They were afraid. They were cursed. They were admired. Having absorbed the northern valor and devotion to the harsh northern gods with their mother's milk, they did not look for easy ways. In search of glory, they left their icy lands and went to sail the seas and conquer new territories. These people went down in history and stayed in it forever. Their proud name is Vikings.
Diletant.media recalls and introduces you to the traditions and customs of these brave Scandinavians.
Rites and rituals
The Vikings had no need to erect huge structures for worship and sacrifices. Most often, they gathered for holidays and rituals near tall trees, usually near ash trees. In addition, each family owned figurines of several gods and could offer sacrifices to them in the house or on the altar (a small flat-topped pyramid made of rounded stones) near it. When addressing the gods, it was supposed to put an offering on this pyramid, which could be anything - everything depended on the request and the welfare of the worshiper (part of the fish from a rich catch, grain, berries, colored ribbon, decoration). At the same time, everyone prayed as he could, without definite rules and established formulas.
Thor, son of Odin, one of the main gods.
But so, at the home altar, there was only a personal communication of man with the gods. Ceremonial rituals for healing, prophesying, asking for help in any matter were performed only in sacred groves and only by people endowed with a special gift for this - priests.
Sometimes sacrifices took place at the roots of trees. These could be ritual rituals performed by the priests, and independent offerings of individuals. At the same time, men usually sacrificed either an animal or some kind of labor of their hands, and women, as a rule, bright colored ribbons, which were tied to the branches of trees from the sacred grove.
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If an animal was sacrificed, then his throat was cut and hung on a tree, or the animal was eaten by the priest and his entourage at the feasts that were held in green temples.
Torah worship ceremony
The Vikings also had human sacrifices. For example, before a particularly important battle, both sides could consecrate themselves as a sacrifice to the gods - in this case, it was believed that everyone who fell in this battle were automatically initiated victims. A spicy detail of this custom was that in the event of such a mutual initiation, the victorious side had to cut out all remaining opponents and hang them in the sacred grove. It remains only to imagine what an incredible smell was in the groves during such sacrifices.
Wedding traditions
A Viking marriage was an important event not only for young people, but also for their families. The two sides prepared a dowry, presented each other with the most valuable gifts: skins, weapons. The bride brought to her husband's family clothes made of linen and wool, a spinning wheel, weaving such an irreplaceable attribute as a bed. A girl from a wealthier family could have a part of her dowry, jewelry made of silver and gold, livestock, a farm, or even an entire estate.
Wedding tradition - exchange of rings.
Viking wedding ceremonies are very similar to our current ones. More precisely, on the contrary, some modern traditions exactly copy the customs of that "harsh" time. Gifts to relatives were handed over on the wedding day, and after that the entire wedding procession began its movement to the place of "marriage registration". Not only did it all dazzle and consisted of more than one hundred people, it also created a deafening noise. The tradition was as follows: the bride and groom, accompanied by all those invited, had to reach the place of their union, and the greater the distance they overcome, the stronger their marriage will be. And the crowd that followed them had to make all sorts of sounds, mainly screams and songs, and the louder they make the noise, the more misfortunes they will drive away from the family. The young people exchanged rings just like now.but in a slightly different form - they were served to each other at the tip of swords. Celebrated the wedding in the longest house. The groom had to bring the bride into the house and carry her to the place of the feast: if he stumbles and falls, their life will hesitate, if not, they will live evenly and calmly. Then there was an exchange of swords: the husband's sword was kept by the wife until the child-boy reaches adulthood.
Viking women.
And, of course, the sacred moment - the wedding night. Several people were assigned to the bride and groom, who throughout the night had to follow the "process" and testify to the innocence of the newly made wife.
Child-rearing customs
The Vikings raised their children in a very unusual way. The younger generation (especially boys), regardless of whether their father was alive or not, were given to be raised by another person. This tied two families together and could be useful in strife and litigation, and was also the surest way to turn the enemy into an ally. “Better to have a good pupil than a bad son,” says a runic inscription on a stone from the Isle of Man covered with relief images. Thus, almost every family, along with its own, had adopted daughters or sons, and the attachment between children was as strong as between siblings.
As soon as the child began to walk and eat on his own, he was entrusted with housework - driving chickens out of the chicken coop, picking berries or nuts, feeding livestock and other small matters.
In the upbringing of a noble youth (the son of a king or a jarl), adventurous adventures were an obligatory stage. The Viking was never considered too young for such trips: Eirik the Bloody Ax and Olav the Saint, for example, made their first voyages in the North Sea when they were no more than 12 years old.
If the younger sons received only movable property during the division of the family inheritance, then they went to sea with the aim of "making a fortune". And for them it was, though risky, but the most desirable and respected trade.
Funeral rites and superstitions
When a Viking warrior died, a funeral ceremony (nabjargir) was held. First of all, his eyes and mouth were carefully closed, and his nostrils were sealed. Then the old woman washed the dead man's hands and face, combed his hair and dressed him in the best clothes. In some places, the dead, a man or woman, was buried in a mound, in others, the body was dismembered and transported in parts to different parts of the country. Sometimes the body of the leader was placed on a ship, which was set on fire by the closest relative of the deceased.
Viking's Funeral. Artist Frank Dixie.
Most Vikings were buried with whatever items they might need in the afterlife, including beer and food, weapons, jewelry, clothing, and sometimes even animals. Wealthy women were buried with kitchen utensils and handicrafts.
In addition, burial often required appropriate precautions, especially when burying a berserker or a person who was known as a dishonest and malicious person during his life. Failure to comply with these measures, residents of the district where the deceased lived, risked meeting his "shadow" at night. To get rid of a potential ghost, the Vikings performed mysterious actions. For example, standing behind the deceased, seated on pillows, they closed his eyes, and then carried the body through an opening specially punched into the wall of the house. The Scandinavians believed that having left the house not through the door, the "shadow", which did not have the opportunity to see with closed eyes, would not be able to return to the world of the living.
If, for some reason, special measures were not taken, and the "shadow" appeared, it was still quite easy to deal with it. The only thing that had to be done was to dig up the body to which the "shadow" belonged, to decapitate it, and put its head between the ribs. The main difficulty in this was to correctly recognize the belonging of the "shadow", which often took the form of an animal.
There were other methods of dealing with annoying ghosts. So, for example, one young man got rid of an elderly loving witch who was pursuing him in the form of a seal, who died of fever in his parents' house, with all his might hit this seal on the head with a hammer.