10 Things About The Vikings That The Media Hasn't Told You (Part 1 of 2)
The Vikings are no longer a different word to many of us in this day and age. With the success of many blockbusters ranging from movies of both Norse mythology and Viking legends, the Vikings are getting more and more popular than ever before. Of course, modern arts somehow manage to convey the meaningful messages to the audience which makes their arts last. However, there are many things that the media is yet to tell you about the Vikings. Fear not for this blog post is filled with awesome information about the Vikings that some modern arts fail to vividly portray.
1. THE VIKINGS WORE NO HORNED HELMETS
You might find horned or winged helmets cool. It makes the Vikings look much more badass but it isn't historical. Imagine our great warriors joined the battles with the horned helmets that prevented them from excelling the fighting skills. Don't you think that they would use horns to thrust at their enemies. It's helpless. The only historical horns of the Vikings were the Drinking Horns.
The only historical Viking horn was the drinking horn
2. VIKING LAWS WERE STRICT AND DETAILED
Indeed, even though the laws might vary from king to king but the Vikings always wanted to keep their laws strict and detailed. For example, if a man found his wife on a bed with another man, he was allowed to kill the man. In case the husband killed his wife's fella on the marital bed, he would have to bring the bloody bed sheet to the judge. But if he killed the man and couldn't give any proof like the bloody bed sheet, he would have to pay the man's family an amount of money.
Don't mess with my family for I am willing to hurt you and pay any price
3. THE VIKINGS RESPECTED THEIR WOMEN
It's not something hard to imagine in this day and age that people respect women. In the modern sense, anyone failing to respect women will be regarded as impolite and rude. But people in the ancient times held a viewpoint completely different from us. As their society was male-dominated and men were the main pillar of the family, women were kept in lower esteem. The Vikings though in ancient times didn't treat their women like that. They respected and held their women in high esteem. Many believed that it was because Norse belief affected the Viking men and they acknowledged the sacrifice of their women.
Viking Lagertha - one of the best Viking women in legends
4. WOMEN HAD RIGHTS
Women have rights? It's not a big deal these days. But it once was in the ancient times. But because the Vikings respected their women so much that they granted their women with many basic rights. For example, the women had the right to fight back what they didn't accept. When a man approached and sexually harassed her, she could sue to man to the judge. Some worst cases were he lost his life. The Viking women could even dump or divorce their husbands.
5. THE VIKINGS WERE PRETTY CLEAN
The Vikings have earned a pretty good reputation for being filthy. But that's historical. Truth is, the Vikings spent much time making themselves clean and tidy. Both archaeological and literal materials attested to this. Regarding the archaeological findings, many personal items like razors, combs, etc. were found in the Viking burial mounds. An Arabian man named Ibn Fadlan had the chance to do business with the Vikings and he vividly described the Vikings washing their faces and head many times. The Vikings even found it disgusting to share their water to wash their bodies.
Viking comb artifacts found
