The Vikings in Scotland

Where the Vikings came from and why they came to Scotland

-Around 750 CE, Scandinavia was suffering since its population was far greater than what it could support.

-The amount of people meant that there wasn't enough land for them to practice arable farming.

-Their seamanship skills were quite advanced, so people from Sweden and Norway left their homes to look for new territories.

Which areas of Scotland were invaded

-The Northern and Western Isles, Caithness, Sutherland and Inverness ended up being occupied by the Vikings at the end of the 9th century.

Were Vikings really barbarians?-There is little archaeological

evidence to support the idea of genocide, which of course doesn't mean it didn't take place.

-They settled in Scotland whether its inhabitants liked it or not. If there were many inhabitants and they were against the Vikings, the invaders would just take out their swords and fight them.

-Their primary mission was to find new land to settle. If the inhabitants were few and would willingly flee then the Vikings had no reason to kill them and would just take their land.

Obsession with Hygiene

-This obsession is backed up by archaeological evidence which has been found amongst both male and female grave goods.

-These include tools like grooming kits, comprising tweezers, ear scoops as well as finger-nail scrapers.

-Thanks to their hygiene the Vikings were very popular with the local maidens wherever they went.

A stereotype?

These are classic cartoon pictures of vikings, but what are those horns on their helmets?

Why do we imagine Vikings like that?

Helmets with horns-Priests among the Norse and earlier Germanic peoples wore headgear with horns, but it only ever happened during religious ceremonies.

-There is no evidence to suggest that Viking warriors wore horned helmets in battle.

-Those types of helmets existed but they were never used in battle.

Were Viking's weapons really crude? They are often shown with

crude, unsophisticated weapons eg. clubs and crude axes

They were actually skilled weapon smiths as they could make swords that were both extremely sharp and flexible.

One method of testing these weapons was to place the sword hilt first in a cold stream, and float a hair down to it. If it cut the hair, it was considered a

good sword.

What weapons the Vikings preferred to use

Vikings did not use massive double axes:

Axes were used in battle, however, they were not double-headed axe but light and used single handed.

There has never been found any double axes from early medieval Europe. The most common weapons found on Viking sites are spears.