved stones too.
above:TheHeyshamHogback
The hogbacks usually look like little houses with ‘tiles’ and a ‘roof’ that slopes down at the ends just as Viking Age roofs did. It is from this shape that the name ‘hogback’ probably comes as this is the shape of a boar or pig’s back.
The most impressive is the hogback stone, which dates from the 900s. These amazing sculptures are thought to be grave covers, but Heysham may be the only one where a skeleton was actually found underneath it or so the story goes The hogback can be seen in the church at Heysham and there is a replica in the Maritime Museum
Like Lancaster and Heysham, Halton has important stone sculpture dating back to the 700s The huge cross in Halton churchyard is made up of bits from several different crosses and gives a good idea of how high many of these crosses were.
The Heysham hogback is similar to ones in Cumbria and like others in the north west tells a story, though nobody has yet been able to work out what the Heysham one might be. Some people think that it might be related to Viking myths and sagas, others that it has more of a Christian theme. Or perhaps it combines the two? The Heysham hogback also has ‘bears’ at each end. Bears are much more common in the east than in the west
They dug a hole in the ground, and placed in it a lead container filled with many of their valuable possessions including over 200 pieces of silver: five beautifully decorated arm rings, a lead pouch full of coins, hacksilver, rings and brooches. The hoard was then carefully covered over
Think about Viking warriors and you are probably still imagining a huge hairy man with a long beard and big muscles (even though we have tried to bust those myths, let's bust them even further).
Sometime over a thousand years ago, an unknown Viking hid their collection of silver in Silverdale, near Morecambe.
THE SILVERDALE HOARD
All Viking warriors were men? Let's bust that myth!
SThesketch,labelled"Bj581,"byHjalmar tolpeofthearchaeologicalgravefou Birka,Sweden,published
2horses stirrups knifeaxe 2bowls thebody ofthe warrior gameof strategy
Finding objects and sites helps us to learn more about the development of people and places Lots of archaeological finds end up in museums Let's take the Silverdale Viking Age Hoard for example.
The owner never returned and no one knows what happened to them, or who they were. Their treasure lay undiscovered for over a thousand years. In 2011 metal detectorists discovered the treasure.
Archaeologists
They use technology such as GIS (Geographic Imaging System), LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), Drones and Metal Detectors to look for places containing signs of settlement. These will contain man made objects from the past. These may be in burials, old homes, industrial sites and even places of worship.
She was found in an underground chamber, buried in a seated position, with two horses, a sword, axe, knives, spears, shields, armour piercing arrows and a set of gaming pieces representing military strategy, which was found in her lap
Surrounded by such weapons of war, and without any items that we think of as female, such as jewellery or weaving equipment, this high ranking warrior was assumed to be a man for more than 125 years
Though Viking women have been found buried with weapons before, nothing compares to the objects found in this grave The amount and type of this site suggest a professional fighter sword canyoufindthewarrior woman'sgraveitems?
WARRIORAUNEARTHINGVIKING
But why would someone leave all of their valuables in a hole in the ground and never come back for them?
A Viking warrior was buried in Sweden in the 10th century. The grave was discovered by a man called Hjalmar Stolpe in 1878, then excavated and sketched by Archaeologists. It might sound like a simple story This find, however, has been anything but simple, because this Viking warrior was a woman!
An archaeologist is a scientist. Archaeologists study the landscape to identify and excavate (dig very carefully) sites where perhaps something (or someone) is buried underneath the ground.
The cross at Halton shows Reginn the smith making the sword with an anvil, hammer, belows and tongs. It also shows him headless after Sigurd has killed him. Further panels show the birds in the trees and Sigurd roasting slices of heart on his sword and then sucking his thumb. The horse on the other side might be Sigurd’s horse, Grani, which was descended from
"Heisbest,andall praisehim;heissofair offeature,andso bright,thatlight shinesfromhim." Gylfaginning
Among the most well known gods were Odin and Thor Viking mythology also includes other mythological people, including giants, dwarfs, elves, and land spirits
ruhtrA ahkcaR m' s paintingofSigurd(Siegfried)tastingthejuiceof t he d r a 'nog hstrae
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Image of Baldr:thesecondsonofOdin.
o f Fa f n i r
Enormousinsize, Withterriblejaws Thatthreatenandgape; Withskinandhair, Allatagulp, Thebrutecouldswallow
At the time when the cross was made the Vikings were switching from believing in gods such as Odin and Thor to becoming Christian Stories were used to symbolise the benefits that would come to those saved by Christ at the end of the world Sigurd fighting the evil dragon (or serpent) was Christ fighting evil
From Siegfried by Richard Wagner
Norsebeliefoftheuniverse revolvedaroundYggdrasil,an immenseandsacredtree.
SwedishArtistJohanEgerkran's
Arthur Rackham
VIKING MYTHSAND LEGENDS
Viking people believed in a number of gods and goddesses who were divided into two groups, the Æsir and the Vanir, who were said to have fought with each other until they finally realised that they were both equally powerful after all!
