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The Viking gods

Odin was the ruler of the gods, and the god of magic, poetry and war. His wife was the motherly Frigg, and their son was Balder, who was kind and gentle. Freyja was the goddess of love and fertility, and wept golden tears when she was unhappy. She had a twin brother Freyr, and their sacred animal was the boar.

Red-headed Thor ruled the skies, storms and thunder. He had iron gloves, a magic belt and a hammer. People loved Thor but did not trust Loki, the mischievous 'trickster god'. By a trick, Loki caused the death of Balder.

The Norse myths

When the Vikings came to Britain, they had their own pagan religion. They worshipped many gods. The old stories they told about gods, giants and monsters are known as Norse myths. In one story, Thor, the god of thunder, tries to prove his strength to the Giant King by attempting to lift a giant cat. But he could only lift one of its paws.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/vikings/beliefs_and_stories

Viking Runes

Viking law was not written down. Lawmen had to learn the law by heart and recite it whenever it was needed. In this way the law was passed by word of mouth from one generation to the next. The Vikings had no pens, paper or books, and very few of them could read or write. In total there are 36 runes.

Vikings by Craft Topics.

The Germanic people, including the Norse Vikings, had developed a written alphabet as early as A.D. 100. This alphabet is known as the Futhark, named for the first six letters. There are three main forms, the Elder Futhark, with 24 characters, predominantly used from A.D. 100 to 800; the Younger Futhark of 16 characters, which was used from A.D. 800 through the Viking Age until 1200; and the 33 character Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, used mostly in England. The Younger Futhark was Latinized during the Christian era in Scandinavia and became the Medieval Futhark.

Runes were carved on stone, bone, antler, wood and metal. Runestones were big rocks covered with inscriptions of runes usually in memory of a great man or woman. Over 3,000 runestones are located in Scandinavia. Runic inscriptions are found on grave markers, cenotaphs and memorials more often than on any other object.

https://www.historyonthenet.com/viking-runes-and-runestones/

Viking Money

Silver circulated in the form of bars, or ingots, as well as in the form of jewellery and ornaments. Large pieces of jewellery were often chopped up into smaller pieces known as 'hack-silver' to make up the exact weight of silver required. Imported coins and fragments of coins were also used for the same purpose.

The idea of coinage was not a difficult one to grasp, and once the Viking raiders began to settle in England in the late ninth century, they began to issue coins of their own. Today this might seem an obvious thing to do, because we are used to dealing with coins on a regular basis. However, even a single silver penny (the only common denomination in the period) was a valuable item, and most poorer people probably never handled coinage at all. Coins might be very slightly more convenient than some other forms of silver, but payments continued to be primarily based on the total weight and quality of the silver.

The fate of the coinages was different in each kingdom. In Norway, the coinage got off to a very weak start and only really took off under the powerful kingship of Harald Hardrada (1047-66). By contrast, the Swedish coinage started strongly, but collapsed in the 1030s when the new Swedish kingdom fragmented and relapsed into paganism. By far the most successful was the Danish coinage, which started strongly under Svein Forkbeard and became firmly established once Cnut united the kingdoms of Denmark and England. As in England, coinage was issued in a number of towns around the kingdom, and these also acted as power centres both for the king and the Church.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/money_01.shtml

Viking Houses

Viking houses were built of wood, stone or blocks of turf - depending on local materials. The houses were long box-shapes with sloping thatched or turf roofs. The walls were made of wattle (woven sticks, covered with mud to keep out the wind and rain). The Viking families lived in the central hall portion of the building. Rooms were partially set off; one end of the longhouse might be used as a barn to keep cattle and horses in the winter as well as storage for crops and tools. The other end could be set up as a workroom for artisanal crafts or the family’s vertical loom.

Most houses had just one room for a family to share. Rich people's farmhouses might have a small entrance hall, a large main room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a store room. In a Viking town, houses were crowded close together along narrow streets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/vikings/vikings_at_home/