Much of what we know about what the Vikings believed is based on sagas, stories that were written hundreds of years after the events took place...If they ever took place at all!
Arounditexistsallelse, includingtheNineWorlds.
Vikings were not initially Christian, although if you read the excerpt from the Gylfaginning (a 13th century writing that talks about the creation and destruction of the world) Baldr, son of the god Odin, might remind you of Jesus, Krishna, or deities of ancient civilisations, all of whom emanate light
Part of the huge cross at Halton shows the story of Sigurd. Sigurd was brought up by a smith called Reginn. Reginn’s brother, Fafnir, had killed their father for his hoard of treasure and then turned into a dragon because he loved the treasure too much Reginn wants the treasure and persuades Sigurd to kill Fafnir for him So Reginn makes Sigurd a magic sword which Sigurd uses to kill Fafnir
Legend had it that if you drank the blood of a dragon or ate its flesh then you would acquire its wisdom which Reginn also wanted. Having killed the dragon, Sigurd was toasting Fafnir’s heart for Reginn when he got some of the meat juice on his thumb and, not thinking, sucked it off Sigurd could instantly hear the birds talking, saying that Reginn was about to kill him Sigurd instantly used the magic sword that he fortunately had to hand and killed Reginn, making off with all the treasure which, of course, turned out to be cursed
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Odin’s eight legged horse, Sleipnir.
In fact, the Viking Age really altered the political, cultural and genetic map of Britain
Over time, the Vikings came to accept England as their new home. They married with the local English people, changed their names to more English sounding ones and gave up their paganism (meaning they worshipped multiple Gods) to become Christians The Vikings had a remarkable effect of the country The Irish seem to have referred to the Danes as 'the dark foreigners' and the Norweigans as 'the fair foreigners' Although people are now arguing about whether they just meant the ones who came first and then the later ones Either way, there is a good chance that you ’ re related to a Viking!
It has been hundreds of years since the last Viking ever set foot in Britain, but what happened to them? We hear about them all the time in books, movies and games, but where did they go?
Could you be descended from a Viking? Ask someone you know if they have ever had their DNA tested.
THEVIKING LEGACYIN ENGLAND
When the Vikings settled in England to build farms and have families, they didn’t need to go out raiding anymore the Viking lifestyle just died out and the Vikings became farmers.
A recent study of Viking skeletons in Scotland shows that many burials that were thought to be Vikings were actually local people. It looks like they took on Viking names and identities and were buried in a Viking style.
If we were to look at British DNA today, we would find that the UK has been left with a population that has up to 6% Viking DNA
More than that, the days of the week are named after Viking gods (Friday is Freya’s day, Thursday is Thor’s day and Tuesday is Tir’s day), and lots of towns and villages are named after Vikings who lived there, possibly owning the land.
Stone carvings, weaving and metalworking were arts well known to the Vikings and were introduced to Britain as well Most importantly, England wasn’t a whole country until the Vikings invaded and Alfred the Great started the process of uniting the country If it weren’t for the Vikings, who knows how long it would have taken for England to become whole?
To put it simply, the Vikings never left In fact, it was sticking around that ended the Vikings: Viking culture was rooted in raiding villages from the coast and exploring the world.
In the absence of written records, place names are an important source of information
In the places where the Vikings settled there are many Viking place names. On the east side of the country many of these come from Danish dialects, but on the west side more come from Norwegian versions of Old Norse, which is the earlier version of modern Scandinavian languages Old Norse was close to Old English so sometimes even specialists can’t tell whether they are Anglo Saxon or Viking!
VIKING PLACENAMES
Ireby Irishman s village (showing the links with Ireland)
Find a map either on the computer or a paper one. Look at the place names. Do they give you any clues about the town's history? Does it tell you anything about the location, or vice versa?
The name of every place means something. Place name specialists look at the very first time that the place name was written down and try to work out what the name means. If the place name was written down close to the time that the place was named then they have a better chance of working it out.
Your Mission...
Placenames are tricky things though and lots of them combine two different languages. For example, Caton is the village of Kāti, but the ‘ton’ ending is Anglo Saxon (Old English).
Using place names is an important part of studying history. It can tell us lots about places and people.
Colour-In
EscapetheVikings!
NorseRunes Write your name in Runes
Can you find all of these words in the puzzle below?
EndHere
you
Wordsearch
Can row your little boat out of the maze before the Vikings catch you?
StartHere AXE DRAGON HOARD HOGBACK LONGSHIP MYTHOLOGY ODIN SCANDINAVIA SKALD SWORD THOR VIKING YGGDRASIL
VIKING PUZZLES
The Vikings loved a good riddle. Have a go at these Viking themed puzzles yourself!
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Calling all
History Detectives! We are really excited to share that the real Silverdale Hoard should be coming to the Lancaster Maritime Museum in 2023 for a special exhibition! Next Case File coming in October HalfTerm!
